“Parasound makes some great phono stages, and I have been quite happy with the phono stage in my Parasound P5, one of the few built in phono stages I saw that had a moving coil option. So I have been debating a new phono stage for awhile, finally pulled the trigger on this one. A lot of features, balanced outs. Sounded like garbage when I first hooked my Rega up to it, using a Blue point #2, and then I started adjusting the knob in back. And everything snapped into place. Wow, really nice. Don't see how you could do better with a stage in this price range. Especially with balanced outs, a mono switch, etc. Really nice.”
“I bought the Parasound XRM more than a year ago based on previous experience with Parasound and the cost vs features of this unit, and am very impressed with it. I am using it with my 35 year old refurbished Kenwood KD-500 turntable which I've fitted a new Jelco tonearm and new $99 MM phono cartridge. I wasn't quite happy with the phono cartridge however, so I dug out my 30+ year old Denon DL103D cart, checked with a company specializing in rebuilding these cartridges and discovered it should be just fine. So I mounted it up, switched over to the MC input, set the loading, and spun a disk. What happened next was and still is every time I play a record, a true "Holy Crap!" moment! Stevie Nicks visited my living room. Return to Forever visited my living room. Clarity, imaging, sense of space, it's all there. Highly recommended!”
“I use a turntable with two tonearms: one for stereo and another for mono, and could not find a preamp with two inputs, a mono switch, balanced output, and a potentiometer for adjusting load impedance without spending many thousands of dollars. Also, I refuse to flip dipswitches or move jumpers to make a cartridge sound good; my life is too short for that, and the XRM gives me two toggle switches and a potentiometer for adjustments. I can easily adjust settings until my carts sound just right, all without having to open a case or using tweezers and a magnifying glass.
The XRM gives me all of that, and it sounds quite good. I's dead quiet, great with timbres, and gives me a very good, almost holographic soundstage. And it even features balanced output, another killer feature not found in preamps in this price range. I think Parasound hit it out of the park with this one.
I've used the XRM with a Grado Platinum Statement V2 HOMC cart and an Audio-Technica AT-VM95C MM cart and they both sound great.”
“I did have some issues getting rid of hum, but it has functioned great after I plugged it into a cheater plug. Switching from MM to MC, variable loading options, variable gain options for both MM and MC, a mono switch! These are all things I was looking for in a phono preamp, and this has it all. I can't say that the sound is significantly better than the Creek Audio units I used previously, but the Parasound is much more flexible and does sound great. Overall, a great product!”
