Source: Press Release, Last Accessed: 2015/03/02

Parasound's new 2.1-channel integrated amplifier has a high-resolution DSD DAC, MM/MC phono stage, balanced XLRs, analog bass management, home theater bypass, and 160-watts per channel of John Curl designed amplifier topology.
According to the press release, the Halo Integrated Amplifier combines powerful John Curl designed amplifier topology with a sophisticated analog preamplifier and DAC making it capable of managing music sources ranging from vinyl records to the latest high-resolution DSD digital music files. The 160 watt per channel (240 watts in 4 Ohm loads) amplifier drives high-end loudspeakers with authority and accuracy, using the same Class A/AB circuits found in Parasound's renowned separate power amplifiers, the company says. These capabilities are further enhanced with a home-theater bypass function, 2.1-channel analog bass management, and a dedicated high-current headphone amplifier.
The Halo Integrated Amplifier uses the latest ESS Sabre32 Reference DAC to decode a wide range of digital music files via optical, coaxial, and USB inputs. The asynchronous USB 2.0 input supports PCM up to 384 kHz/32-bit, native DSD256 and DoP DSD bit streams. The coax and optical inputs accept PCM up to 192 kHz/24-bit.
The amp uses the company's classic Class A/AB, DC-coupled topology with a J-FET input stage, MOSFET driver stage and high-current output stage with 12 rugged Sanken bipolar output transistors. With its oversized shielded toroidal power transformer, 40,000µF filter capacity and enormous heat sinks, the Halo Integrated has power to spare to drive high performance loudspeakers to their fullest potential. Its adjustable low pass and high pass crossovers and front panel subwoofer level control allows for seamless subwoofer integration.
The Halo Integrated has a balanced XLR input and XLR L, R and Sub preamp outputs. There are five line-level inputs, record/fixed level output, and a low noise MM/MC phono input with three loading options. Its unique home-theater bypass input circuitry enables a surround sound receiver or processor to utilize the Halo Integrated's power amp to drive the left and right loudspeakers during surround sound listening while its subwoofer bypass inputs make it possible for subwoofer(s) to operate with surround sound and stereo listening.
The Parasound Halo Integrated Amplifier is currently available in black or silver finish with a suggested USA retail price of $2,495.

For more information: http://www.parasound.com/

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