my first hi-fi separate system was the parasound halo a23 amp and matching p6
preamp that modest combo supercharged my obsession with hi-fi so i'm pretty excited
to get back to my early audiophile routes with the hint 6 integrated amplifier from perrison
the hint 6 is a stereo integrated amplifier from parasol's halo line the power amp inside is a
john curl design and it is a high bias class a ab amp turning out 160 watts per channel into 8 ohms
and 240 watts per channel into 4 ohms the hint 6 has both unbalanced and balanced analog audio
inputs which includes a built-in moving magnet moving coil phono preamp you also get balanced
and unbalanced preamp outputs as well as stereo subwoofer outs the hint 6 possesses full analog
base management courtesy of its low and high pass filter controls it can even be integrated into an
existing home theater via its home theater bypass option effectively becoming a stereo amplifier for
your left and right main speakers then of course there is the built-in dac which uses the ess saber
32 reference chipset the six features two optical audio inputs which is one more than the previous
generation it has coaxial digital inputs as well as a usb the latter supporting native dsd files
it also has a dedicated high current headphone amplifier now control is handled either via the
physical controls on the unit's face or with the included backlit remote setting up the hint 6 is
easy peasy we tested the paris sound with three different loudspeakers the focal aria k2 towers
the wharfdale lintons and the new monitor audio silver 500 7g tower speakers i connected one of
our svs3000 micro subwoofers to the sixes subwoofer output setting the crossover on
the parasound to about 50 hertz or so depending on the speaker i was using we streamed a wide range
of music from apple music through our apple tv 4k connected to our sony x95j via an hdmi cable
that we then connected to the hint 6 using a single optical cable running between the tv
and the amp itself this setup allowed us to enjoy television in movies in 2.1 or 2.2 which for me
is often enough for analog duties i relied on our audio technica turntable using the ordophon 2m
black cartridge getting right into its sound a lot of people will summarize the hint 6 as little more
than a parasound halo a23 plus and p6 preamp in a single chassis and maybe they're right however as
a former og parasound halo owner one that ran up a bit of credit card debt in order to acquire the
a23 and p6 back in the day i have to say a lot has changed since then the hint six is far more
refined than i recall my original a23 p6 combo ever being in terms of bass the hint 6 is live
favoring agility over outright depth of course you can add a sub or 2 which will solve this
problem but on the whole if you prefer speed and texture i think you're really going to like this
amplifier in comparison to the less expensive and less powerful audio lab 6000a play the audio lab
did give one a greater sense of low end weight but its reflexes weren't as snappy resulting in
a sound that came across as fuller but also mellower at times conversely when compared
to the macintosh 7200 the macintosh possessed the same low end reach as the audio lab but it
coupled it with the same speed focus and detail i experienced with the parasound in other words
you should reasonably expect to pay near double the asking price to outright best the hint six
the mid-range is incredibly clean transparent to the source with little to no coloration though
if i'm being nitpicky the mild leanness in the base does cost the mid-range a hint of
weight see what i did there don't mistake this subtle leanness for cool or analytical it just
isn't overly warm or lush all that said the mid-range performance of the paris sound ranks
among the more effortless at or near its price in many respects it's eerily similar to the
mid-range performance of the yamaha as3200 and even my beloved deckwear zen amp and that sound
just sort of happens in terms of definition throughout the mid-range the parasound is
absolutely terrific the 6 can unpack a recording be it analog or digital and let you really hear
every subtle nuance and texture found within i was especially impressed by the vocal delivery
artists like amos lee anderson east and howie day sounded vividly real and three-dimensional
in their portrayal regardless of the speakers i used if intelligibility is high on your must have
list of sonic traits don't sleep on the hint six which brings us to the highs my old a3 p6 combo
could come across as a little bright at times i don't know what if any changes parasound has
made to the amp or preamp circuits of the hint 6 compared to my old a23 or p6 but the 6 sounds far
more refined it's like they sent my beloved pair sound separates to finishing school and the hint
6 is what returned open extended and dimensional are the three words that i would use to describe
the six's high frequency delivery the pair of sounds highs are not subdued or rolled
off so it isn't going to mask digital nasties like compression or excessive sibilance but
even when faced with a recording with more of these traits the 6 manages to keep its composure
i did find that the gold dome tweeter of the monitor audio silver speakers could sound a little
more brash when driven by the hint 6 compared to the one found in say the arya k2 or wharfdale
linton's but even at its worst the parrot sound remained listenable if i had any knock against the
six's high frequency performance it would be that treble-leaning reed or horn instruments retained
their brassy quality up top but some of the air that is often audible surrounding instruments such
as flutes or clarinets isn't quite as breathy as what you're going to find in costlier amps such as
the macintosh 7200 or the canner ai-110 but i am nitpicking in terms of soundstage the pair sound
isn't going to get in the way of any speaker's natural ability that said i believe the 6 is
in a class on its own with respect to enabling your speaker's sound stage to shine especially
in the detail and separation departments the hint six is every bit as good as the costlier
yamaha as3200 with respect to focus throughout the sound stage and that focus remains tack sharp even
as instruments and vocalists begin to move about or between your left and right speakers now the
parasound's overall sound stage presentation even with more forward or punchy speakers like
the monitor audio towers doesn't project it tiptoes right up into the front baffles of
your speakers and then extends well behind but it's never forward dynamically the parasound
is excellent both at moderate and loud volumes dynamic swings are natural and appropriate and
always feel organic or realistic to the recorded event and never artificially enhanced the hint 6
ability to scale with respect to both sound stage and dynamics is very impressive while there are
definitely more powerful amplifiers and integrated amplifiers on the market the paris sound comes
across as a little beefier than its specs may lead you to believe no matter what speaker i
connected to the paris sound i always felt that i was experiencing them at their level best
apart from the six's sound quality i thought the built-in phono preamp was good definitely
good enough to resolve the differences between say an ortofon 2m blue and my 2m black cartridge i'm
not going to go so far as to say it's the best built-in phono preamp but it is solid i also
thought the internal dac sounded very good the inclusion of optical audio inputs and subwoofer
outputs mean the hint 6 could serve as the centerpiece of a simple 2.1 or 2.2 home theater
setup which i absolutely love if it had an hdmi input the hint 6 would border on perfection which
brings me to what i don't like about the paris sound if i have any concerns about the
hint 6 it would be that not every element of its construction is as high-end as its sound quality
the small knobs used for tone controls balance and whatnot are plastic and they just don't have the
greatest feel in hand i feel the same way about the volume knob i know the hint 6 has some sort
of audiophile approved volume control but in terms of feel it's vague and somewhat disconnected from
the actual act the knob works and you can always arrive at the volume you want it just isn't quite
as tactile of an experience as i was expecting given how solid the parasound looks and feels
overall now in terms of comparisons the hint 6 goes toe to toe with the yamaha as1200 in terms of
price but as i pointed out throughout this review i actually think the paris sounds performance
is as good or equal to the costlier yamaha as3200 straight up the paris sound gives you way more for
your money compared to both the 1200 and the 3200 as neither of those yamaha products have built-in
dacs or subwoofer outs that are separate from their preamp outs never mind based management now
in terms of design and build quality the yamaha's vintage vibes may be more to your speed but i
would personally rather have the hint 6 setup flexibility and greater feature set over meters
any day never mind the fact that i think the hint 6 sounds essentially as good as the as3200 which
is an 8 000 integrated we compare the parasound to our current favorite do it all integrated
amplifier the audio lab 6000 a play the audio lab is just an outright bargain in the high five
space and at nearly half the price of the paris sound it even offers a little bit more or maybe
i should say something different with respect to functionality if you want to know what you need
to spend in order to outright best the audio lab it's roughly three grand for the hint six
is the paris sound better yes i think that it is is it twice as good no so better yes but in my
opinion not twice as good i find the audio labs slightly fuller sound to be absolutely agreeable
with virtually every speaker we've ever tested with it but in terms of separation throughout
the soundstage and raw horsepower for difficult to drive speakers the pair of sound wins now if
you're looking for a true all-in-one integrated or a whole system replacement you have similarly
priced options such as the name unity atom nad m10 or m33 and the cambridge audio evo 150. if i put a
premium on minimizing my system's footprint i didn't need a capable built-in phono preamp i
would still opt for the atom but apart from that i'd rather listen to the paris sound over the nad
and cambridge options as their usage of class d or hybrid topology is just too sterile for
me the musical fidelity m5si has a similar vibe to that of the paris sound the m5si may be a bit more
authoritative in its power delivery especially in the low mid base but aside from that these two
products are more or less equal though the paris sound is more well-rounded in terms of features
let me just say i wish the hint 6 had existed back when i bought my first parasound halo system
nothing against the original a23 and p6 combo seriously i would buy that exact setup again
secondhand just for nostalgia's sake but the hint 6 is such a compelling product that i wonder if
separate components are even necessary nowadays but that's a discussion for a different video
because at the end of the day the hint 6 from paris sound is the type of product that provides
for a level of high-end sound quality without the accompanying high-end price while it's not
cheap the hint 6 is obtainable if anything the 6 makes buying a more expensive integrated that much
harder to justify because you would have to spend a lot more to realize an appreciable difference in
sound quality so it should go without saying but i think the hint 6 is worth it and then some
so that's it that is now my review of the parasound hint 6 integrated amplifier now
it's time to find out if it passes the christy test i enjoyed it i mean i thought it sounded
good with everything that we put it on and it was a very consistent amplifier yes which is always a
positive and really i don't find i can't really find much fault with it and i actually agree
with your assessment um for me it really comes down to styling and build quality okay which
a portion of that is definitely subjective to you know your personal taste now if it were me i would
definitely buy the black version yeah which i said to you the other day yeah which if anyone follows
the channel if you're still listening first of all thank you um if you're new and you don't
know me um i i'm not the biggest fan of black boxes i think they
can tend to be boring uh and unimaginative but i think in this particular case the hint six
at least from photos that i've seen i think it looks far more elegant in in black because it has
the little gold brass trim or yeah and the and the gold trim is there on the silver it's just less
less noticeable i mean yes and i just don't think it looks as current as the black option does but
you know again that's completely subjective but if you if you're if you're wanting a female's
perspective there's mine now what i struggle with a little bit more than the color differences
is something you brought up a bit and that is the like the volume knob and some of the other
um function knobs yeah they they are a plastic like a resin or plastic feel to them which i
think feels a little bit cheap um the buttons on the bottom are a weird not quite round
kind of yeah they're kind of a little oblong shape i don't know that's just odd to me and
again like that just the tactile uh feel isn't i just didn't care for it i think that they could
at this price it seems like they cut corners a tad there yeah i think i think there could definitely
be a little bit more of a solid like go to any vintage uh receiver integrated amplifier when you
like push the buttons for speaker a or speaker b like that real positive push whereas i'm with you
the parasound hint for like you know tone controls power uh mute it's kind of a it's it's just like
a cheapy click even the knobs that you turn yeah they just they don't feel very substantial
and i think that something a little something with a little more heft would would at least for
me would have been appreciated and i think a little bit more deserving of the price
tag but again that's that's being a bit nitpicky sure anyway moving on at the end of the day
for me um what i would probably do is opt to save my money and go with the audio lab
the performance for me is close enough at that saving that a little bit of extra money
would let me buy better speakers and to me that's a little bit more important interesting um plus
the audio lab like build quality is just like chef's kiss great at the especially at the price
so that tells me it can be done and so why didn't paris sound do that um now as far as yamaha goes
again this is a bit of a um a subjective sure take but the 1200 the as 1200 from yamaha gets my vote
if we're spending dollar to dollar you know i'm into meters so you are into meters you're into
that vintage vine so assuming um also i personally take the musical fidelity over this as well
okay wasn't expecting that yeah just good luck finding one at least over here in the states they
are extremely hard to come by and it has been that way for the for a better part of a year
so there's that but i think that the musical fidelity especially the m5si is extremely hard
to beat i love the look of it the build quality is just so good but you really do have to be into
that sort of minimalist utilitarian vibe which i know doesn't that doesn't work for everybody
um anyway that's it those are my thoughts yeah i i think i agree with you i mean i don't agree with
you about the yamaha i would take the pair sound over either yamaha piece to be honest with you is
that the as3200 is amazing it really is but i'm i'm not gonna mince words i think the hint six
is every bit as good it just doesn't have the style musical fidelity i too prefer the minimal
quality of that amplifier and for me i know that i can get by with an m5si and like i said the sound
quality is very comparable between hint six and the m5si if you like things like tone control
and and you know you want a more fleshed out dac and you want arguably a mildly better
phono preamp then the hint 6 is going to be the right choice for you but if you're looking to stay
more in just the pure analog realm like christie said if you can find an m5si you may prefer it to
the hint six i don't know they're very comparable products in terms of sound quality power delivery
you know that sort of a thing audio lab i'm with you it's just it's so hard um unless you just need
that herculean power of the hint six or just a more powerful integrated in general it just really
is hard to beat that package especially if you go with the 6000a play which allows you to stream via
playfy directly to it not just using things like bluetooth and whatnot so that's really
cool um yeah i'm with you i think the build quality is exceptional the design is exceptional
um but if you need more wattage then six but you you're spending double so but yeah i think the
good points thanks good points anything else nope all right well that is now our review of the
parasound hint six integrated amplifier what did you guys think let us know down in the comments
below and while you're down there i have a question of the day for you and this one this one
i kind of raised in the conclusion but i really want to know your opinion and that is are separate
components even necessary anymore when products like the hint 6 exist sound off spoiler alert
they're not all right we got her opinion i want to know what your opinion is if you like this
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much for doing that follow me on instagram at recovering audiophile and that is it for us today
i know another one uh so remember the only person who has to like the sound of your system
is you so happy listening everybody thank you so much for watching we'll see on the next video bye