Hi Ether,
I am by no means an expert on any of this, but you have 3V of output from your CD player and an input impedance of 300K ohms for your amp, which I think indicates that you could run about any preamp you choose.
I cannot explain why the Parasound sounds so loud as it has less gain than your Cary preamp.
You could try a passive preamp, so the prior suggestion about the W4S STP is a good idea. I had that preamp and it was pretty smooth but not the most dynamic thing I have had in my system.
A preamp with a lower gain like the Primaluna Dialogue Premium (10db) might work for you. I still own this preamp and it has good bass and vocals are well articulated in my system.
I also run a Conrad Johnson LS17-2, which does not have the organic bass of the Primaluna, but is more nuanced and "alive" in my system.
I guess my message is that a preamp is critical and we all need to keep listening to as many as we can.
Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable about gear responds to your post with more experienced answers to your question(s).
Thanks for listening,
Dsper.
I am by no means an expert on any of this, but you have 3V of output from your CD player and an input impedance of 300K ohms for your amp, which I think indicates that you could run about any preamp you choose.
I cannot explain why the Parasound sounds so loud as it has less gain than your Cary preamp.
You could try a passive preamp, so the prior suggestion about the W4S STP is a good idea. I had that preamp and it was pretty smooth but not the most dynamic thing I have had in my system.
A preamp with a lower gain like the Primaluna Dialogue Premium (10db) might work for you. I still own this preamp and it has good bass and vocals are well articulated in my system.
I also run a Conrad Johnson LS17-2, which does not have the organic bass of the Primaluna, but is more nuanced and "alive" in my system.
I guess my message is that a preamp is critical and we all need to keep listening to as many as we can.
Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable about gear responds to your post with more experienced answers to your question(s).
Thanks for listening,
Dsper.