Parasound p6 and Primaluna Preamp shootout.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ส.ค. 2024
- In this video I discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses between the Parasound P6 solid state preamp and the Primaluna prologue tube preamp.
• Tube amp vs Solid Stat...
#stereo #preamplifier #tube #solidstate
I had a Parasound P6, and I bought a Primaluna EVO 400 and when I changed over to the Primaluna, I was blown away with how much better it was in every in every way. I will say that the bass management of the Parasound was pretty awesome.
Cool. I’ve heard great things about the Evo 400. I haven’t had a chance to hear it yet. Thanks for watching and commenting
5k vs 1.8k .... not a valid comparison
Big difference in price not comparing apples to apples
I have the same PrimaLuna. I have the Parasound P5. Which is nearly identical to the P6 minus the runaway volume control and DAC. The parasound is one of the most flexible comprehensive pre amps ever made. Its a Keeper. The PrimaLuna is very nice sounding but has less features. I use out#2 for subwoofer. It works quite well.
Thanks for the tip. I’ll check it out. Thanks for watching
Thanks. I have the same PL pre and love it. I got 2 REL’s and connected them to amp w/high level connectors to speaker posts. Amazing. Supposed to be better than LFE connection.
Cool. Sound like you have an awesome set up. I bet it rocks. Thanks for watching and commenting
Fantastic review. I just subscribed, thanks.
Thanks so much. Really appreciate your support.
@@Audiolympian 👍
REL subs are good for the high level out. Seperate gain controls on it for the high input and LFE input.
Good point. It does sound better that way
Thanks for watching and commenting
Thanks. That was helpful. I have P5 but thinking about PrimaLuna preamp because I heard a friend's tube amp (McIntosh) and it was just so warm and beautiful. I don't want to give up the power of my SS Parasound A21, so thinking a tube preamp might be right. And I am not as much of a basehead as you!
Happy to help. Thanks for watching
Hey, try using an active crossover for your subs if your preamp only has preamp outs. I use a DBX 223XS. Works great. Or don't if your happy with your system. They are about $300.00 Candian ish. Your parasound has that basic feature built in. Great video.
Hey great tip. I’ll definitely look into it. Thanks for watching
The newest PrimaLuna EVO 300, and EVO 400, with 2 REL subs is definitely the way to go. REL is the only subs I’ll use when it comes to playing music.
Yes that would be a killer system. I can’t wait to hear the new home theater Rel’s. Thanks for watching
Rythmik is just as good as REL and even has lower extension.
@@ArthaxtaDaVince777 agreed! Rythmik is the choice of many people who want ultra fast, tight, and accurate bass. It’s amazing how they manage to keep their prices lower than the competition and offer state of the art servo subs! IMHO, the only way to go for ultimate bang for your bucks!
@@michaela.6698 Yeah I got dual L12s from them and I've never heard subs that are this fast and have the depth that these do. I would recommend it for any stereo system.
👍 Parasound p6
Thanks for watching
nice video....does the p6 provide any additional soundstage or separation between instruments like how a tube pass thru would aid? love the features of the P6 but wish the front chassis would have a more sleek digital design...
I agree the look of the face is kind of old fashion not very modern. I think it has good separation, definitely better then a receiver or my peachtree preamp but that could just be my ears. Thanks for watching and commenting
Hi there. Can you review the sound between two ? You just review the functionality only. All of stereo people out there they all focused on how it sounds .
Sure I can do that. Thanks for watching
Very informative review! Where did you find such a great buy on the p6? Best
Thanks for the compliment. I purchased the p6 on audiogon.com. Thanks for watching, appreciate the support
I’m considering a Parasound Currently but I’m debating between the intergraded Hint 6 and getting the P6 and a separate power amp. Besides that great deal you got on your P6 are there any other reason you went with a preamp? And what power amp are you using to power your speakers with the P6. Anyway interesting comparison between your P6 & the Primaluna
I’m using Parasound jc1 monoblock amps. The other reason I got this preamp is because it has a subwoofer preout. But if I could have gotten a good deal on a p5 preamp I probably would have bought that. The p6 has a better dac system but for my needs the p5 would have been just as good. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching
Hey bro, wonderful video .. I'm using P5 & yes, sub out is very, very useful cause I have 18inch driver playing them with separate class D power amplifier in active mode first I played then from balance out. from pre That sounds good.. but one day i made a change & plugged them in pre sub out. & scenario is change .. its amazing. Beside I wanted to keep a tube preamp under $1000 plz suggest 🙏
Cool. Sounds like you got a great set up. Hmmm a tube preamp under $1k I’d definitely go with schiit Freya. It has an amazing sound and a good amount of features, inputs and outputs. However, sadly no sub output. Thanks for watching and commenting
You should go ahead and try out the crossover features. Running a sub is great, but offloading the lowest frequencies from your main speakers and their amplifier(s) can make a really noticeable improvement in their performance. Especially so if you're running a lower powered tube amp.
This is my experience at least, based on my Emotiva TA-1. But the TA-1 crossover is locked at 90hz, which is just too high. I like the Emotiva sound overall and am considering the P6. I upgraded with a Schiit Vidar and am no longer using the TA-1 internal amp. I realize that the P6 is only a pre.
Has anyone compared Parasound to Emotiva? Will they have a similar signature? My Emotiva is very fast and clean with clear, forward vocals. The midrange can be a little thin at times and the sound stage is kinda flat. I've tried driving my Vidar with my Audio-gd headphone equipment and that produces a more full bodied sound and brings the sound out into the room. I prefer this for music, but I often use my system for TV and movies. I find the Emotiva's flatter sound stage feels much more connected to what's happening on screen. The deeper stage from the Audio-gd stack makes it feel like voices are being artificially cast into the center of the room and not coming from the characters' mouths.
Interesting points you have. I haven’t used my preamp for movies or tv at all even though it has a pass through. I do like Emotiva gear, to my knowledge nobody has compared Parasound with them but I think it would be an interesting comparison. I’ve thought a lot about the vidars. Great reviews on them for size and sound. Now running my Goldenear Triton One.r’s for music additional subs are definitely not needed but I still love the versatility of the p6. Thanks for watching
@@Audiolympian Thanks for the input. I don't have a lot of experience with power amps, but my single Vidar made a really big difference over the TA-1 internal amp. Maybe bigger than going from an SMSL AD18 to the TA-1 in the first place!
I did get to try he Vidar against one or two tube amps my friend brought over. We hands down prefer Vidar. My same friend has like 5 Vidars now, I think? He has multiple systems..
@@zackw4941 very interesting. I’ll probably be picking up a vidar here in the future. Thanks for the input
which subwoofer were you using, when you ran your line level output to the sub and back out to your amplifier?
I used a few subs such as monolith, goldenear and svs. They all were very different. But in this video I used my REL HT1205. Thanks for watching
I know it's only 2022 but wait till someone combines the two together bass management and tubes in one box 🤔 or has someone done it ?
To my knowledge nobody has made a tube preamp with bass management. I wish someone would. Thanks for watching
Galion does, but pre amp to come in 2024, for now only integrated.
Shortest distance between two points is a straight line .
Right you are!
why second hand P5 pricing is still high it's because it sounds better then P6
I have noticed that. Not sure why. I haven’t heard the p5 only p6 and p7 and those two sound the same to me. I do know the p5 has some pretty good upgrades from the previous models. Thanks for watching
Why don't you use one of the preouts for the sub on the primaluna?
Good thought. I did try that and the issue for me was that the preout signal is full range so it treated the sub like a full range speaker it didn’t send just an Lfe signal and of course we know subs aren’t full range so it still lacked in the bass response. However it wasn’t the worst sound in the world, someone may like it. I did edit out a part due to video length and I found upon further listening with my Triton One.r’s that have built the n powerful subs the Primaluna was superior in sound. Thanks for watching
So I know this p6 has a dac but can you add a external dac to bypass the one onboard or are you forced to use the one built in
Yes you can add an external dac. They shouldn’t cancel each other out. I use my oppo Blu-ray player as a cd transport and that has a built in dac too and it works fine. Thanks for watching
Routing your external dac via balanced outputs or unbalanced RCA to the P6 inputs will avoid the digital signal processing of the internal DAC
Does the p6 color the sound or is it a neutral sound and does it pair best with class d amps or AB amps?
It’s neutral. I don’t have class d amps but my ab are great with it. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching
@@Audiolympian what ab amps have you tried for a hybrid 2.1 channel movies and music solution? I’m debating schiit vidar 2 , aperion audio energy 2 channel amp they’re both class AB. And the loud speakers I want to pair is the Tekton impact monitors
@@waldowsxxghostxx8577 my class ab amps are Parasound, emotiva and luxman. But I have heard the Vidar and it is very good and I think that would pair with the tektons well. I haven’t heard Aperion’s amp, don’t know much about it. Another recommendation could be Peach Tree amps. They’re class d but they sound really good, close to class ab and they pack some good power. They’re but of a sleeper company, not many people talk about them.
@@Audiolympian if you ever get a chance are you able to check aperionaudio out the makes speakers as well as 2-7 channel class AB power amps on their home page top of their website they have a scroll tab lists different products of witch is their energy lineups of power amps
@@waldowsxxghostxx8577 I have been reading about their new products lately. I have listened to some of their speakers in the past and they’ve always sounded good. So I may look into their amps as well.
Didn't you hear your mic was clipping like crazy when you were editing this video? Why even include the sound bit with distorted audio. Before it started to clip the primaluna sounded like a true audiophile unit. The p6 had boosted and bloated bass. I had a p5 and it broke on me twice in a year. Sub out went out and then the volume pot got scratchy. On another note love the tritons. I keep kissing my t1's that i sold a few years back. Replaced them with polk lsim707 during a crazy sale, and actually the polks have a cleaner and more tight bass than the t1.
Thanks for watching. I didn’t notice the mic was clipping. It did that no matter where I had my mic. It was quite frustrating also I had been editing this video for too many days so I just through them in. I do have a solo review of the p6 coming and those clips are much better. That sucks for your p5. I’m loving my p6 I’ve been able to dial in my sound very fine tuned. And I’m gonna switch out my one.r’s to my t-ref’s. I have heard good thing about the Polk line recently. Thanks for commenting
How does the P6 sound compared to your Freya?
Honestly, the Freya did hold its own against the p6 in terms of pitch and ranch. It had a more mellow sound but definitely not as strong as the P6. The P6 added more presence to the speakers. Thanks for watching
@@Audiolympian did you have the original Freya or Freya+?
@@jakefifelski3851 I have the original
@@Audiolympian thanks for the replies. I have the Freya+. Would you say the P6 would be an upgrade or lateral move from the Freya+ in terms of overall sound quality?
@@jakefifelski3851 you’re welcome. That’s a good question. Not exacta lateral move because the sound is different. You know, very similar to comparing tubes and solid state. I think the difference that gives the P6 an edge is it’s features and adjustments you can make with it so you can customize the sound how you like it. Hope that helps.
I was using the P5 preamp with Parasound A21 amp, which sounded fine (I was just getting into higher end audio, so I didn’t have much experience listening to various equipment). I kept hearing about the vaunted “tube sound” and wanted to experience that, so I bought the Schiit Freya+ tube preamp. I prefer the more open sound of the Freya+ with the A21. Freya+ can be played solid state or through the tubes, both of which I like but the tubes offer a fuller, richer sound to me. The Freya+ is affordable, which fits well into my budget. I have not listened to any Primaluna product, but I read comments by many audiophiles that really like that gear. The dealbreaker for me is that Primaluna is not just made in China but is a Chinese company. I just don’t want to give more business to a Chinese company, for political reasons. Not everyone cares about that.
I hear ya. China has way too much of our market. That’s why I do like Schiit and Bob carver gear made in the USA and Jl audio. But those can be pricey. Thanks for watching
God bless China hopefully they will pass US economy by 2030 2035 according to Western sources like The Economist, Forbes etc
They don’t have subs because they are for grown ups stick to watching films
Thanks for watching
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