Any opinions on the Parasound P3 preamp?
zombie boy 2000
Posts: 6,641
I might have one in hand. Anyone have an opinion on this piece?
I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore
Post edited by zombie boy 2000 on
Comments
-
I was seriously considering this before I went with Dafred tube pre. No dealer near my area caries parasound so I couldn't review it at home. As per reviews on absolute sound and secrets of home theater, this is a solid piece. But then I founds out this is not designed by John Curl and some reviewers on audio asylum weren't that enthusiastic about the sound as compared to old PHP 850.-izafar
Goldenear Technology Triton 1 - Benchmark AHB2 - Benchmark LA4 - Auralic Vega - Auralic Aries Mini - Marantz TT-15S1 - Clearaudio Nano -
It's an excellent preamp for the money.SRT For Life; SDA Forever!
The SRT SEISMIC System:
Four main satellite speakers, six powered subs, two dedicated for LFE channel, two center speakers for over/under screen placement and three Control Centers. Amaze your friends, terrorize your neighbors, seize the audio bragging rights for your state. Go ahead, buy it; you only go around once. -
The P3 is high on convenience features, but if those features aren't going to be used better deals are available. For example, the P3 has a decent phono stage built in and a 12v trigger output, remote control and XLR outputs. If those features aren't needed, the PHP-850 is just as good sonically.
-
Personally, I never cared for the sound of the PHP 850. Everyone says that Parasound is so neutral; myself I've never heard it sound neutral. Not a bad pre-amp but others out there that I consider a little better sounding. The ones I'm thinking of however don't have the convenience features and are pretty basic (read built for sonics), but sound excellent.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
I had the P3. I sold it and bought a Rogue Audio Metis. The P3 was hooked up to an A23. The sound was the best I ever heard, until I got my Metis. After the Metis, I realized the P3 has a rather narrow soundstage relative to the distance apart of your fronts. All in all, I think the A23 and P3 both suffered from trying to cram too much into a small package. My advice . . . go with simplicity. I picked up a NAD C272 and sold my A23 as well. The combination of the NAD and the RA Metis have resulted in a sound that the parasounds could never reporduce.
-
I hit send before my recommendations
Adcom GFP-750, stellar sounding pre, but no phono section
Nakamichi CA-5 or CA-5II, killer phono section and the MK II included tone controls, nice, open sound very smooth.
Aragon 18K or 28K, can be gotten used fairly reasonably. I believe they include phono, but you should check for sure. Great, often overlooked, over achiever's.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Thanks guys.... I was also considering going back to a tube pre. Had the Dared SL2000a for a bit and enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, I need a few more inputs and though a built-in phono section would be nice... I'd be fairly happy just reeling in the Pro-ject Phono Box in the interim.
Just mulling over some options here.I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore -
Let's say if the input sensitivity of my amp is just right, how 'bout a Jolida JD50 passive?I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore
-
Check out the Rogue Audio Perseus it has an HT passthrough and some other critical hook-ups.
-
A smidge out of my price range, but I certainly wouldn't kick it out of bed for getting crumbs in the bed sheets.I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore
-
Well, if only to tempt you . . . http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatube&1180386415
I was just converted to tubes. I don't plan on ever going back and I don't plan on letting a fellow polk bud settle for less w/o a fight! -
The jolida looks great. They make a great product, but I don't like how they discourage tube swapping.
-
Oh... like I mentioned previously, I've had tubes in my system before courtesy of the Dared and there is no substitute.
Keep in mind the Jolida passive is not a tube piece.I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore -
SolidSqual wrote: »Well, if only to tempt you . . . http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatube&1180386415
I was just converted to tubes. I don't plan on ever going back and I don't plan on letting a fellow polk bud settle for less w/o a fight!
Tempting...
no Paypal and first time seller, though.
Maybe I'll wait until Day 29 and send him a low-ball offer on the wings of a dove.I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore -
Sounds good to me.
-
Off topic, how do you like your oppo and signal interconnects? I was thinking of picking up those same pieces.
-
The Oppo is actually filling in for my source as I am between CDP's -- having recently sold my last one to help fund the purchase of my Tylers. To be honest, I feel it merits its good reputation for standard redbook playback. Not necessarily a giant-killer, but it competes with CDP's costing four times as much.
As for Signal Cable, I've been a fan for a while now. I simply cannot recommend them enough. I've had pretty much everything in their line-up in my system at one point or another.I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore -
Thanks for the input. Good luck on your decision.
-
let us know how you like it,, I almost picked up one, but got a Belles soloist 3 instead.
JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut) -
Haven't sprung yet... and really wasn't looking at Parasound. But $400 seems to be an excellent price. Maybe I'm wrong....I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore
