Parasound p5 vs avr ???????

The P5 is 1/8th the Preamp the P7 is.

I owned a pair of A23's and currently own a P7.

I seriously wouldn’t even recommend the P5 be taken seriously, inside it shares almost nothing with it’s larger siblings, the P7 or JC2. It’s just a very simple design that shares the same outer case but inside is mostly air. You'd think at half the price, it would be about as good construction, with less channels as the P7 but that's not the case. The P7 may be double the price but the internal build quality and features are outstanding.

I would go with a used P7 and can’t comment on the Marantz, or look elsewhere. Perrota Consulting often has some for a good price.

The P7 is very very nice sounding, but in absolute terms is a little noisy and lacks the channel separation of the best units. It has a following for a reason though.  It's very neutral and transparent, but won't give you any tube like euphonics, and won't mellow or emphasize anything.

Best,


Erik

I would need a Dac with the p7???

OH, right, forgot. I was having this same issue a couple of years ago and talked to Mr. Shram via e-mail. He gave me the impression that the DAC built into the P5 was just a utility, and that the DAC in the integrated was much better.  I ended up going with a P7 with an external DAC.

The P5 is really a basic performer. If that's what you want for the price, it will do just that. However you mentioned you were looking for improvement, so I wouldn't recommend it to be all that for you. 

If all you need is a DAC with volume, the Parasound VDAC V.2 is a better sounding package.  Around $400 right now, but it has no analog inputs.

For around $1,000 new (Direct only), the Mytek Stereo 192 DAC has 1 set of analog inputs and a very good DAC with DSD capabilities.

There are probably other more capable DAC/Pre's out there you should look at as well.


Best,

Erik