Vincent SP331 with a Parasound 2100

[sidnani]

Hello all,

My Vincent-SP331 is on it's way, and I plan to set it up with Parasound 2100 preamp and Jamo C807 speakers. Jamo C807 sound fantastic with my Anthem MCA2, but I'm setting the Anthem up with another pair of speakers in another room.

I'm not sure how a hybrid tube/sst amp will play along with Parasound 2100. Is there a strong opinion one way or another whether to use a tube preamp with a tube amp ? Will Parasound be ok, or should I be returning it (still boxed), and go with something else ?

thanks all!

[Jack in Wilmington]

First off, welcome to our little band of merry men. Frenchie should chime in here as he is our resident Vincent guru. As for tubed vs SS, there are a fair number of us who have recently gone to a SS amp and a tubed pre with excellent results. Are you using the Parasound with the Anthem at this time? If I had to guess, I would say you'll like the Vincent even better than the Anthem with the C807's. Looking forward to hearing how you like the Vincent when it arrives.

[Feanor]

Hello all,

My Vincent-SP331 is on it's way, and I plan to set it up with Parasound 2100 preamp and Jamo C807 speakers. Jamo C807 sound fantastic with my Anthem MCA2, but I'm setting the Anthem up with another pair of speakers in another room.

I'm not sure how a hybrid tube/sst amp will play along with Parasound 2100. Is there a strong opinion one way or another whether to use a tube preamp with a tube amp ? Will Parasound be ok, or should I be returning it (still boxed), and go with something else ?

thanks all!
Hi, sidnani,

Welcome to AR Forums.

There should be no issues using a Parasound 2100 preamp with the Vincent Vincent SP331 power amp. Their output/input impedances at <60 ohms and 47k ohms respectively are fine and there aren't likely any other compatibility issues.

The Vincent SA-31 preamp is another good option; it's about the same price as the Parasound 2100 so it would be a personal choice as between the two. The Peachtree Nova preamp/DAC is a bit more money but well worth it given it includes a nice DAC.

I haven't hear any of these preamps personally though.

[Hyfi]

Like Feanor said, since the impedances are good, no problems. I runn full dual mono tube pre with a Hybrid amp and love what it does. You will have to choose between slam or bloom at some point.

[sidnani]

First off, welcome to our little band of merry men. Frenchie should chime in here as he is our resident Vincent guru. As for tubed vs SS, there are a fair number of us who have recently gone to a SS amp and a tubed pre with excellent results. Are you using the Parasound with the Anthem at this time? If I had to guess, I would say you'll like the Vincent even better than the Anthem with the C807's. Looking forward to hearing how you like the Vincent when it arrives.

Thanks for the welcome, Jack. I already feel at home :)

I have not tried Parasound with the Anthem as of yet. My Anthem is paired with Anthem Pre2L, so this will be my first step into a mix of sst/tube. Very good feedback from everyone already.

I can't wait for my Vincent.

[sidnani]

Hi, sidnani,

Welcome to AR Forums.

There should be no issues using a Parasound 2100 preamp with the Vincent Vincent SP331 power amp. Their output/input impedances at <60 ohms and 47k ohms respectively are fine and there aren't likely any other compatibility issues.

The Vincent SA-31 preamp is another good option; it's about the same price as the Parasound 2100 so it would be a personal choice as between the two. The Peachtree Nova preamp/DAC is a bit more money but well worth it given it includes a nice DAC.

I haven't hear any of these preamps personally though.


Vincent SA-31 sounds sooo tempting, thanks for the tip.
I hate dealing with returns though, in case I decide to return the 2100.

If it sounds fine, I may just keep the 2100. I'm just not sure how much difference a pre-amp will really make in the overall sound quality. I really wanted to make sure that I had the speakers/amp combo correct first.

[JoeE SP9]

IMO and experience a preamp will make a bigger difference in SQ than a power amp.

[sidnani]

IMO and experience a preamp will make a bigger difference in SQ than a power amp.

Interesting,
I'm not sure why all these amp reviews talk so much about how amps affect music in so many different ways, and much more so than preamp reviews. Just my general impression from reading up so far...

[sidnani]

I wish there was a weight pros could put on preamp/amp/speaker combo affecting sound quality, given everything else remains the same (speaker wires, room conditions, etc). It would affect our decisions drastically..

[Mr Peabody]

You will like the Vincent, strong bass and a lot of performance for the price. The amp has a fairly long break in though. The Parasound & Vincent should sound good together, typically the Parasound are very clear. I'll have to have Frenchmon drop by he has both Vincent pre and power.

[blackraven]

Vincent SA-31 sounds sooo tempting, thanks for the tip.
I hate dealing with returns though, in case I decide to return the 2100.

If it sounds fine, I may just keep the 2100. I'm just not sure how much difference a pre-amp will really make in the overall sound quality. I really wanted to make sure that I had the speakers/amp combo correct first.


After going through 2 major upgrades in preamps in the last 6 months, I can assure you that a good preamp makes a huge difference. Amps certainly make a big difference as well as you go up the ladder in price.

[frenchmon]

Hi sidnani! And welcome to the boards! (And thanks Peabody for the heads up!)

The Vincent is a very good amp. I have the SP-331MK. I love it! Your amp should be great with the Parasound, but if it where me, I'd get the matching preamp. My dealer had that amp and preamp and I was surprised at how good that little preamp was.

The Vincent, as Mr. Peabody said takes a while to run in...if its anything like my experience, it will change in sound and character many times before it stops changing. And when it does, you should hear a very transparent sound. It doesn't lean to a SS sound nor is it a classic syrupy sound, but you do get that tube presence.....just enough to make you say "yeah" with a smile. Textures should be rich and popping and the thing should image like crazy!

The only thing that's really different from your amp and and mine, is I can tube roll and your tubes are soldered in. But don't worry or fear....because those tubes have unbelievable tube life. Seeing mine have a pair of soldered in tubes as well as tubes I can change, I did a little research on the soldered in tubes and discovered they are very rugged and tough military tubes that was used on rockets during war, so you can see why they are more rugged and tougher than most tubes. And they have a very nice sound as well, so don't sweat the fact they are soldered in. If you do find yourself needing to change one out, if you know how to solder, you can change them your self,or a local shop can do it. But those tubes probably will out live you...at least they will out live me, I'm in my 50's.

So what cables and speakers and source are you using? What size room will it be in? If you want a tip on some very transparent interconnect cable, power cables and speaker wire, to bring it all together, you should check out Audiophile Cables - High End Power Cords - Welcome to Triode Wire Labs (http://triodewirelabs.com/) The stuff is crazy good....not the most expensive stuff, and its not the cheapest either, but its well worth the price. I use the power cords as well as the speaker wire.....I use Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Copper interconnects which are great as well...but they too take a while to run it.

Keep us posted!

[frenchmon]

Interesting,
I'm not sure why all these amp reviews talk so much about how amps affect music in so many different ways, and much more so than preamp reviews. Just my general impression from reading up so far...

I too think a good preamp will give you outstanding performance. You ever hear cats talk about 3D effect, staging, imaging...and so forth? a good preamp can give you those things and more!

[blackraven]

I too think a good preamp will give you outstanding performance. You ever hear cats talk about 3D effect, staging, imaging...and so forth? a good preamp can give you those things and more!

Bingo!

[sidnani]

Hi frenchmon,

I can't thank you enough for your input, and advice.
Since you have heard the pre/power combo from Vincent, and liked it, I'm tempted to just return the Parasound and get the SA-31. I'm thrilled to know the soldered tubes are not something to be overly concerned about, I did try asking the dealer but didn't get enough info. I'm so glad to know the tubes are of high quality and rugged, they will likely outlast me too as I'm nearing my 50 as well :)

Good to know about the evolving nature of the amp sound. i will be using it with Jamo C807 speakers in a 25x20 room. I have been shopping around for some good quality speaker cables, so I will definitely check out the ones you suggested. I have been using Emotiva X-series with my 2nd setup, and they are ok.

Tremendous info! I'm just glad that I found this forum :)

[sidnani]

Just ordered SA31 to compare with Parasound 2100 to do:
tube pre with tube power versus
sst pre with tube power

and just to see how much better SA31 may or may not sound.
A lot of you already have experience with this, but this will be first take on this, so let's see. Will post back in a few weeks. Time to look at speaker cables suggested by frenchmon.

thanks all!

[frenchmon]

Keep us posted!

[sidnani]

Ok, finally have things on hand but not all hooked up yet.

Setup 1 (2 channel stereo)
Vincent SA31, Vincent SP331
Linn Ikemi CDP, Jamo C807,
Kimber 8TC

Setup 2 (2 channel stereo):
Parasound 2100, Marantz MM7025, Marantz CD6005,
Jamo D830 with Kimber 4TC,
Wharfedale Jade 1 speakers with Wireworld Solstice 7 as 2nd option.

Setup 3(HT - 5 channel):
Marantz NR1604, Rotel RCD971 CDP, Jamo C607, Jamo C80 CEN, 2xJamo C60 Sur, Kimber 8PR

Setup 4 (2 channel stereo):
Anthem Pre2L, Anthem MCA2,
Rotel MCD, Jamo C807, Kimber 8PR (Wharfedale 10.2 speakers with Nordost SuperFlatline Mkii as alternative)

Have done some listening tests with a few of these combos hooked up, and I'm in sonic heaven !!

More to come ...

Sunil

[frenchmon]

PICTURES MAN....WE need pictures!

[sidnani]

frenchmon,

Working on setting everything up. Right now everything is a mess with wires running everywhere, speakers/systems all over the place. As soon as I have things tidied up, I will be sure to take pics and post asap.

I made the mistake of not ordering biwire cables for the speakers initially, so have biwire jumper wires enroute - looking for whatever subtle improvements I can get.
Hoping jumper wires do better than stock plates.

thanks!

[frenchmon]

Oh...you're like the mad scientist over there! You're having fun!