[floresjc]

My preamp arrived today, in perfect condition. I bought it "open box" from Audio Advisor. You can't even tell it was opened, all the original packaging and equipment, with all the little bags and ties, no dings nothing. Brand new product. So if anyone ever wants to buy something from them on special, don't hesitate, great stuff.

I'm leaving for Afghanistan in 2 weeks and I don't have the time to get interconnects, set it all up and test, but I'll post detailed impressions when I get back and can use it with the new AVA/Salk gear in September.

[rahimlee54]

I am thinking about jumping on the band wagon at the price, I just cant decide with so many home projects lurking.  Maybe I can sneak one past her.      Can anyone comment on how much better this is then an AVR?

[Nuance]

I just got mine (thanks to TJHUB) and got it hooked up Monday morning.  It's wonderful for the price IMO.  Two thumbs up from me (I will give more details later...youngest just woke up). 

[TJHUB]

I am thinking about jumping on the band wagon at the price, I just cant decide with so many home projects lurking.  Maybe I can sneak one past her.      Can anyone comment on how much better this is then an AVR?

I'm certain it depends upon what AVR you are comparing it against.    I'm not one to really recommend gear on forums, but if you are looking for an extremely transparent sounding and feature filled preamp, I can't imagine anything beating the 2100 especially when factoring in price.  I know at least 5 people who's ears I trust most say very similar things.  The 2100 is extremely clear sounding.  It is very transparent to a good source.  I love mine. 

[rahimlee54]

I'm certain it depends upon what AVR you are comparing it against.    I'm not one to really recommend gear on forums, but if you are looking for an extremely transparent sounding and feature filled preamp, I can't imagine anything beating the 2100 especially when factoring in price.  I know at least 5 people who's ears I trust most say very similar things.  The 2100 is extremely clear sounding.  It is very transparent to a good source.  I love mine. 
[/quote]

I have a pioneer elite 92txh, it gets me by, a dedicated preamp is probably going to be better but there is only one way to find out.

[bigbwb]

Brandon & Terry,

Glad you guys are enjoying the 2100 as much as I have been.  Brandon,  glad to hear you were able to grab yours.  I hope you enjoy it, what amp did you end up with BTW?

Us WI folk like our 2100's, poor Patrick must feel left out

Any word on the GTG?

Good evening,

Brandon

[mchuckp]

I picked up the 2100 used to give it a try.  I'm in a transitional period at the moment and only used it with my cans, no speakers.  The previous owner never used the headphone jack or the phono stage.  I found that CDs sounded excellent in the mids and highs but seemed to lack some bass punch.  I felt the phono stage was pretty run of the mill and likely comparable to those found in most receivers.  My Cambridge Audio 640p external phono stage was much better all the way around.  I felt that on vinyl it still was missing that low end punch.

Since I never used the unit with speakers (let alone a high end system), not sure if I'd have the same thoughts.  Also not sure if maybe what I'm hearing is "transparency" and my other gear boosts the low end artificially and my ear likes that.  Love to try it on a nice set up with speakers but not an option right now.

When I eventually get set up again, I wouldn't mind trying it again if I was in the market as it does have a great feature set for the price.  I do think the phono stage is probably the weakest point of it though.  I'm currently awaiting my Van Alstine Insight+ preamp and very interested to see if I hear a marked improvement with my cans for CDs and vinyl.

For the price that you can get it at AudioAdvisor (open box) or used, it is worth a try.  I sold mine for what I paid for it within a matter of hours on Agon.

[TJHUB]

I picked up the 2100 used to give it a try.  I'm in a transitional period at the moment and only used it with my cans, no speakers.  The previous owner never used the headphone jack or the phono stage.  I found that CDs sounded excellent in the mids and highs but seemed to lack some bass punch.  I felt the phono stage was pretty run of the mill and likely comparable to those found in most receivers.  My Cambridge Audio 640p external phono stage was much better all the way around.  I felt that on vinyl it still was missing that low end punch.

Since I never used the unit with speakers (let alone a high end system), not sure if I'd have the same thoughts.  Also not sure if maybe what I'm hearing is "transparency" and my other gear boosts the low end artificially and my ear likes that.  Love to try it on a nice set up with speakers but not an option right now.

When I eventually get set up again, I wouldn't mind trying it again if I was in the market as it does have a great feature set for the price.  I do think the phono stage is probably the weakest point of it though.  I'm currently awaiting my Van Alstine Insight+ preamp and very interested to see if I hear a marked improvement with my cans for CDs and vinyl.

For the price that you can get it at AudioAdvisor (open box) or used, it is worth a try.  I sold mine for what I paid for it within a matter of hours on Agon.

For the sake of others that may be interested, my friend also found the phono stage pretty lack luster.  He felt it was very "thin sounding". 

It's funny how many "open box" units Audio Advisor sells.  Hmm... 

I'd love to hear what you feel the differences are between what you will remember the 2100 to sound like vs. the Insight+ when you get it.  If you would be so kind, I little update to this thread would be appreciated.

[TJHUB]

Brandon & Terry,

Glad you guys are enjoying the 2100 as much as I have been.  Brandon,  glad to hear you were able to grab yours.  I hope you enjoy it, what amp did you end up with BTW?

Us WI folk like our 2100's, poor Patrick must feel left out

Any word on the GTG?

Good evening,

Brandon

It would be more interesting if all of us WI folk with 2100's were also Salk owners... 

I'm trying to work out May 16th for the GTG.  I need a little more time to get things lined up.

[MichiganMike]

I tried the Parasound 2100 preamp paired with a Parasound Halo A23 amp and my SongTowers several months ago.  While there was much to like about the combination, it sounded slightly congested to me with some music when compared to my home theater system which uses a Parasound C2 connected to Parasound Halo A21 and A51 amps.  I ended up replacing the 2100 with another Parasound Halo C2, which I got at a good price albeit much more than the bargain price of the 2100.  The change was worth the additional expense to me.  The congestion I heard has been lifted or I may just be mesmerized by the blue lights glowing on the Halo front panels.  Your experience may vary.  Perhaps the 2100 sounds better in Wi than Mi.

[mchuckp]

I picked up the 2100 used to give it a try.  I'm in a transitional period at the moment and only used it with my cans, no speakers.  The previous owner never used the headphone jack or the phono stage.  I found that CDs sounded excellent in the mids and highs but seemed to lack some bass punch.  I felt the phono stage was pretty run of the mill and likely comparable to those found in most receivers.  My Cambridge Audio 640p external phono stage was much better all the way around.  I felt that on vinyl it still was missing that low end punch.

Since I never used the unit with speakers (let alone a high end system), not sure if I'd have the same thoughts.  Also not sure if maybe what I'm hearing is "transparency" and my other gear boosts the low end artificially and my ear likes that.  Love to try it on a nice set up with speakers but not an option right now.

When I eventually get set up again, I wouldn't mind trying it again if I was in the market as it does have a great feature set for the price.  I do think the phono stage is probably the weakest point of it though.  I'm currently awaiting my Van Alstine Insight+ preamp and very interested to see if I hear a marked improvement with my cans for CDs and vinyl.

For the price that you can get it at AudioAdvisor (open box) or used, it is worth a try.  I sold mine for what I paid for it within a matter of hours on Agon.

For the sake of others that may be interested, my friend also found the phono stage pretty lack luster.  He felt it was very "thin sounding". 

It's funny how many "open box" units Audio Advisor sells.  Hmm... 

I'd love to hear what you feel the differences are between what you will remember the 2100 to sound like vs. the Insight+ when you get it.  If you would be so kind, I little update to this thread would be appreciated.

Will do.  Remember that it will be with cans only.  I'm VERY anxious to try out the Insight+.  I may not get it until later next week as Frank is busy getting ready for AK Fest and I will be out of town late next week and the following week.  However, I promise to post my impressions vs the 2100.  I did a lot of A/B'ing between the 2100 and my other gear and have a pretty good mental image from that comparison.

As for the phono: I got a Cambridge Audio 640p from AA and felt it was a definite step up from my in-receiver phono stage on my old JVC AV receiver that is about 12 years old and was only $300 at the time.  I was hard pressed to tell the difference with the 2100 vs my receiver.  I ended up not keeping the Cambridge when I started looking at the Insight+ as I'd love to have something internal to eliminate one more piece of gear if possible.

For anyone particularly looking at the 2100 for a GOOD phono stage may want to look elsewhere or assume you need an external one.  As I said before, I felt for digital sources it sounded quite good other than I felt it lacked some low end but this was only with cans and to date I've never owned "hi end" equipment.  I'm working on that by starting with the Insight+ and some Salk speakers.

[Nuance]

Here are my further impressions of the Parasound 2100.  I've compared it to a Yamaha receiver, an Proceed Pre and my Onkyo 805 receiver.  I did not test the phono stage, as I'll never use it.  I bought the preamp to be used with speakers.   

This blip was taken from an e-mail to TJHUB:

So far I've noticed a much cleaner, more transparent sound.  With my receiver, in this room, I prefer to use the EQ and bump the treble up because it sounds too dead.  With the Parasound I need not do that, as it sounds cleaner and more extended in the highs.  I very much like that.  Also, the sound stage changes a little bit, but only with well recorded material it seems.  Still, it gains more depth and height. 

The room my speakers are in flat out sucks, as it's too dead.  Even if the soundstage grew a ton in width, the room is not wide and long enough to really notice (the speakers are 7.5' apart and I sit just over 8' away).  I'll save that evaluation for another day, but everything else is sounding great.  Bass is tighter and more impactful, while it's more bloated with my receiver. 


I will be doing more evaluations later, but so far I am liking it.  When listening using the receiver some material sounds pretty so so, but with the preamp I haven't been unhappy once yet.  Weird...  Whatever it is, I like it! For about $500-$600 it's a great piece.

[rahimlee54]

Is the sub crossover on this better than the one on an AVR or just give you more options?  Is it active when the unit is off or just a straight pass?

[Nuance]

The subwoofer crossover is not better because it's fixed at 80Hz.  With my receiver I can chose anywhere from 40 to 200Hz.  There is a subwoofer level attenuator on the front of the preamp, though. 

When the preamp is off it's a straight pass through to the receiver, at which point the settings in your receiver (crossover and all) take over.  It's basically passing through the signal from the amps so you can leave the speakers hooked up to them instead of having to disconnect and reconnect to the receiver.  I love the HT bypass feature and won't buy a preamp without it from this point on. 

[randybessinger]

I'm leaving for Afghanistan in 2 weeks

Stay safe!

[TJHUB]

The subwoofer crossover is not better because it's fixed at 80Hz.  With my receiver I can chose anywhere from 40 to 200Hz.  There is a subwoofer level attenuator on the front of the preamp, though. 

When the preamp is off it's a straight pass through to the receiver, at which point the settings in your receiver (crossover and all) take over.  It's basically passing through the signal from the amps so you can leave the speakers hooked up to them instead of having to disconnect and reconnect to the receiver.  I love the HT bypass feature and won't buy a preamp without it from this point on. 

The crossover is only fixed on the high-pass side @ 80Hz (-18db slope).  The subwoofer's low-pass is adjustable from 20Hz to 140Hz which is still rather useful for tuning the sub's blending to your main speakers/in-room response.

I've been messing around with crossover points for years, and 80Hz is usually very functional.  The fact that I can still give the sub and mains a little separation is good.

So no, not the most flexible, but it is still very functional.    What's really cool is that in bypass mode, everything goes to full range.  This way you can have completely different sub settings for music and home theater.  THAT'S FLEXIBILITY! 

 

[sfox7076]

Nuance,

What Anthem were you using?

Shawn

[Nuance]

Nuance,

What Anthem were you using?

Shawn

Oops, I was wrong - It was the Proceed Pre, not Anthem.  Why oh why do I always confuse those two?  

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/preamplifiers/proceed/pre/PRD_123997_1591crx.aspx

[mchuckp]

For anyone looking for a new stereo preamp with HT Bypass, Emotiva just announced the USP-1.  Pretty freakin' cheap and pretty nice specs including HT Bypass and what appears to be a pretty nice bass mgmt system.  Available next month. 

Head to Emotiva's website and click on FORUM then PROCESSORS/PREAMPS for details (including the manual).

I'd link but not sure of AC rules.  So get off your lazy butts and click some buttons!