We show analytically and numerically that parabolic pulses and similaritons are not always synonyms and that a self-phase modulation amplification regime can precede the self-similar evolution. The properties of the recompressed pulses after SPM amplification are investigated. We also demonstrate that negatively chirped parabolic pulses can exhibit a spectral recompression during amplification leading to high-power chirp-free parabolic pulses at the amplifier output. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.