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

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9/6/2024 Update: IsoAcoustics pucks improve the sound more than my upgrade from the Parasound 2100 to the McIntosh C49.
My video • Big hifi stereo sound ...
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McIntosh sounds awesome out of the box whereas Parasound needs 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 speakers, iFi Supanova power cable on both preamps
Parasound remote has a backlight, not McIntosh
Parasound includes a trigger cable, not McIntosh and it's $ nonstandard bypass
Parasound has knobs for tone control and 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:
hometheaterhif...
iFi Supanova power cable: amzn.to/3XvNhcT
Cardas Parsec RCA cable: amzn.to/3XJb2hK
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AUDIO CHAIN
Apple Music lossless~~Verizon 5G~~Netgear Orbi AX6000 router~~ Eversolo DMP-A6 +LPS via usb~~Cardas Clear USB cable~~Denafrips Iris 12th (ddc) via I2S~~1.6’ HDMI~~Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1 (dac) via RCA+iFi Supanova power cable~~Cardas Parsec RCA cable~~Parasound 2100 preamp via RCA to *
SPEAKERS: Parasound highpass 80 Hz filter~~ Cardas Parsec RCA cable~~ 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, Heart failed,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,John Legend
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
She works hard for the money,Donna Summer
How wonderful you are, Simone Kopmayer
One-sided Love, It’s Impossible (NE version), Sylvia Bennett
I still haven’t found what i’m looking for, Smooth Jazz Quartet
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 by 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

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3 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 21

@Alumapro23 3 месяца назад

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.

@mrpmj00 3 месяца назад

Yes, I agree that the The Mac sounds more rich and the Parasound is leaner, that's why I use the Parasound's tone controls (+treble, bass) to get richer sound to match the Mac's default. People say that the Mac is more colored and from my experience of having to turn up the Parasound's tone controls, I believe that it is the case.

@Alumapro23 3 месяца назад

@@mrpmj00 Absolutely. I balanced my preamp out with a warm amp. Pass Labs. It gives a nice balance. It’s funny. I used to just listen to music and never thought about it being warm or cold 😂. For years I ran a dj set up into a boom box with RCA inputs. I had some of the best time/listening with that rig too 😂😂😂

@mrpmj00 3 месяца назад

@@Alumapro23 A few months ago I was going to buy a used Passlabs XA25 but for a home theater setup I didn't think it was going to be enough power at 25wpc; the salesman never called me back (and no returns, no exchanges, no warranty, all sales final) so I bought a new NAD C298 amp at 185wpc/260wpc clipping power. Because my NAD C298 amp is neutral, I warm up the sound of my digital setup via Cardas Parsec RCA cables, and Cardas Clear USB cable.

@mrpmj00 3 месяца назад

I also like how my Parasound 2100's motorized volume knob turns as I use the remote, whereas the McIntosh volume knob does not turn when I use the remote. But the Parasound 2100 does not have a volume digital readout, whereas the P6 and McIntosh do.

@Alumapro23 3 месяца назад

@@mrpmj00 The motorized knobs are very cool.

@AT-wl9yq 3 месяца назад

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.

@mrpmj00 3 месяца назад

Hi. Yes, the preamp is very important, but I would say the most important is the source (streaming music lossless, or use a CD). I didn't hear a major change because the Parasound 2100 is that good, when I turned up its tone controls to get the McIntosh sound. In fact they sounded the same to me. (In the past, when I upgraded from a lower preamp Parasound zpre3 to the Parasound 2100, there was a significant improvement in sound quality to my ears, which aligned with their specs differences). I talked about specs, but in this video I showed that I used my ears to ultimately decide on the sound quality. My audio chain is in the description, so please take a look and let me know where I 'screwed up'. After you've reviewed my audio chain, I would appreciate any advice to improve the sound.

@NaveedKhan-bs1sc 2 месяца назад

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.

@mrpmj00 2 месяца назад

preamp with HT bypass sounds better for music. less noise, better crosstalk, can use a better external DAC or DDC.

@NaveedKhan-bs1sc 2 месяца назад

@@mrpmj00 can a preamp with ht bypass be used with an av receiver.

@mrpmj00 2 месяца назад

@@NaveedKhan-bs1sc Yes, that's how I use mine.

@NaveedKhan-bs1sc 2 месяца назад

@@mrpmj00 ok nice so do you connect all your sources to the preamp. What about the subwoofer?

@mrpmj00 2 месяца назад

@@NaveedKhan-bs1sc I have 2 sources to the preamp: AVR (for movies) and DAC (for music). I have 4 subwoofers: 2 for music and 4 for movies. For music, the Parasound preamp's main L and R outputs independently attach to the front 2 subwoofers (the subwoofers have crossover control that I set at 80 hz). (I use Parasound preamp's 80 hz highpass RCA outputs to attach to the 2 main speakers) Look at my AUDIO CHAIN in the description, or my video on subwoofer crossover. For movies, the 2 rear subwoofers turn on so I have 4 subwoofers playing.

@shawnleahy6823 2 месяца назад

What happened to your parasound zpre3?

@mrpmj00 2 месяца назад

I upgraded from the Parasound zpre3 to the Parasound 2100 which sounds even better for just $100 more than the zpre3.

@shawnleahy6823 2 месяца назад

@@mrpmj00 oh ok. Sounds good. Would you want to sell the other one?

@mrpmj00 2 месяца назад

@shawnleahy6823 I don't have the zpre3 to sell. I would recommend either the Parasound 2100 or Parasound 200pre (I haven't listened to this one but the 200pre specs are closer to the 2100 so it should sound better than the zpre3, with digital inputs and dac, and variable highpass crossover).

@shawnleahy6823 2 месяца назад

@@mrpmj00 Thank you sir