Peachtree Grand Integrated X1 vs Parasound Halo Integrated

I believe I read it in one of the Audio rags, maybe Stereophile, TAS or Tone.  I do  remember reading it is a John Curl design.  I'm not a fan of Class D yet.  I have heard a few of them and find I get listener fatigue quite quickly.  I good friend of mine has a Peachtree integrated with a tube input stage and 225wpc.  He has it mated to a pair of Kef LS50 speakers.  The sound is nothing spectacular, although he listens primarily to small Jazz ensembles and he is happy with it.  I guess I am one of the old fashioned guys who likes heavy duty output transistors and class A/AB.

@stereo5 Yeah, you have to be a little careful with that. They say on the Parasound website:

"Power amp circuit topology designed by legendary John Curl"

Which is easy to want to read it as "integrated amplifier designed by...." or  "amplifier modules designed by...." but I think both readings are slightly off the mark.  I read John Curl explaining this somewhere in regards to the difference between the JC mono-blocks and the A20.

Don’t get me wrong, I like all their amps. :) I believe what they really mean is that the amplifier modules used in the integrated are derived from work done previously by JC.  Otherwise they would say "power amplifier section designed by" or "integrated amplifier designed by..."

On a slight tangent, I did e-mail Peter Shram a while ago, and his feelings were that they were putting in a much nicer DAC in the integrated than in the P5. I have not however heard the integrated at all.

Best,


Erik

there is the issue of circuit design, and quality of parts used...the older Parasounds stated Amp Designed by John Curl, the current ones do not...

@jl35

True, but again, I go back to the sound quality. I'm sure the amplifier section in the HINT is excellent, but does the end user like it?

One thing about both the Parasound and B&O amps, is they are very neutral.  They don't  really add a lot to the sound. If you are looking for something to be euphonic or add extra richness, neither of those amps would do it.

That's why I'm very interested in knowing what the whole package does. The Peachtree adds tubes, the HINT I have no idea about.  I do like the sound, generally, of the P7 preamp, but I have no idea what is in the HINT. Is it like the JC Preamp? The P7? P5?  I'm just guessing.

At the end of the day, I think they could both be fine choices, but only a listening session would determine the right one.

Best,


Erik

I own 2 Parasound Halo integrated amps. I doubt I'll ever upgrade. They just have the overall sound I love. Rich best describes them.
They improve the sound of any speaker dramatically. And with dedicated dual subwoofer outs, and an MC or MM phono cart switch, you can't go wrong.