Preamplifiers with Home Theater bypass shootout--$5500 McIntosh C49 vs $450 Parasound 2100,Denafrips

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12/7/2024: A bigger improvement is upgrading the speaker to PS Audio FR5

9/6/2024: IsoAcoustics pucks improve the sound more than my upgrade from the Parasound 2100 to the McIntosh C49.
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McIntosh sounds awesome out of the box whereas Parasound has tone controls (+treble/+bass) to sound equally awesome.
I've always set Parasound with a little +treble/+bass, who knew that my preference matched McIntosh preference all this time!
I use Parasound's 80 Hz highpass RCA to the GoldenEar BRX speakers, iFi Supanova active noise cancelling power cable on both preamps

Parasound remote has a backlight, not McIntosh
Parasound includes a trigger cable, not McIntosh and it's nonstandard.
Parasound has knobs for tone control and L/R balance, McIntosh only by remote

Parasound 2100 is analog only, no DAC or XLR; Parasound P6 is like McIntosh

Parasound 2100 crosstalk -85db between 80hz to 1kHz is really good:

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AUDIO CHAIN

Apple Music lossless~~Verizon 5G~~Netgear Orbi AX6000 router~~ Eversolo DMP-A6 +LPS via usb~~Cardas Clear USB~~Denafrips Iris 12th (ddc) via I2S~~1.6’ HDMI~~Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1 (dac) via RCA+iFi Supanova power cable~~Cardas Parsec RCA~~Parasound 2100 preamp via RCA to *

* SPEAKERS: Parasound highpass 80 Hz filter~~ Cardas Parsec RCA~~ NAD C298+iFi Supanova power cable ~~GearIT 10 AWG speaker wire ~~GoldenEar BRX (AMT ribbon tweeter)

* 2 independent SUBWOOFERS: 30’ WorldsBestCable (Gotham) RCA ~~ 2 sealed subs
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DEMOS

Goosebumps:
As long as he needs me,shirley bassey
The way we were, I will always love you,Lucy Thomas
Buon Oi Chao Mi,Tran Thai Hoa

Soundstage
Side streets,Saint Etienne
In the air tonight,Phil Collins
Give Life Back to Music,Georgio
Come fly with me, Lately, Emotion, Can’t help falling in love,Simone Kopmayer
Baby it’s cold outside,kelly clarkson
Love is a losing game,Banda & Anekka
I feel it coming,Eve st jones
Solamente,Lisa Lopez
To Believe,Jackie Evancho
Love is a losing game,Banda du Sol
Our day will come,Brazil
Love Montage,Les Miserable London
Memory,Barbara Streisand

Jazz/male
There Must Be an Angel,Kevin Simm
If I never sing another song,Ingmar Jurs
You are the sunshine,Stevie Wonder
Feliz navidad,Bocelli

Bass/pop
Adore You,Javier Penna (remix)
Jumpin Jack Flash,Amazonics
Let’s talk about cars,Butthole Surfers
Sex on Fire,cannons
Nothin on you,Bruno mars
One Two step,Ciara
Price tag,Jessie J
To sir with love,Tina Arena
Oops I did it again,Brazil
Not my fault,Renee & Meg
Mooo! Doja Cat
In my mind,Cassette
I love you baby,Emilee
Saw you in a dream,Japanese House
Kissing a fool,George Michael
Kiss,Prince
New Light, I feel it coming,Eve St Jones

Drums/cymbals
A little more love,Olivia newton john
Creep,RadioHead
Amazing,George Michael
Finistere, Sylvie,Saint Etienne
Love fool,Cardigans
Ti Amo,Mimi
The game of love,Daft Punk
You belong to me,Jennifer Lopez
You are not alone,Billie Jean,PYT, Bad,Michael Jackson"
How wonderful you are,Simone Kopmayer
One-sided Love, It’s Impossible,Sylvia Bennett

Piano/vocalist
Fly me to the moon,Sylvia Bennett
Dance me to the end of time,Perla Batalla
Boulevard of broken dreams,Diana Krall
Superstar, Make believe,Carpenters
Ai Dua Em Ve,Quynh Lan
Love will keep us,Susan Wong

Jazz/female
So this is love,La vie en rose,Emily Watts
I have nothing,Lucy Thomas
The Look of Love,Nicki Parrott
I will wait for you, I’m Confessing,Connie Evingson
Jekyll & Hyde,the musical
So in love,KD Lang
The shadow of your smile,Pauline London
Snowbird,Dana Winner
Kiss of life,Sade
Emotions,Brenda Lee
Yesterday when I was young,Dusty Springfield
The very thought of you,Emile-claire Barlow
I wish you love,Janet Seidel,Laufey
You belong to me,Jennifer Lopez
If I never sing another song,Julie Rogers,Rose Mallett
Every breathe you take,I’m not in love,Karen Souza
Can you read my mind,Maureen McGovern
Don’t cry out loud,Melissa Manchester
Colors of the wind, All I ask of you,Mirusia

Oldies
Gentle on my mind, Who needs money,Elvis

French
Si Tu n’existe pas,Nathalie Albert
La vie en rose,Lucy Thomas
Avant-de nous dire adieu, Hi! Je mapelle Jeanne, Jeane Manson
T’as le look coco,LaRoche Valmont

Latin
Y Volvere by Lucero (female ver)
La Gata Bajo,Lucero
Never never never,Dana Winner
El hombre que yo amo,Miriam Hernandez
Si no dejan,Shalia Durcal
Mala Suerte,Vikki Carr
Unos calle nos separa,Rafaelito
Adelante,Isabel Pantoja
Es por ti,Juanes
Costumbres,Ingrid Contreras
Corcovado,Carmen-Cuesta

Japanese
Nostalgia,Ikimonogakari

Chinese
Wang Ji Ta,Shirley Kwan

Dutch
Hij Was Pas achttien,Conny Vandenbos

Vietnamese
Diem Xua,Moc San
Biet Khuc,Ky Niem,Quynh Lan

[Alumapro]

I just got rid of my McIntosh Integrated for a Parasound P6 because I wanted to switch amps and I came across a good deal on a power amp and needed a preamp. I loved all the features (sub out, phono preamps, XLR, etc) of my Mac. The Parasound does most of what the Mac did, and in some cases (dedicated sub filter, etc) more. The Mac sounded more rich and the Parasound is leaner. Not thin, but not as syrup thick as the Mac.

If I didn’t need all the features, the Parasound is great. I am seriously thinking about going to a Mac pre because I need more XLR inputs and the only Parasound pre with more XLR inputs does not have all the other features of the P6.

All that to say, the Parasound is great and I would be 100% happy, but the XLR’s is becoming a deal breaker, for me. I also felt like the Mac gave my sub (and speakers…could have been the power section of the Mac though) more headroom.

I also like the feel of the Parasound knob more, but I don’t like the linear volume stepping of the Parasound.

[NaveedKhan-bssc]

Why would one use a intergrated with ht bypass vs a preamp with ht bypass? Would like to know which is the best method i want to get better two channel sound while using an av reciver.

[shawnleahy]

What happened to your parasound zpre3?

[AT-wlyq]

Something isn't right. The preamp is the single most important piece to get right in your system. You should have heard a major change. I don't know what the rest of your system is or things like personal taste in gear, but I do see one red flag. If you buy going by specs, you will lose every time. There is no standard that manufacturers have to go by when measuring they're gear, so they're left to do it however they see fit. Usually the cheaper they are, the better they measure. Maybe you screwed up somewhere else in your system like with your amp and speakers, but something is missing. If you have a friend that has some good equipment, see if he will let you try both preamps in his system.