Parasound Halo Integrated vs Yamaha AS2100

I have extensive experience with the Yamaha A-S1100 and own the Parasound Halo integrated. Both amps were extensively compared in my system with the same components and recordings.

My conclusion was that both are very good. The Yamaha is slightly more natural sounding with strings and piano. It also has a leaner tonal balance. The Halo gives more "body" and heft to the music, but is very neutral. They are equal in detail retrieval and soundstage, but the Halo doesn't make an exhibition of its detail capability, its "sneaky." The Yamaha has a lower noise floor but it also strains more easily, and in some recordings, the  Yamaha's treble can be slightly grainy. This is also the case with the much cheaper A-S500.

 It takes a lot to strain the Halo and it's very clean under demanding loads. I must admit the Halo DAC and phono stage are overrated. Both are competent but nothing to write home about. For me, the Halo was the better all around amp, especially when factoring in the ~$2100 street price. 

I think the Yamaha was designed by,
Nakamichi Yamamoto Nippon musashino.

But seriously I would go for a parasound product over a Yamaha any day,much warmer,balanced glare and grain free sound then a Yamaha.

Kenny.

But seriously I would go for a parasound product over a Yamaha any day,much warmer,balanced glare and grain free sound then a Yamaha.

Yeah you can bet JC designed the Halo with the lowest distortion he could get without negative feedback, then just applied a little to clean it up. This gives big clean sound.
Too much feedback sterilises too much and makes thing lean. Not to mention the Class-A bias, bet the Halo has twice as much as the Yammie.

Cheers George   

I wouldn't sell the Yamaha short. It can easily come down to personal preference and whether you need the DAC in the Halo. If someone is using Maggies, then the Halo is a no-brainer. The build quality of the Yamaha is better in terms of casework, binding posts, and input jacks. If I listened to mostly strings, piano, light jazz and such, the Yamaha would be my preference.

The 2100 sounds way better than previous Yamaha's...few of the responders have actually listened to it...now if Parasound had used the actual parts John Curl designed for it...