VERY musical. True to the source. Detailed yet smooth. Excellent control at any frequency. If the output is the "direct" one offers a real extra bonus in much more of all the goods it gives you. Simple yet elegant look.

I'm thinking hard, very hard...but found nothing. Or maybe is too unexpenssive for the "real audiophiles??"

I bougth this amp as a gift to my brother. Reason? Specs were quite tempting, had a phono section that my brother needed, & price was a steal. No, no, but sorry for the people with damaged ears cause is not bright nor harsh. Right out of the box smooth yet detailed. Neutral & very musical. Fist control of the amp maneging transients like a happy camper. Goes up & down at ease in any frequency. It's paired up with a S-300 Threshold Stasis amp, & I marvel in how much better it does compared with the very original Threshold h-10 preamp I had. I also had the John Curl designed P/L1500, but the 850 is by far superior. One of the unspoken gems in audio. I'm baffle at the price for what it does offer.....& my brother tells me, "I wish you could hear this NOW".

Similar Products Used:

P/L 1500, Threshold h-10, Preeminence Technology A Series II

Price, appearance, sound

Power cord comes loose easily if unit is moved; bass, treble, and balance controls are very small; no remote control but who needs it

This is my first pre-amp (separate system) - I had always used a home theater receiver. I was never satisfied with the sound of 2 channel stereo music when listening to cd's. The price for this unit seemed right. I have been extremely pleased with the sound to date. There have been absolutely no problems with the unit. I have never had another pre-amp in the house, but cannot imagine being happier (especially with units that are 5-10X more expensive). 2 channel stereo with this pre-amp (B&K ST-140 2 channel amp, Sony CA-70ES CD player, and JBL S38 speakers) completely destroys the sound of any HT receiver that I have had in the house (compared to Onkyo TX-DS 797, Denon 3802, HK 520, 320, and 225, Yamaha RXV-2200, and Sony STR 945). Bass response sounds more natural and full compared to HT receivers with subwoofer. For several years I blamed my speakers for a poor sound reproduction - at this point I could not be happier with the JBL's. Although I am a novice to the audiophile separates world, I can only recommend this unit.

Similar Products Used:

None - only comparison is the miserable 2 channel stereo sound produced by HT receivers

Beutifull soft interpretation of the source, wonderfull sound, great build quality, completly removed the fatiguing elements of my setup (no easy feat)

not a choice component for electronica

I read numerous reviews of this unit and decided I would either buy this unit or go for a passive Creek OBH-12. As luck would have it I found both on ebay but the 850 was alot cheaper. I must say I am very glad I purchased it. It was a blind buy (no audition), but I figured it would be better than the old Hafler DH-101 I had before. I actually stopped using the Hafler and would just plug my CD player directly into my amplifier since it had gains for each channel. While this provided amazing detail and a very very tight sound, it was very fatiging with most music genres. I loved the sound but could only take it for so long. I decided to get a preamp because I could only hook up one thing to the stereo at a time. Well once I won the auction and got the unit home, well to say the least I was mystified. With the Parasound in the chain the sound .... changed somehow. It has taken a week for me to nail down what it did to the sound as opposed a direct CD to amp connection. The sound is softer, smoother but not as fast as the direct connection. Note attacks seem less poingnant. High and dynamic movements seem ... calmer. The overall sound seems more mellow, more relaxed. Now I know this sounds like a baad thing, but strangly it turned out to be a perfect match. I dont suffer listner fatigue at all anymore, the sound is richer and I hear things I dident hear before in the recordings. The soundstage actually has a depth and height now, whereas before it just had width. Jazz and classical sound so much better with the 850 in the chain. BUT: Electronica has suffered. The attacks and dynamic sounds of synths are lessend by this unit. Its odd that way. I belive this preamp is not meant so much for electronica or pop as it is for jazz, classical, and rock. (it does great things for rock). A good sign of a piece of gear is that I have eneded up going through my entire CD collection again. I discovered my love for some of the CDs I had long forgotton. Not once did I want to remove the preamp from the chain and go back to the direct setup I had before. The sound has changed, but for me ... its for the better. I love this unit and havent looked back. I recommend it highly.

Similar Products Used:

Hafler DH-101, Direct CD to AMP connection.

- Very solid nuetral sound - Oustanding build quality - Outstanding warranty - Class "A" operation - Top-shelf electrical components used

- If there are any, I can't find them

Give this preamp a solid 14 days of break-in and you'll be rewarded with nuetral, spacious sound. Bass is solid and deep reaching, mids/highs are extremely focused and free of grain. I bi-amp; bi-wire, and use the "direct out" for the amp that drives the mid/highs, and the "normal" for the amp driving the lows--works very well. An absolute top-shelf preamp that desrves more press than it gets. The Audio-geeks won't look at anything under $5 grand--oh well, their loss.

Similar Products Used:

Carver, Yamaha, Creek, Harmon Kardon

with tone controls the sound is excellent

not a natural sounding pre amp bass is weak and you dont get that spacious sound when the tone control is off.

Sound is very good when I use the tone controls on the pre-amp, However when the tone control is off It sounds fatiguing, too bright not enough bass. So If you want a natural sounding preamp look elsewhere. If you like to play with the tone controls for more bass or highs to suit you listening needs give it try. Very good for entry level seperates. system: 2 HCA 1000 parasound (bridged) studio 100 paradigm

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi AV 10

Power, Cost, Soundfield

No remote control.

Having owned mid-fi products my whole life I had been reading about Parasound now for a while and knew that would satisfy my hi-fi desires on a budget. Why did I wait so long?!?! This preamp coupled with the Parasound HCA-1000 is fantastic. Like night and day the sound even on my older EPI speakers is rich and the soundstage is wonderful. A friend has Meridian equipment and while it has great processing, the direct two channel soundfield is definitely not $5-7000 better. If you are serious at all about the quality of sound, 2 channel sound, dedicate yourself to getting some Parasound products. I have my computer hooked to the Video In - games, mp3's sound just as good as my CD's (most of which I have burned from shn files of live shows) In fact I have auditioned some B&W CM4's which I know will be a great match for the clean bass and pure soundfield of these components. For less than $750 you can enter the realm of top notch sound - don't wait like I did.

less than reasonable price with great performance; wide soundstage

a little bit hard? makes a mosquito-like hum/buzz after chaning connection

I totally agree with Rush below. This a killer. I''m afraid that I''m not qualitied to say like this, but I would dare say that its price/performance is almost incredible. To be completely honest, I''ve never OWNED units that cost as much as multi-10K bucks, unlike Steve below. But I believe I have strong musical ears and even from my limited experience of auditions into such luxurious systems, I can say that this Parasound preamp delivers an outstanding performance. The most remarkabe feature of this unit is its wide soundstage. Even in so-called hi-fi boutique settings, I have rarely encountered this level of performance. If there is something wished of this already excellent unit, at least in terms of sound quality, it will be that it sounds somewhat "hard", if not bright. Also, I''m not so sure it''s really transparent. Anyway, "warm" is not a word to describe this unit''s characteristics. To some listerners, it would be fatiguing. Actually, my roommate expressed this opinion. If this is not an individual problem with the unit I own, there could be one major design flaw with this unit, however. It nearly always makes a hum after changing interconnection. To fix this up, I sometiems need to unplug it. Yes, this fixes up the problem ! In sum, you''ll hardly regret to have bought this unit even spending $300-500, even if modestly evaluated. (But I can''t gurantee this if you can afford a multi-10k buck system.)

Similar Products Used:

PS Audio IV preamp, PS Audio 4.6, Yamaha MVS-1 (and integrateds Alesis RA 100, Audio Innovations Alto, Classe CAP 80, Creek 4040s2, NAD 310, Rega Elex)

Price. Price. Price; Quality build, design, and aesthetics; Direct bypass output connection; Sounds a lot more expensive than it is.

For around $250 U.S., are you kidding me?!

This preamp is a steal, period. A sonic bargain! To give this preamp ''''one star'''', as a previous reviewer below did, is in my opinion, just not accurate. Of course an inexpensive preamp is not going to be in the same league as a Pass Labs or Krell or (fill in the blank with any ultra-expensive high end componentry), but all things considered, the P/HP-850 sounds fantastic, and quite musical, regardless of price. Even in a high-end setup it shines. I use mine in my ''''secondary'''' system in a rec room with an old McIntosh amp, SACD source, and Magnepan MMG''''s, and the sound is exquisite! In fact, most of the time, stunning! My primary system consists of Audio Research pre and amp, Marantz SACD, and Martin Logan Aerius, so I have a decent basis of comparison, and an analytical critical ear. I am also a classical musician. I hear absolutely nothing wrong with the 850... it is detailed, well balanced, unveiled, and sonically proper in all respects. In fact, it probably compares favorably to preamps in the $700 to $1,000 range. Kudos to Parasound for manufacturing and selling such a ''''bang for the buck'''' preamp that sounds great! This value preamp proves that you don''''t have to ''''sell the farm'''' to enjoy truly great sound!

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, SoundValves

Does what it is designed to do, does it quite well, and does it without breaking the bank; stylish, solid & reliable with a particularly great phono section.

NONE

For someone without megabucks to spend, this is a nice, reliable, solid little preamp. The phono section is particularly quiet & smooth. It''s not crap. It reproduces music cleanly, accurately AND economically. Take the money you save by buying this preamp & put it where it matters the most: Into the music, itself.

Didnt really find any

Midrange stinks, highs are OK, bass is loose, overall sound quality is crap.

Man...I bought this pre amp as a temporary solution until my Pass Labs X1 arrived. I have revel Studio speakers and a sunfire signature amp with about $1000 in cables. I was using my Krell HTS2 from my HT so I bought this to hold me over. Plugged it in and the music sounded like it was coming out of a tin can. I let it play for two days to break in and guess what? Still sounded like crap. This made my $20k system sound like a $500 system. It was THAT bad. I wouldnt pay $1 for this becuase I could not stand to listen to music like this. Id rather do without. NOW if you are coming from a elcheapo $100 system, I can see where this may be an improvement, but if you have higher end stuff, DO NOT buy this preamp! Got my X1 in today and NOW I am hearing the music the right way. Ill give it 3 stars for value since its so cheap, but one star for overall becuase the sound quality stinks.

Similar Products Used:

Krell, Pass Labs, Adcom