Preamp for around $1000??

[DeFriend]

2. Gear that measures well but sounds poor to some people. Which is more likely..the gear sounds bad for some physically indefinable reason, or that it is being used in situations for which it was not intended, or that something else in the audio chain is faulty?


I'm not one to deny anyone the pleasure of listening to ANYTHING they love, genre or gear-related. Still, the idea that measurements are meaningless and that one's ear is more accurate than our current ability to scientifically quantify audio performance is simply...well... willfully ignorant?

I strongly agree with you, especially point number 2.
Heavy-handed application of negative feedback can make mediocre circuits test well, but cannot make mediocre circuits sound good.

Do *not* make the mistake of thinking that low THD specs mean *anything*, without taking all of the other specs into consideration.
Extremely wide frequency response at +/- 1 dB tends to be a better way of selecting great-sounding gear, regardless of age-related hearing loss.
Ignore the people that say "why does it matter when I can only hear sinewave test tones out to 14,000 Hz?"

 

[Mongo1958]

Parasound NewClassic 200 Pre. They're selling it now for $675 normally it's 900. You have to buy it from their web site to get that price. I have one along with the 2250 v2. It's a great pre and that's a great price for something that good. Even has a DAC

Parasound 2250 v2 & 200 Pre
Both of the Parasound pieces that you have look like very capable units. The #1 Line input Phono bypass is a nice feature, if you have a favorite phono stage, and the digital inputs are nice as well. The prices seem like a good deal. The new CEO has changed the way that Parasound does business by selling direct. Ever since I got my Parasound 1600HD Dac (in the early 2000's) I've been smitten with the Parasound build quality and the sound, and the bang for the buck.

 

[Mongo1958]

A brand new P6 will set you back $2600... yikes

True, I was fortunate to find a used one at Audio Advisor. I'm guessing that AA gets demo units from trade shows and such.

 

[Mart Mccall]

My immediate reaction to this is that must be one helluva burden of hubris to carry around.

So you’ve made the statement that what appears to be an accepted piece of equipment from a respected manufacturer is poorly designed. I think it entirely reasonable to ask that you justify that statement without referencing ASR, which I do not accept as an authoritative source.

I already posted links to both the ASR test and the Hi-Fi News tests. Or are you not accepting HFN as an authoritative source either?

PS Audio discontinued the product when they realised that because of its design it could not be made any better. Or possibly when sales crashed after the technical reviews were published. They should have realised it was a poor design to begin with as soon as they saw their own test data. They are no longer employing the designer.

No hubris here, I could have one if I wanted one. But why would I buy an expensive, poorly designed product?

Here's the link again PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC & Stellar M700 DAC/Preamp/Monoblocks Lab Report

Quote 'Although PS Audio has adopted the tried-and-tested ES9018 DAC, the usual mix of low noise, low distortion and vanishingly low jitter are swamped here by PSU noise and THD from, presumably, the encapsulated 'Gain Cell' preamp....The ES9018 DAC is capable of far lower than the ~3000psec jitter/PSU intermodulation recorded here, and this will surely add some fuzzy warmth to the Stellar DAC's sound.''

 

[trikkern89]

Khozmo preamps Are very good .

 

[2FarGone]

I already posted links to both the ASR test and the Hi-Fi News tests. Or are you not accepting HFN as an authoritative source either?

PS Audio discontinued the product when they realised that because of its design it could not be made any better. Or possibly when sales crashed after the technical reviews were published. They should have realised it was a poor design to begin with as soon as they saw their own test data. They are no longer employing the designer.

No hubris here, I could have one if I wanted one. But why would I buy an expensive, poorly designed product?

Here's the link again PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC & Stellar M700 DAC/Preamp/Monoblocks Lab Report

Quote 'Although PS Audio has adopted the tried-and-tested ES9018 DAC, the usual mix of low noise, low distortion and vanishingly low jitter are swamped here by PSU noise and THD from, presumably, the encapsulated 'Gain Cell' preamp....The ES9018 DAC is capable of far lower than the ~3000psec jitter/PSU intermodulation recorded here, and this will surely add some fuzzy warmth to the Stellar DAC's sound.''

It took a while. You must’ve done a little research.

I don’t consider you to have justified your statement, but at this point I consider that largely irrelevant. There appears to have been more than one iteration of that piece of equipment, as some of the review photos I’ve seen don’t even look like the unit I own. We can agree to disagree, and that’s fine. I have several years as head of tech support for an electromechanical equipment company, so the technical aspects of equipment aren’t completely alien to me. I have simply learned the hard way that specs and measurements don’t always present an accurate portrayal of a piece of equipment’s capability.

I would like to commend you in any case, since even while disagreeing, you’ve remained cordial and respectful. If more people in this hobby chose to interact in that fashion, forums such as these would be better places. Thank you.