Parasound's new Halo integrated

arcamguy1

Active Member
Hi group,
I'm seriously interested in Parasound's new Halo integrated; feature-packed, good power.
Has anyone heard it? I'm unfamiliar with Parasound products (I don't have a Parasound dealer in town.) and would like your feedback.

If there are better options in the Parasound line, I'll listen. The new Halo integrated got my attention especially because of the DAC.

Thanks in advance for your advice,
Jeff
 
Jeff

Are you looking specifically for and integrated and what is your budget limit. Also in case you don't know the ESS 9018 Dac chip in that unit is not the one from the Reference line. That is the 9018k2m chip designed for mobile applications. Don't know what or if there are sound differences other than the power of the chip itself.
 
I haven't heard the integrated yet but we have their P5/A23 combo at work which I imagine would sound pretty much the same. It's a good sounding set up that offers a lot of watts and features for a great price however I would say our Exposure 2010S2 integrated sounds better to my ears. Of course the Exposure is just a pure analog 80w integrated with no extras but I sort of think that's why it sounds a bit more detailed and somehow 'livelier'. Don't get me wrong the Parasound doesn't sound bad, it's just I think you get a smidge of the 'jack of all trades' thing creeping in.
 
Jez, Jack,
Thanks for chiming in.
I do worry about the 'jack for all trades thing." So much packed in..what compromises are being made?
Jack...thanks for the info on the DAC. No...I'm not necessarily locked into an integrated. Also considering class D monos from Wyred4Sound (mAMP), Bel Canto.

I have a vintage Yamaha C-70 preamp about to go to Avionic in August for a restore; it's been suggested I pair that with a Parasound A-21.

Jack, you chimed-in on my other thread about Rega (thank you for that, btw) ; my current amp, a Rega Elicit-R, while having many attributes, I fear is overmatched by my speakers, 4ohm Vienna Acoustics.....; hence, the search for better amplification that would also do a better job filling my space here in Las Vegas.

Anyone else on the Parasound, feel free to jump in.
Thanks guys,
J
 
If your budget is $2500-$3000 just for an amp for use with those speakers, I would suggest you contact Klaus at Odyssey Audio and look into a Kismet amplifier either stereo or mono's. If you get them in the less expensive Khartago cases you can do the mono's for your budget or the stereo for way less than that. They will push just about anything from Acoustat to Magnepan. The price he quotes you will be for "basic black" but there are many colors of anodized faceplates you can chose from for a small increase. I really like my mAMPS but I admit they were better with the 8 ohm Triton 5's than the 4 ohm Lorelei's. Another option is the Nuprime ST-10 which the reviewer from TAS used with some tough loads and it passed the test. With any kind of discount at all the DAC-10 preamp/dac and the ST-10 can be had for within your budget and your not tied to one do it all unit. I have the DAC-10 and love it and will probably buy the amp later in the Summer. Also the two Nuprime (formerly Nuforce) units are "half size" units just like the W4S m series, so both units fit on a shelf together. Another option is the Nuprime IDA-16 integrated, another "Swiss army knife", but at 200 wpc with a 9018 Reference series Dac.

Jack
 
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Jeff

Are you looking specifically for and integrated and what is your budget limit. Also in case you don't know the ESS 9018 Dac chip in that unit is not the one from the Reference line. That is the 9018k2m chip designed for mobile applications. Don't know what or if there are sound differences other than the power of the chip itself.

The Parasound Halo Integrated does use the 9018K2M chipset. See http://www.parasound.com/hint.php
I replaced a Musical Concepts-modified DH101 and a Musical Concepts-modified DH200 in my main system with the HINT. I would say that the sound quality is extremely good and, importantly, it drives my Magnepan 1.7i's very well - its compliance is quite high, rated at 240 watts per channel into 4 ohms. One characteristic of the HINT that has been quite striking to me is that, while it seems to effortlessly drive the Magnepans to very loud levels in my 20x14' room, it also seems very, very detailed at low levels. This is most striking in listening to jazz or classical vinyl with a wide dynamic range (most often played on a modified Thorens TD160 Super with SME M9-R and Ortofon Quintet Black). On the digital side I've been using the DAC driven by my Mac Mini and, although I haven't yet made any rigorous A/B comparisons, the SQ seems to be the equal of the ESS Sabre-based DAC in my Oppo BDP105-D. Just my impressions.

LarryRS
 
The Parasound Halo Integrated does use the 9018K2M chipset. See http://www.parasound.com/hint.php
I replaced a Musical Concepts-modified DH101 and a Musical Concepts-modified DH200 in my main system with the HINT. I would say that the sound quality is extremely good and, importantly, it drives my Magnepan 1.7i's very well - its compliance is quite high, rated at 240 watts per channel into 4 ohms. One characteristic of the HINT that has been quite striking to me is that, while it seems to effortlessly drive the Magnepans to very loud levels in my 20x14' room, it also seems very, very detailed at low levels. This is most striking in listening to jazz or classical vinyl with a wide dynamic range (most often played on a modified Thorens TD160 Super with SME M9-R and Ortofon Quintet Black). On the digital side I've been using the DAC driven by my Mac Mini and, although I haven't yet made any rigorous A/B comparisons, the SQ seems to be the equal of the ESS Sabre-based DAC in my Oppo BDP105-D. Just my impressions

LarryRS

Larry,
Thanks...most helpful. My musical taste tends toward jazz, classical, R&B, rock....lots of vocals....Diana Krall, Joni Mitchell etc. I'm big on detail in my music, which has been one of the nice things with my Rega. So I'm looking for an amp that not only is transparent and detailed, but also authoritative in bass. My speakers at 4ohm Vienna Acoustics, so I'm looking with something that can drive them with confidence.

If I get the Halo integrated, I would run one of my CD sources through the coax digital input to take advantage of the DAC.

While I certainly don't blast my music, my listening area is my main living/dining/study, 25x15 approx......; it's not a perfect space, but I do like my music to fill the space.

Any other thoughts, pass them along.
Thanks,
Jeff
 
I have been told by someone at one of the companies that uses both that the DAC's architecture is the same for both and that the difference is in the power supply implementation. Don't have any reason to doubt him, but have never heard both so don't know. I have a dealer I deal with that says that even though the DACs in the IDA-16 and the DAC-10 are the same the DAC-10 implementation of the 9018 sounds better because of the bigger and better power supply than in the integrated. He had them set up side by side. I think that the power supplies almost always play the biggest role in why the separates generally sound better especially when pushed.
 
Heard the Integrated at an audio show driving the GoldenEar Triton 5 speakers.
Sounded amazingly smooth. Possibly too smooth.
 
I've been looking at the new Parasound integrated also. I am going to buy a new integrated in the next month and it's down to the Parasound, the Vincent 237 , and the new Sony. I haven't heard any of them but the reviews on all are awesome. Sure wish I could try them on my system in my room first.
 
I've been looking at the new Parasound integrated also. I am going to buy a new integrated in the next month and it's down to the Parasound, the Vincent 237 , and the new Sony. I haven't heard any of them but the reviews on all are awesome. Sure wish I could try them on my system in my room first.

Not sure if this might be helpful to anyone, but I found the chart in the following useful in comparing the specs of some of the integrated offerings out there. http://parasound.com/pdfs/halo-integrated-cut-sheet.pdf

LarryRS
 
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