Reviewing New Electronics from Parasound

Parasound is a San Francisco Bay area company that says their mission is to put great sound into attractive packages and price it significantly less than comparable products from their competition. With four distinct product lines, they address every spectrum of the market from entry-level to high end.

While I have heard their products at retailers, hi-fi shows and in friends’ homes, the two products I’m reviewing here are the first Parasound products I have had in my house. And right off the bat, I just have to say both of these products delivered much more than I expected, especially for their price.

Before I get much further into this review, I should probably tell you that I didn’t use nearly all the features of either product. I plugged them into my reference system for music. The system also included the DS Audio Master1 optical cartridge and phono stage, the BorderPatrol DAC SE and the Innous Mini music server. For speakers, I used them with both the DeVore gibbon Super Nine speakers and the Teresonic Ingenium XR single-driver Lowther speakers.

NewClassic 200 PRE

I’ve had the NewClassic 200 PRE in my house for the last two months. It is a stereo preamplifier and DAC, two-channel with an abundance of digital or analog connectivity. You can find complete specs here. It retails for only $895, and as you can see from the website, its features defy that price by a long shot. My ears told me the same thing about the sound.

If you’re into home-theater or satellite/subwoofer speakers for optimal subwoofer crossover control, it has analog bass management, home theater bypass, two-way RS-232 control, and support for digital audio up to 96/24 via USB or 192/24 via optical or coaxial. If you are into vinyl, it even has an MM/MC phono input.

ZoneMaster 2350 Stereo Amplifier

I’ve also had the ZoneMaster 2350 for about two months. In fact, I used it as one of the amps in part of my DeVore gibbon Supper Nines review, which you can read here. It is rated at 350 watts per channel into eight ohms and 600 watts into four ohms. It uses a Class AB input stage with high-end ICEpower Class D power modules, and it includes a two-channel analog low-pass crossover to drive one or more passive subwoofers. It also has a mono/stereo mode switch. Like the preamp, the sound defies the price tag. It retails for $1,295. Complete specs are available here.

Listening to the Parasound ZoneMaster 2350

I used the ZoneMaster 2350 mated with a Linear Tube Audio MZ3 preamp. This combo with the DeVore gibbon Supper Nines was stunningly good! The sound was sweet and powerful with a big soundstage. The frequency extremes were extended and defined with good space around the instruments.

The sound was never overly warm or bright and best of all never boring. The other amps I was using were the Pass Labs XA30.8 ($7,000) and the First Watt SIT 3 ($4,000). Yes, both of these amps were better in certain areas, but neither one blew away the ZoneMaster 2350. Where the 2350 fell short of the Pass Labs XA30.8 was that it didn’t have quite the beauty in the treble nor was it quite as transparent in the midrange. It did not have that beautiful tonal colors of the SIT 3. Still, any faults it has are sins of omission.

Both of the other amps listed in the DeVore gibbon Super Nines review cost multiple times as much as the ZoneMaster 2350. Yet, the 2350 did an amazing job of allowing the Super Nines to strut their amazing stuff. This is quite a claim to be able to state for an amp that retails for $1,295.

Listening with the Addition of the NewClassic 200 PRE

The combo of the Parasound ZoneMaster 2350 Amplifier and the NewClassic 200 PRE costs a mere $2,200. For this, you get a very nice DAC, a very versatile preamp, 350 watts of power per channel into eight ohms and a two-channel analog low-pass crossover to drive one or more passive subwoofers. I don’t know of another preamp/amp combo or integrated amp that can do all that at even twice the price.

The combination sounds neutral and pretty much adds little or no sound of its own to the music. The PRE isn’t as analog-like as my overachieving BorderPatrol DAC SE, but the BorderPatrol DAC is $1,800 and you don’t get a preamplifier.

The NewClassic 200 PRE with the 2350 amp didn’t have the tonal colors of the 2350 with the LTA MZ3 preamps, but the MZ3 costs $3,700, which is $1,500 more than the ZoneMaster 2350 amp and the NewClassic 200 PRE. In short, the Parasound combo is about $3,300 less than the combination I listen to in my system, and that’s a big chunk of change for very little improvement in sound quality.

By comparison, the 200 PRE only falls short by omission. The Parasound combo sounded wonderful with the DeVore gibbon Super Nines that cost $9,900. I would recommend this combo to anyone looking for an amp and preamp to use with much more expensive speakers.

I do feel that the ZoneMaster 2350 amp is the real thing in this combo, but the NewClassic 200 PRE is also incredible, especially for the price. Both are highly recommended. With either, you will get much more than you think you paid for.