Tubehed

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $75.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
I picked up this little phonostage on Audiogon a short while back to use with my new Cayin TA-30 integrated. So far, I'm very impressed. The build and component quality is quite remarkable for the price. The sound quality is very clean, neutral and detailed for an entry-level phono preamp. Especially impressive is the PPH's solid imaging and lack of grain and hardness. It appears to be a good match for my modest but musical analog front end (NAD 533 TT & Shure V15VxMR). I do experience a slight background hum at higher volume levels which probably raises the noise floor to an extent. This unit may be fairly noisy with a low output MC cartridge in MC mode. However, I have trouble faulting this little gem when I only paid $75 for it in brand new condition.

Strengths:
Internal power transformer Detachable power cord Analogue Devices OpAmps Gold plated input jacks Excellent build quality for the price MM and MC settings Clean sound and good imaging Compact size

Weaknesses:
Slight background hum with my setup Bass slightly unrefined Midrange lacks the depth and complexity of more expensive phonostages

Similar Products Used:
Various onboard phonostages

tlea

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $100.00 from Used

Summary:
This is a simple, straightforward, no frills unit. It's a substantial improvement over most of the inboard phono stages you will find at this level, including those built into Parasound's own preamps. I auditioned the similar NAD unit and also the Creek and felt that the Parasound was the best fit for my system. I have a Rega P3 with RB-300 and Sumiko Blue Point Special, and my preamp is McCormack TLC-1.

Strengths:
Performance for the value. Excellent build quality. Detachable power cord. Can accommodate either MC or MM cartridges by changing an internal dip switch (very easy to do). I did not experience any RFI noise problems, which I have with other equipment in my system.

Weaknesses:
None significant at this price point.

Similar Products Used:
NAD, Creek, Parasound inboard

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
not much can be said about this phono stage when compared to the very best out there but for the price its a respectable performer and is generally better than something you'll find in your reciever or someting like that. The sound quality of this unit can be improved for only like fifty bucks with an upgrade from ModHi-Fi.com There is a very noticeable increase in sound quality after upgrading but for fifty bucks it can't work miracles.

Strengths:
good for the money

Weaknesses:
the bass is "wooly" and sort of undefined, the treble on some records can be sharp and digital sounding which doesnt say much for analogue gear but again, for the money its a good performer and those problems can be generally fixed with an inexpensive upgrade

Similar Products Used:
too many to mention

Price Paid:  $120.00 from Performance Audio

Summary:
Hey guys -- how ''bout expanding the analog section a little with separate listings for phono-pre''s, tonarms, cartridges? System (analog portion): -- Rega Planar 3 -- RB300 tonearm -- Sumiko Blue Point Special cartridge -- Marantz SR5000 receiver -- dbx BX1 power amp (to the mains) I bought the PPH/100 because the internal phono-pre in the then-current 12-yr old Sony preamp failed. I didn''t expect much for $120, just needed a band-aid. This unit exceeded expectations, and left a favorable impression of my first Parasound purchase. Note my system is hardly the ultimate, just solid mid-level. Do not expect audio nirvana for that kind of money, but do expect the PPH/100 to easily outperform any built-in phono-pre on any consumer-grade receiver. A sound bargain... pun intended.

Strengths:
Very good dynamic range, clarity Very good tonal balance Decent soundstage Tiny footprint Tiny price

Weaknesses:
Output level seems low compared to all other components in my system (but I guess that''s why the volume knob is there, huh).

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $120.00

Summary:
my audio system is as follows: oracle delphi, grado ref platinum, parasound pph-100, audio innovations L1 preamp, dynaco mk3 monoblocks, martin logan SL3, interconnects are of my own design (shielded twisted pair).

i find this phono stage to be pretty amazing for the money. i would have to spend at least $400US to get anything better, i think. i am looking forward to trying it with a MC because i think it has the resolving power to handle this class of cartridge.

i won't comment on the subject qualities of the preamp because they are largely system and room dependent. suffice to say that for $400US or less you are doing yourself a favour to buy this. even to have it as a spare.

i can tell you that there is a good opportunity to replace some parts in it to make it even better. after examining the circuitry i determined that caps C3,5,7 and 9 and the similar ones in the other channel are the main bypassing caps. they are cheap film caps and i replaced them with good wima polyprop's. C3 is a 22uF electrolytic that was replaced with a solen fast cap PP. total cost was around $20US. the usual effects with good PP caps was realized (smoother sound, faster transients, cleaner, more air, etc).

i am also going to replace all the 10uF electrolytics with black gate 10uF only because it's cheap to do so at around $20 for the whole preamp.

the power supply could also be upgraded, perhaps, but it seems good enough based on 1A 78/7915's. maybe a little more filtering.

otherwise, a great little component.

-plexus

Strengths:
well built and designed, no wall wart, great value for the money (nothing in its class)

Weaknesses:
for the money, none. parts can be upgraded