The Zpre is a dated small form factor preamp from Parasound, that also happens to be a great headphone amplifier. It comes with the Burr Brown 2134 Opamp for those that care for this type of thing. It does have rack ears, so look wise it's not for everyone. These can be had for cheap now, so why not give them a try right.
Sound wise, it's the classic good stuff. Musical and none fatiguing. Nothing you can complain about when choosing equipment from great audio designers. I actually have two of these little Preamps and to have some more fun, I put in a 8 pin dip socket for Opamp swapping. Having the remote makes it easy to raise the volume, when you sitting on a couch or something. The remote that comes with it, also controls an old Parasound TDQ150 tuner that sounds quite good. I drive IEM's and my JVC SZ1000 just fine. I do use software and hardware EQ with this Preamp and it has no problem going in the low notes. It doesn't have enough power for the HiFiman 400i, but that is why I have a modded Parasound Zamp V1 for. Some of my other sound equipment are B&K, NAD, Luxman, A/D/S, B&O to give you an idea of what sound signature I like.
The look is dated and the younger crowd might just dislike the look and rack ears. The latest version is the Zpre 3 that came out this year(Sept 2016).
(from the manual)The Zpre headphone output is driven by a high-quality headphone amplifier circuit. It is suitable for headphones with an impedance of 8 Ω or higher. The headphone circuit remains live, even when you press the Mute button. The Bass control boosts and cuts low frequencies +/- 8 dB at 100 Hz. The Treble control boosts and cuts high frequencies +/- 8 dB at 10 kHz.
The BB opamp can be swapped for a change in sound. I put a 8 dip socket in two of my Zpre's. One has the Burson V5 and the other Burson V4. I also tried the Muses 01 and Muses 02.
The Burson V5 is very clean and brings the Parasound on a different Hifi level. The Burson V4 beats the V5 in subbass reproduction.
Sound wise, it's the classic good stuff. Musical and none fatiguing. Nothing you can complain about when choosing equipment from great audio designers. I actually have two of these little Preamps and to have some more fun, I put in a 8 pin dip socket for Opamp swapping. Having the remote makes it easy to raise the volume, when you sitting on a couch or something. The remote that comes with it, also controls an old Parasound TDQ150 tuner that sounds quite good. I drive IEM's and my JVC SZ1000 just fine. I do use software and hardware EQ with this Preamp and it has no problem going in the low notes. It doesn't have enough power for the HiFiman 400i, but that is why I have a modded Parasound Zamp V1 for. Some of my other sound equipment are B&K, NAD, Luxman, A/D/S, B&O to give you an idea of what sound signature I like.
The look is dated and the younger crowd might just dislike the look and rack ears. The latest version is the Zpre 3 that came out this year(Sept 2016).
(from the manual)The Zpre headphone output is driven by a high-quality headphone amplifier circuit. It is suitable for headphones with an impedance of 8 Ω or higher. The headphone circuit remains live, even when you press the Mute button. The Bass control boosts and cuts low frequencies +/- 8 dB at 100 Hz. The Treble control boosts and cuts high frequencies +/- 8 dB at 10 kHz.
The BB opamp can be swapped for a change in sound. I put a 8 dip socket in two of my Zpre's. One has the Burson V5 and the other Burson V4. I also tried the Muses 01 and Muses 02.
The Burson V5 is very clean and brings the Parasound on a different Hifi level. The Burson V4 beats the V5 in subbass reproduction.
- Four Audio Inputs
- Four Video Inputs
- Automatic Input Priority Switching
- Two Audio-Video Outputs
- Fully Remote Controllable
- External Infrared Remote Control Input
- Remote Control Also Operates TDQ-150 Tuner
- RS-232 Serial Connection
- DC Trigger Input
- DC Trigger Loop Output
- Bass and Treble Controls
- Motorized Volume Control
- Low Noise Circuit
- High Current Power Supply
- Gold-Plated RCA Jacks
- Removable IEC AC Cord
- Frequency Response:
5 Hz Ω 100 kHz, +0/-3 dB, - Total Harmonic Distortion:
<0.003%, 20 Hz 20 kHz - IM Distortion:
<0.005% - TIM:
Unmeasurable - Maximum Output:
9 V before clipping - Input Impedance:
10 kW - Input Sensitivity:
200 mV +/-5% - Signal-to-Noise Ratio:
> 102 dB, A-weighted > 93 dB, Unweighted - Maximum Hum:
> 0.01 mV - Crosstalk:
> 76 dB, 20 kHz - Video Frequency Response:
- 3dB @ 45 MHz (100 kHz - 0 dB reference) - Dimensions:
9 1/2" W x 1 3/4" H x 7" D (2 凡 high with feet) - Power Requirements:
110 V - 120 V AC, 8 W
