Preamp: Parasound P5 vs Rotel RC1590

@231runnin @sfseay Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences !

I have been running the amps with Rotel RC-1590 for the last 2 days. Will be returning Rotel RC-1590 tomorrow, took it only for home demo. Problems I found are:
- Power light is always blue, bright disturbing ugly blue. You can dim the LCD, can do nothing about the bright power light. So very disturbing. I would cover it with tape if I purchase it.
- There is a constant background hiss. It is definitely not the amps. Nothing after preamp’s output relays as well. When you mute it, it shuts it relays off, then there is absolutely no noise. When it is not muted, and no sound is playing, i can hear a "hiss" sound even 1 meter away from speakers. This might be related to power as well. Should buy a power filter I guess.

In terms of sound, I can’t find a fault in it honestly. Sounds so very nice to listen to, very very easy to listen to, yet punchy and clear. Nothing sounds disturbing. However, I never listened to the these amps with any other preamp, so can’t compare yet. I will try to take Parasound P5 for home demo tomorrow, from another dealer, and see how it compares at home. One thing is for sure, if I buy Rotel RC-1590 I will be very satisfied. But I need to see if I would be further satisfied with Parasound. :D

I love the digital volume control of RC-1590, can fine tune it just right at any volume, especially low volumes. Tone settings doesn’t affect the sound clarity or soundstage, there is some effect but it is soooo very minimal in comparison to most amps. Have been using it's internal DAC via optical input, no problems with it so far. No pop noises when stream changes, there are relay sounds coming from the amp instead.

I will write more after I get the Parasound.

I have Parasound P5 at home right now, scheduled to be returned on Thursday morning.

I realized that I made the big mistake of trying Rotel with it's internal DAC only and not using any DAC of my own (I don't have anything really good). Now comparing Rotel with Rotel's DAC, and Parasound with it's built-in DAC: In terms of SQ, Rotel wins hands down for me. Music simply is not nice to listen right now, no charm in it, no body in instruments, no air around them. It is like, someone sucked joy and life out of the music.

I am wondering if these might be related to only to it's built-in DAC or is it actually the preamp. If someone can share their opinion on this, I would be very glad.

Now onto the positives:
- Volume control is incomparable to motorized pot in the NAD c326bee I have. Dialing in low volumes is easy. Not as precise as a digital volume control of course, but still quite good. One negative thing I noticed is that, at lower volumes, probably because of channel imbalance, life is further sucked away from the music.
- Minimal noise in comparison to Rotel. There is still some, but very very minimal. This makes night time listening better, since I can actually hear things instead of background hiss. However as I mentioned, lower the volume goes, some clarity is taken away from the sound. I didn't observe this to this level in Rotel. Effect I am describing is beyond the expected effect of lower volume perception of human hearing, or speakers lower volume performance.
- HT bypass works very well
- Didn't try sub integration yet, but knowing that I can connect it very easily is a great thing.
- No annoying blue lights or anything. Only the Parasound logo is lit, and that is not disturbing at all.

I am thinking of experimenting with some passive preamps as well. Still in research phase :D

@ sfseay71 Did you have any noise problem when you had the Rotel RC-1590 ? And what DAC did you use with Parasound P5 ?

Glad to help, Denizpiri.  I'm puzzled at the background hiss you are hearing from either unit.  There is no way you should be experiencing this, but it has me wondering what the power grid is like in Poland where you are.  I also have not experienced any imbalance at low volumes, and that should be a deal breaker for you.

Is it possible that one or more of your line level cables are running along side of one of your power cables?  This could induce noise into the sound, but you may know this already!

As far as the DAC goes, the president of Parasound has said it's more of a convenience than an audiophile grade unit, so the Rotel should better it.  

Returned the P5 this morning, and got Emotiva XSP-1 from another dealer. Started trying Emotiva about 4 hours ago. Only advantage I can see with it is that it has almost no noise regardless of how close I get to tweeters. However, sounds really really poor. Bass is really slow, mid range sounds scooped, vocals are not focused. I was scheduled to return Emotiva on Tuesday, but I am taking it back tomorrow.

So far, Rotel RC-1590 > Parasound P5 >> Emotiva XSP-1.

Today, while returning the P5, I saw a PS Audio Stellar Gain DAC / Pre, asked a bit about it, later on checked it online. I will try to take it for home demo tomorrow and see how it sounds. Price wise it is somewhat better priced than P5, it is $1700 in US, around $2200 here in Poland, probably can get it for $2000.
Will read more about it now and see if it's feature set perfectly suits my needs.