Any opinions on the Parasound P3 preamp?

[zombie boy 2000]

I might have one in hand. Anyone have an opinion on this piece?

[izafar]

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.

[ESAVINON]

It's an excellent preamp for the money.

[Emlyn]

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.

[heiney9]

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

[SolidSqual]

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.

[heiney9]

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

[zombie boy 2000]

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.

[zombie boy 2000]

Let's say if the input sensitivity of my amp is just right, how 'bout a Jolida JD50 passive?

[SolidSqual]

Check out the Rogue Audio Perseus it has an HT passthrough and some other critical hook-ups.

[zombie boy 2000]

A smidge out of my price range, but I certainly wouldn't kick it out of bed for getting crumbs in the bed sheets.

[SolidSqual]

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!

[SolidSqual]

The jolida looks great. They make a great product, but I don't like how they discourage tube swapping.

[zombie boy 2000]

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.

[zombie boy 2000]

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.

[SolidSqual]

Sounds good to me.

[SolidSqual]

Off topic, how do you like your oppo and signal interconnects? I was thinking of picking up those same pieces.

[zombie boy 2000]

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.

[SolidSqual]

Thanks for the input. Good luck on your decision.

[george daniel]

let us know how you like it,, I almost picked up one, but got a Belles soloist 3 instead. :)

[zombie boy 2000]

Haven't sprung yet... and really wasn't looking at Parasound. But $400 seems to be an excellent price. Maybe I'm wrong....