New integrated amplifier from Parasound: Halo 5

Four years in the making and with 34 years of experience and unrivalled reputation behind the company, Parasound’s new Halo Integrated amplifier/DAC had to be something special … and different to most other integrated amps on the market today.

The combination of highest quality components and the very latest technology result in a “superior” integrated amp, offering Halo separates performance in a single chassis.  Parasound’s Halo P5 inspired the preamp stage and advanced feature list, while its power amp stage employs the same John Curl circuit topology found it the Class A/AB A21 and A23 power amplifiers.  Its DAC decodes 384kHz PCM and native DSD using the latest ESS Sabre32 Reference version DAC.

The back of the Parasound Halo 5, packed with balanced XLR, digital inputs (USB, COAX, OPT)

The Halo Integrated Amp boasts the impressive feature list below:

• Halo Integrated: preamp and DAC;
• Coax and optical accept PCM up to 192kHz/24-bit
• Latest generation ESS Sabre32 Reference DAC (ES9018K2M)
• Asynchronous USB 2.0 supports PCM up to 384kHz/32-bit
• Native and DoP DSD decoding (Drivers for ASIO or WASAPI)
• Premium motor-driven Alps potentiometer volume control
• Dedicated high current headphone amplifier (TI TPA6120)
• Phono input for MM & MC with 100 Ω or 47k Ω load
• Front panel Aux input with automatic +12 dB gain stage

Peak inside of the Halo 5.

Silver version of the Halo 5

Black version of the Halo 5.

5 pairs of line level analogue inputs

1 pair XLR balanced analogue inputs

Balanced XLR and RCA left and right preamp outputs

Analogue bass management with high & low pass crossovers

Home theatre bypass input for surround sound integration

The new Halo Integrated Amplifier is available in black or silver and in the UK now at a retail price of £2699.