Parasound P5

Audiozen,
Parasound JC2 and Jeff Rowland Capri fall in the $10k range. I have not heard any of the preamps discussed here. But I have reservations that the Onkyo is as good as those two - at least from online reviews.

I only stated the P-3000R can hold its own against Preamps in the $10K range. I have heard the JC2 and have owned the previous flagship Parasound, the PLD-2000. Parasound's Preamps designed by John Curl are too darn cold sounding in the upper frequencies for my taste. Parasound amps have always been better than their Preamps. There are marginal differences in the $3K to $10K range for a Preamp. You have to factor in the more exotic chassis designs with their milled solid block metals and far more expensive cover's, and higher quality connectors. But once you start soaring above $10K, then its a whole different ball game. I would not use an Onkyo amp with the P-3000R. A better quality amp would do it justice such as the Abletec from D-Sonic to bring out the best from the Onkyo.

Audiozen: Wow, it compares to 10k preamps? Nice! I believe I'll be looking in to actually getting one. I was thinking of getting a Pass Labs X350.5 amp, so do you think the Onkyo preamp would go good with the Pass Labs amp?

Dave_72..there should be no problem pairing the Onkyo to the Pass amp which has a low input impedance of 20 Kohms.
Onkyo pairs their M5000R amp with the P-3000R Preamp. The M5000R has a lower input impedance of only 10 Kohms and works well with the P-3000R which has an output impedance of 330 ohms. No problem.

Audiozen: Ok, thank you for that! Much appreciated. :)