parasound halo? (1 Viewer)

[JohnnyN]

does anybody own any Parasound Halo gear? Have you auditioned any halo gear? Can I get any feedback on the products relative to other gear that you have auditioned? I currently own a Denon 4802 that is driving B&W CDM NT series and at near reference levels with all channels driven, the AVR is shutting off... apparently the load is too much... I'm really interested in getting the A23 to drive the mains first and offload some of the responsibility that the 4802 must handle right now, adding the A52 in a few months, and eventually upgrading to the Halo C2 or Krell Showcase... any feedback would be welcome?

 

[Skip Hammerman]

I have had my Parasound Halo 2 for approximately two months now replacing Proceed PAV/PDSD combination. The Halo is a great performer and I am very pleased with it. Running Aragon 8008X3 and Adcom 555II (for rears) with Dunlavy SC-IV's, Dunlavy SC-I center, Klipch surrounds and Velodyne FSR-18 for deep bass. Sony 7700 DVD, Direct TV, Sony XBR 61 incher. The Halo surround processing is much more accurate and spacial than the Proceed. I am using NEO movie mode for most of the movie watching and straight stereo for music. Music sounds great with a wide and deep soundstage with pinpoint accurate imaging. I have the Escient Tunebase 100 with two Sony 300 CD changers. Not that the Proceed was a sloutch in this department either...

Anyway - the Halo is awesome, has an unbelievable amount of tweaks to play with and is built very solid. Could not be happier. I chose it over the Aragon Stage One, Anthem and the Rotel which were all my final list.

Good look -

Skip

 

[Brian Corr]

I've owned a Denon 3200, 3802, 5803, B&K ref 50 and now a C1 and A51. The C1 sounds the best out of all the equipment I've had.
What else would you like to know?

I'd try adding a 5 channel amp first and see how you like that. If you primarily listen to HT and not music and your not concerned with the latest stuff (DPLIIx), then the 4802 would make a nice pre/pro.

The 4802 is pretty robust so I'd be curious if there was another problem, maybe something is faulty in the receiver?

 

[DannyL]

i am running b&w nautilus 804's and htm1 with the parasound halo c2 and a51 amp. i have no intentions of replacing either parasound product- they are awesome. i was previously running an outlaw 950 pre/pro with an aragon amplifier- i found that combination kind of harsh in the high end. i've also auditioned my speakers with the krell pre/pro and amp as well as with an all sunfire system. i found the krell to be too bright and the sunfire too dark with the n804's. the combination of b&w with parasound= smooth highs and warm midrange. still needs a subwoofer though. hope this helps.

 

[AndrewKC]

I have tried the A23 in my system. While it was an improvement, it definitely wasn't worth retail price over my HK AVR525's internal amps. I've since gotten a used HCA1500A, and that amp is definitely better than the A23. There is no difference in tone, as far as I can tell (I'm driving NHT 2.9's, 6 ohm, 87 db sensitivity), but the 1500A is able to play louder and more effortlessly. However, if matching the amps with the pre/pro you're planning on getting is important to you, you don't really have much choice besides the parasound offerings.