Parasound Halo P5 preamp & A21/23 amps

livestrong

Well-Known Member
I've recently become intrigued by what the Parasound Halo P5 preamplifier has to offer, but don't see Parasound mentioned much around here.

Sure seems like a you get a lot for your money...
- built in DAC (USB, Coax, Opt)
- MM/MC phono stage (even with different loading options)
- balanced input
- and 5 more analog inputs
- balanced output
- a clever subwoofer integration/control system
- home theater bypass
- precision motorized volume control

I'm wondering how the onboard DAC and phono pre compare with their standalone versions. Pair that with the Parasound Halo A23 which seems to go for sub $600 on the gently used market and you've got a pretty sweet little setup. The A21 would be pretty special, but that is getting into some pretty serious coin - not outrageous by any means. Anyway - would love to hear if anyone has any experience/thoughts on the combo.

I'm presently kicking around the idea of trying the P5 out with a Vincent Audio amp - but I've sort of become an integrated guy - going separates intimidates me a bit :)


 
Hey man! Have not had experience with that particular model but have heard the Halo and have friends who have owned them. Very good and respectable gear.

Why the intimidation with separates?
 
I had a Halo P3/A21 combo a few years ago and thought it sounded very nice, especially for the money.
I can imagine that the new P5 would up the pleasure a bit.

Al. Wise
 
I have P3 for a while and will be getting A23 next week.
Have nothing bad to say about the preamp.
bunch of nice features and it sounds really good.
 
Last edited:
waiting to see what they want for their new Integrated when it hits the market(supposedly soon). Specs look good, design pedigree is good as well.
 
My dad has a p5 paired with a bryston 4b-st. It's a sweet preamp for sure! He is very happy with it.
 
I had a Halo P3/A21 combo a few years ago and thought it sounded very nice, especially for the money.
I can imagine that the new P5 would up the pleasure a bit.

And I'm the one that bought his P3 and it's still in rotation. I'm still pleased with it...
 
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your inputs - I hope this can become somewhat of a Parasound Halo reference thread at some point. The P5 is one of the more intriguing pieces I've run across in some time and I think it would pair very nicely with a Vincent Audio SP-331 :D
 
I recently picked up a P5 and mated it to a Rotel 1552 mkII power amp. I'm very impressed! Now I'm a vintage guy so my frame of reference is limited. I did have a Marantz PM8004 integrated for a short while but found that it pushed back most of the treble into the background.

This Rotel/P5 combo I think splits the difference between the warmer layed back sound of a Rotel/Rotel combo. The p5 brings the system more toward what some would call the analytical side but that's what I prefer........and no subwoofer needed. Tone controls on the P5 provide just enough (sometimes too much) bass for my system. It helps that the Rotel/P5 drive my JBL 112's and L46's. Just my 2c fwiw, P5 gets 2 thumbs up!:thmbsp::thmbsp:
 
I should have mentioned that this too was my 1st foray into separates myself, come on in the water is fine!:yes:
 
Hello everyone I'm a owner of Parasound Halo P5 for about a year now, I previously had Denon PRA-2000 & POA-3000,Technics SU-C3000 & SE-A3000 Separates, Accuphase E-306, Denon PMA-2000IVR Inegrated etc., Link to My Current Set Up.

In my opinion P5 is do it all swiss army knife like Pre Amp.

Here is my few thoughts, Build Quality is pretty good,looks great but volume control knob is not that great, meaning not as precision control knob as other amps I used before because adjusting volume with remote control is not as precise as the way I like it to be but it's not a big issue for me I can always turn the knob with my hand easily.

Built in DAC is ok, Not as good as $300-500 many stand alone DAC offering in the market, sound from DAC is not dynamic enough to my liking, feels like they have to add it for feature rich product offering from Parasound. My Denon AV Amp DAC sounds better than that, I prefer using Musical Fidelity V90 DAC from Apple TV to feed it through P5 analog section. I can't comment on USB input because I haven't try it yet.

Analog section is this Pre Amp greatest strength of all, very quiet, neutral sound with little bit on warm side, SUB control is great feature to have, XLR input/output and sound quality jump with XLR connection was my main decision to keep this amp, it sound really good with RCA connection but this amp sounds it best with XLR connections through out from disc player to power amp.

Salesman from Audio advisor was right about the sound quality because he told me I have to spend $5-6k if I want better sounding pre amp than this because this amp does what a pre amp suppose to do. Headphone amp input and 3.5mm AUX input were also great addition.

I must say P5 is very sensitive to power cords as well, stock power cord is very good but improve the sound with power cord upgrades as well. Thats just my experience.

I have no plan to upgrade it anytime (I might upgrade to Halo JC2 preamp) because I can't justified the price different with my current set up to my friend's 70k set or higher price offering. It's impossible for me to justifed the price difference in sound that gives back.

You know if you choose either Halo P5+A21 or P5+A23 with the price of pair is reference quality performance, very easy to recommend to anyone looking for separates, just my .02 cent.
 
Hello group,
Good discussion about the P5/A21;

I've not had personal experience with Parasound but am intrigued by their new Halo integrated, selling at $2,500. I'm looking for something a bit more powerful than my current integrated (Rega) for my speakers (Vienna Acoustics).
How would you describe the Parasound SQ? How would you rate the overall quality?

If you've heard the new integrated, I'd like to hear from you. Its onboard DAC sounds like a good option, too.
Jeff
 
Back
Top Bottom