Balanced preamp recommendation : w4s, hegel, parasound


Hi all,

I'm looking to change my audio Gd nfb1amp preamp for one with a real HT bypass (plus xlr input, 2 RCA inputs, RCA and XLR outputs...).

The power amp is a Nord Ncore 500.
I've found 3 candidates under 1500$ (used ones) :

- wyred4sound Mpre : great reviews a few years ago but very ugly
- hegel P20 : very few reviews, looks solid
- Parasound P7 : swiss army knife. Musical enough?

What are your views on these devices ? Is there other good choices for the same price ?
I prefer neutral/ warm sound than bright one.
I made some researches on the forum, I live in Europe so many brands are unavailable in my country (or too much custom taxes).
I saw the Schiit Freya, it hasn't real HT bypass, it's too bad, very affordable.
;)





ros3bud
There's a Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5 for a great ask  of $1500 at AudioMart . I love mine
Beauty is only skin deep.  In 1980, I brought home a NAD integrated amplifier to try with my Advent speakers despite my opinion that the NAD was ugly.  It blew away my Marantz receiver and I bought the NAD.  What a great sounding integrated amp that was.  If you can, try as many preamps as possible making sure the output impedance is compatible with your amp.  Good luck!