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Which of These Budget SS Preamps?

Hi all,
I am trying to help my friend find a good solid-state budget preamp. His system consists of a Parasound HCA-3500 power amp, Sony SCD-XA9000ES CD/SACD player, Paradigm Reference Studio 100v.2 speakers, and Signal Cable speaker cables, interconnects, and power cords.
Above all, he wants outstanding top-end extension, transparency, outstanding detail, speed, focus, and great bass.
I do not know anything about budget preamps.
His current list consists of:
Adcom GFP-750
Marsh P2000B
Parasound Halo P-3
Parasound P/LD-2000
PS Audio
Rotel RC-1090
Which of the above would best fit the above criteria that I named?
To those who have compared some of these preamps to one another, what are the sonic differences between them?
Thank you all so much for your help!
Angela
audio_girl
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
I will second the Adcom GFP-750. It's a lot of preamp, offering excellent performance for the money (particularly if purchased used). My second choice would be the Marsh.

If we depart from your list, however, you should seriously consider the Bryston BP-25. There is a new listing here on A-gon for a BP-25 priced at $995. I would choose the Bryston before any of the preamps you listed.
gregm
3,405 posts
 
Above all, he wants outstanding top-end extension, transparency, outstanding detail, speed, focus, and great bass
I would add, "tonal accuracy". Hardly asking for much, is it:)?
The type of sound described really fits a handful of top-end active pre's. The Adcom may be "on the road" to what is expected -- but, good as it may be, it hardly achieves the targets. At its price point, it really wasn't meant to better, say, a Blowtorch.

Given the requirements, the line level source, and the easy load represented by the Parasound am, my recommend would be a TRANSFORMER volume control. Bent offers these (they also offer a kit, I beleive) at a reasonable price.

The resulting sound should be very close to what you describe. If not, it's due to upstream or downstream elements -- not the trannies.
An idea, anyhow....cheers
daltonlanny
301 posts
 
For sheer transparency and focus, probably the Adcom GFP-750.
jond's avatar
jond
5,775 posts
 
Angela,
Does your friend have anything against a budget tubed preamp? There are plenty of those on Audiogon. What is his budget? I'm loath to suggest anything without knowing if he's looking to spend $500. $1K, or more, or less. A bit more info would be great, I'd love to help.
Cheers,
Jon
woodmann
17 posts
 
The Adcom without a doubt - this is essentially the $4000 Pass Labs Aleph P with a slightly different signal path.

Good luck,
-JamesW-
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