Which of These Budget SS Preamps?

For sheer transparency and focus, probably the Adcom GFP-750.

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

The Adcom without a doubt - this is essentially the $4000 Pass Labs Aleph P with a slightly different signal path.

Good luck,
-JamesW-

I'll vote with Jond for your considering a 'budget' tube pre to go with your Parasound. My only experience with Parasound amps is in hearing their top-of-the-line Halo amps pushed by an SS pre (cannot recall which). To me this combination sounded extremely detailed, had a wide and relatively flat soundstage, plenty airy for an SS amp, yet ultimately the whole thing left me cold. I think it was so analytical and sterile that I longed for warmth and musicality from the rig...something to pull me in more than it did. I've had this experience with other all SS rigs which have impressed me on some levels as this one did. At least give a tube pre a try to see the differences it may make. I might suggest a used Audible Illusions modulus 3a on that front, but there are many others. The combination of a tube pre and an SS amp can often bring out the best of both worlds. I think the sucess of many hybrid integrated designs speak to that end.

Marco