If you only have L/R speakers and subs and mainly listen to music I’d just use a good stereo preamp.
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um..well....the point is you can get so much better product with a former high dollar pro than you can get with a stereo PRE.
the older way expensive Pre/pro are so much nicer and have better build and most time equal sound .
I dont want to spend $1000 on a stereo pre made in china from all the leftover parts from the prior models....
the nicest stereo pre I have seen lately was the emotiva XSP-1 gen 2 . most of the rest of the stuff out lately are not that great.
if they made a Freya+ with display it would be $1500. Parasound has a few and I am not sure if its worth the $800-1000.
its easier to buy an old AVR or HT Pre/Pro and get much more for you dollar than to just buy a pre.
im using a PT-100 right now and its not bad but it could die next week. I already have pop sounds and its less than 1 week old.
I hear Bel Canto was up there in the top so it should play music well..
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um..well....the point is you can get so much better product with a former high dollar pro than you can get with a stereo PRE. the nicest stereo pre I have seen lately was the emotiva XSP-1 gen 2. most of the rest of the stuff out lately are not that great. its easier to buy an old AVR or HT Pre/Pro and get much more for you dollar than to just buy a pre. Um, I’ll just politely disagree with all these statements, especially for a 2.2 system where music is the priority. But if you’re hell bent on a prepro, have at it and best of luck. |
since you insist on disagreeing I will update this thread.
I didnt buy the Bel Canto because its got some years on it and sometimes fixing these high end preamps is not possible. decided to pass.
I did get try out a Sherwood Newcastle R-972 Pre/Pro . it sounded fantastic with music. probably the best pre of any kind I have ever heard.
I didnt keep it cause it was over complicated and overkill for my system but it sounded fantastic.
I then tried a Parasound P3 stereo pre and it sounded like crap. Might as well have been a 1980/s receiver. nothing special about it.
and people love that brand and apparently that pre.
But so far ive only used 1 stereo pre that I liked as much as my favorite Pre/pros and that was a modified/upgraded NAD Pre.
if it were not for parts failure now and repair issues Id be running a Proceed Pre of some kind. there is no way some cheap made in china Parasound stereo pre or similar "stereo" would ever sound as good as a proceed that is working 100%. People are nuts to pay $1k-2k for some of the recent stereo preamps .
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I did get try out a Sherwood Newcastle R-972 Pre/Pro . it sounded fantastic with music. probably the best pre of any kind I have ever heard. That’s actually a receiver from like 10 years ago. I then tried a Parasound P3 stereo pre and it sounded like crap. Might as well have been a 1980/s receiver. nothing special about it. and people love that brand and apparently that pre. Yeah, that John Curl’s a real hack. Clearly all the other people are wrong. But so far ive only used 1 stereo pre that I liked as much as my favorite Pre/pros and that was a modified/upgraded NAD Pre. Well that’s not surprising since NAD is the pinnacle of stereo preamps, and modded it must be killer. I know I shouldn’t ask, but what other stereo preamps have you tried?
there is no way some cheap made in china Parasound stereo pre or similar "stereo" would ever sound as good as a proceed that isworking 100%. Considering the Proceed cost somewhere around $5000 I should certainly hope not. But it might face some competition from the likes of ARC, VAC, Atmasphere, Ayre, LTA, Pass, etc. But then they’re probably no better than a prepro either so why even bother? I think you’ve made your point here.
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