Thank you for another thought provoking review. After 30 years of amps with no tone controls I bought the Hint 6 Integrated because it had tone controls and the other features. I use the tone controls for a few specific albums, for example Genesis Trick of the Tail which I find harsh and metallic sounding - I am very averse to harsh sound and too much treble. A slight reduction in treble for that album makes all the difference to my enjoyment. The price rise from £3300 to £3900 in 2021 was a big jump and certainly makes it less competitive! I bought mine in 2018 at the lower price. It works well with magnepan 1.7i speakers and a rel sub.
I generally don’t use my tone controls, however they do come in handy tweaking less than perfect recordings which I have. As long as there is a by-pass switch, I prefer having the option and any amp I consider would need that feature, as I missed them when I had amps without them in the past. So I guess parasound is speaking to me!
Just to clarify. Tone Controls. It's much like anything in life. It's better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them. In my humble opinion that is. Another good video, nice to see sensibly priced audio equipment reviewed.
Weeelllll, I'd argue with you on that point, Dougie. Saying that though, if you like 'em, then that's fine with me :) And thank you for your kind words.
@@TheAudiophileMan Some things aren't debatable, just comes down to what a person prefers, no wrongs, no rights etc. Keep up the good work, best audio related videos on here, all the best.
On the aspect of tone controls: are all of those glorious records we see behind you uniformly produced, recorded, eq'd? One of my all-time favourite records is The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. If you play that on a nice stereo, you can hear how thin and tinny it sounds. In fact, a lot of my 70's-era records sound like that. Move into the 80s and there's other issues, and so it goes. Also, I (like you, mister) am no spring chicken. Some of the higher register in my hearing is compromised. It happens. Again, tone controls can mitigate that issue to some extent.
I would be little concerned if all (or even 'a lot') your 70s records - a time famed for its warm, valve-glow recording desks and mastering - sounds tinny. Unless you're talking about those targeted recordings aimed at radio play via transistor radios. Compression like this was a fact of life throughout the 50s up to around the late 80s, particularly singles. I would encourage you to look at your hifi for sonic bottlenecks. Hence, rather than reach for the tone control Elastoplast - I'd seek out the core reason for this egregious sound output and correct that. You may discover a whole new world of sonic goodness out there.
@@TheAudiophileMan I should have been much more specific. Mea culpa. The 70s glam rock records in my collection sound tinny. And make no mistake, I love that genre! The art-rock (yes, Genesis, King Crimson, etc.) does not sound tinny. I had an opportunity to hear the Hint 6 at my local hi-fi shop. It was driving a pair of nice Vandersteens. It sounded wonderful. I could have listened all day/night. I have no experience with the British-made Musical Fidelity, but i always had a suspicion they are sort of like the British answer to the American Parasound (or vice-versa): powerful sounding budget gear. I'm curious how you would think the two compare?
Hi Paul most intriguing as they say . The make you have covered in this video has been well regarded on many channels . And is very much revered in the USA , nice to see your take on this ongoing manufacture . You had me guessing up to the end as to which way you would throw your thumbs up or down but in the end I recon you pretty much nailed it . Best wishes and kind regards as always you rascal 🤣👍👍👍
Great review, Paul. I’ve tried the single ended triode route for its vaunted fabulousness. Never worked for me, I’m a believer that watts, or more correctly, amps matter. My Musical Fidelity amp has huge reserves of power and it sounds wonderful, especially at moderate listening levels. With you on tone controls, not my thing and the MF is devoid of them. Small point, I think you need to check the dimensions you quoted ;)
Good to see the albums behind you, especially the CSN one. I still remember the evening I was sitting in my bedroom, listening to a program on the radio where they played “Just a song before you go” while reviewing the album. Always been a favourite of mine ever since. Always nice to remember the memories when you see an album cover…Good review of the Hint 6 anyway: keep up the good work!
Very good review I have the same unit I live in New York City the Parasound cost $2500 in the United States I would say £2000 it is fairly expensive in your country I would not buy it for that price but for 2000 pounds yes
May I ask where in the US the Hint 6 is available for $2500? I am only seeing $2999 on Crutchfield etc and have been considering it but not for $3k. Thanks
I can see and understand your perspective on the tone controls. But I think that the Hint 6 was built to target a specific consumer. Someone who wants a tidy one box solution they can place in the living room on a stand under the TV and have a 2.1 or 2.2 solution. They'll be compromising the immersion of a proper multi-channel surround system, but they won't have the mess of wires. They may also feel like Parasound is a big step up in sound quality for music in comparison to an equally priced AVR. It's also priced much lower here in the State's at 3k usd and can be had for less at a dealer. 4k pounds UK seems steep imo. 2 channel integrateds or preamps with high and low pass crossovers for basic bass management are limited. I don't understand why there aren't more available, because I think it's a useful feature to have alongside a good sounding dac and analog inputs? I personally have Parasounds NewClassic 200 pre and find the dac performance adequate and the remote control excellent for the front and of a living room 2.x channel system. I think when Parasound update the Hint 6 again they should consider adding an hdmi input to better target the same audience. These are difficult features to find, but I think there are people who want them? Anyhow, thank you for the review, I always enjoy watching!
Lots of American technology products are priced at the same amount in pounds as they would be in dollars (e,g, $2000 v £2000). Apple products are (in)famous for it. To some extent it may be greed but you also have to consider that American products have extra import taxes compared to British-made products (which aren’t imported at all, of course, if they’re built as well as designed here), and also that British prices always include VAT (sales tax) - for products which are VAT exempt in some circumstances there’s usually a smaller price tag next to the headline price tag which says something like “£3500 excl. VAT”.
@@JosephTongret are you addressing the right comment to the right person? I never mentioned tone controls and I’ve gone into the price difference. I can certainly see the argument against tone controls and yes, spending less money on tone controls leaves more money for other things, but as someone who rarely, if ever, uses them (I did use the Loudness button on my Marantz the other day when playing Moving Pictures by Rush, as I found the sound unbearably thin otherwise), I’d probably ignore the presence or absence of tone controls in an amp, if it had the other features and sound I wanted.
Got to this a little late but wanted to add my 2 cents. Very nice review overall. Thank you. Agree with the idea that each added component takes away from the overall budget. I’m pretty much of that view in general but the Hint design philosophy seems to be a throwback of 1980’s receivers where every thing is thrown in. I’d argue there’re a whole bunch of components I’d get rid of before the tone controls (REC out, preouts with dial, way too many RCA in, balance, AUX in, headphone outs). Buying an amp for the sound and sticking to it assumes that all recordings are of the same standard. Rather going into the trenches with a badly recorded track, tone controls can, in my view, mitigate their excesses as well as compensate the sound curve for late night listening.
Hi Paul, I'm looking to upgrade my amplifier and would love your advice. I currently have a Marantz PM8005 paired with KEF LS50 speakers in a small listening room. While I enjoy the sound, I find the treble a bit bright for my taste. Could you recommend whether this amp would be the best fit for my setup? I'm particularly interested in how the Parasound will handle treble and overall sound quality in smaller spaces. Thanks for your review!
I've had this HINT 6 amp with Klipsch Forte speakers for six months now. The power is more than enough. Treble and bass too (maybe a bit too dry). The medium can be a little too loud when you push the volume which takes your hair off your hair without any problem. price of the whole amp plus enclosure, I could have bought a pair of GENELEC 8361 which would have brought me much much much more, I think. So I may resell my set for this pair of GENELEC and find myself a small network player like an Ayon S10 II or an Esoteric N-05XD in order to have I think!!! a system equivalent to what I tested in Pragues at VOICE, the Kharma veyron, it is sure the price is not the same we are on 1 million euros the whole but the sound was quite close to this besides the perfect bandwidth, I'm looking for the placement of each instrument which is so precise in space, that you just have to close your eyes and you're in the middle of a concert
I have a Parasound Halo amp that I bought 5 years ago. While the first 4 years were great, a channel went down about a year ago. I shipped it back and it was repaired under warranty. All good until it went down again about 9 months later. Now their new owners are refusing to honor the warranty for another repair. I am disappointed both wrt durability and shoddy customer service. Be careful!
The inclusion of tone controls is an interesting choice and probably increases sales in the broader market. Maybe I was sleeping but it looks like there is a button to take them out of the circuit directly below. I just had an opportunity to compare two expensive (To me) integrated amps and the results were interesting. Both were well built solid state amps with a tube in the preamp stage selling for $2500 and $2800. One had lots of features and options while the other had just a volume and input control. The amp with all the feature sounded quite good in balance top to bottom and slightly warm but compared to the more minimalist slightly more inexpensive amp, it didn't have the dimensionality and liveness of sound. The minimalist amp, a Unico Primo, was much more live, real and palpable in tonality and presentation. Also interesting was the impression that tube rolling with the Primo brought significant opportunity to really tailor the sound to one's own circumstances and speakers while the other amp with all the features didnt really respond that much to tube changes. It didnt seem to improve much if you took the tone control out of the circuit. Interesting. I kept the Primo.
I have an average Denon Amplifer and don't use the treble or bass tone controls as I feel there is no need for them. It seems strange that this Amp would have them especially as it is a best and a bit higher up in the amplifier chain.
@@GT1Vette I find, I don't have an issue with vinyl. Also it depends on the individuals hearing and their preference of sound plus the equipment that is being used. I did have to use a bass boat on a previous amp.
I find that too much is often lost for the sake of it. So I don't go there. But that's my style. Who I am. There's plenty of other channels out there who worship at its altar.
![If you can't hear this then you're not an audiophile [See description for link to followup video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/48PxwspDvrE/mqdefault.jpg)
![Quando Rondo - Life Goes On [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eIf3fhMXAow/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for another thought provoking review. After 30 years of amps with no tone controls I bought the Hint 6 Integrated because it had tone controls and the other features. I use the tone controls for a few specific albums, for example Genesis Trick of the Tail which I find harsh and metallic sounding - I am very averse to harsh sound and too much treble. A slight reduction in treble for that album makes all the difference to my enjoyment. The price rise from £3300 to £3900 in 2021 was a big jump and certainly makes it less competitive! I bought mine in 2018 at the lower price. It works well with magnepan 1.7i speakers and a rel sub.
I love tone controls. Use them all the time depending on the recording. For example some albums are thin sounding and the bass control comes handy.
I can't stand the lack of tone controls
I generally don’t use my tone controls, however they do come in handy tweaking less than perfect recordings which I have. As long as there is a by-pass switch, I prefer having the option and any amp I consider would need that feature, as I missed them when I had amps without them in the past. So I guess parasound is speaking to me!
Tone control is a must don't use all the time but is a great tool
Just to clarify. Tone Controls. It's much like anything in life. It's better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them. In my humble opinion that is. Another good video, nice to see sensibly priced audio equipment reviewed.
Weeelllll, I'd argue with you on that point, Dougie. Saying that though, if you like 'em, then that's fine with me :) And thank you for your kind words.
@@TheAudiophileMan Some things aren't debatable, just comes down to what a person prefers, no wrongs, no rights etc. Keep up the good work, best audio related videos on here, all the best.
On the aspect of tone controls: are all of those glorious records we see behind you uniformly produced, recorded, eq'd? One of my all-time favourite records is The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. If you play that on a nice stereo, you can hear how thin and tinny it sounds. In fact, a lot of my 70's-era records sound like that. Move into the 80s and there's other issues, and so it goes. Also, I (like you, mister) am no spring chicken. Some of the higher register in my hearing is compromised. It happens. Again, tone controls can mitigate that issue to some extent.
I would be little concerned if all (or even 'a lot') your 70s records - a time famed for its warm, valve-glow recording desks and mastering - sounds tinny. Unless you're talking about those targeted recordings aimed at radio play via transistor radios. Compression like this was a fact of life throughout the 50s up to around the late 80s, particularly singles. I would encourage you to look at your hifi for sonic bottlenecks. Hence, rather than reach for the tone control Elastoplast - I'd seek out the core reason for this egregious sound output and correct that. You may discover a whole new world of sonic goodness out there.
@@TheAudiophileMan I should have been much more specific. Mea culpa. The 70s glam rock records in my collection sound tinny. And make no mistake, I love that genre! The art-rock (yes, Genesis, King Crimson, etc.) does not sound tinny. I had an opportunity to hear the Hint 6 at my local hi-fi shop. It was driving a pair of nice Vandersteens. It sounded wonderful. I could have listened all day/night. I have no experience with the British-made Musical Fidelity, but i always had a suspicion they are sort of like the British answer to the American Parasound (or vice-versa): powerful sounding budget gear. I'm curious how you would think the two compare?
I think you make a good point in terms of comparing the two brands. Never heard that before but it's well worth stating.
Hi Paul most intriguing as they say . The make you have covered in this video has been well regarded on many channels . And is very much revered in the USA , nice to see your take on this ongoing manufacture . You had me guessing up to the end as to which way you would throw your thumbs up or down but in the end I recon you pretty much nailed it . Best wishes and kind regards as always you rascal 🤣👍👍👍
Great review, Paul. I’ve tried the single ended triode route for its vaunted fabulousness. Never worked for me, I’m a believer that watts, or more correctly, amps matter. My Musical Fidelity amp has huge reserves of power and it sounds wonderful, especially at moderate listening levels. With you on tone controls, not my thing and the MF is devoid of them. Small point, I think you need to check the dimensions you quoted ;)
I recently listened to the Hint6 with LS50Ms and the KC62 sub. Haven't been a fan of KEF speakers but this combination was outstanding.
Good to see the albums behind you, especially the CSN one. I still remember the evening I was sitting in my bedroom, listening to a program on the radio where they played “Just a song before you go” while reviewing the album. Always been a favourite of mine ever since. Always nice to remember the memories when you see an album cover…Good review of the Hint 6 anyway: keep up the good work!
Very good review I have the same unit I live in New York City the Parasound cost $2500 in the United States I would say £2000 it is fairly expensive in your country I would not buy it for that price but for 2000 pounds yes
May I ask where in the US the Hint 6 is available for $2500? I am only seeing $2999 on Crutchfield etc and have been considering it but not for $3k. Thanks
I can see and understand your perspective on the tone controls. But I think that the Hint 6 was built to target a specific consumer. Someone who wants a tidy one box solution they can place in the living room on a stand under the TV and have a 2.1 or 2.2 solution. They'll be compromising the immersion of a proper multi-channel surround system, but they won't have the mess of wires. They may also feel like Parasound is a big step up in sound quality for music in comparison to an equally priced AVR. It's also priced much lower here in the State's at 3k usd and can be had for less at a dealer. 4k pounds UK seems steep imo. 2 channel integrateds or preamps with high and low pass crossovers for basic bass management are limited. I don't understand why there aren't more available, because I think it's a useful feature to have alongside a good sounding dac and analog inputs? I personally have Parasounds NewClassic 200 pre and find the dac performance adequate and the remote control excellent for the front and of a living room 2.x channel system. I think when Parasound update the Hint 6 again they should consider adding an hdmi input to better target the same audience. These are difficult features to find, but I think there are people who want them? Anyhow, thank you for the review, I always enjoy watching!
Lots of American technology products are priced at the same amount in pounds as they would be in dollars (e,g, $2000 v £2000). Apple products are (in)famous for it. To some extent it may be greed but you also have to consider that American products have extra import taxes compared to British-made products (which aren’t imported at all, of course, if they’re built as well as designed here), and also that British prices always include VAT (sales tax) - for products which are VAT exempt in some circumstances there’s usually a smaller price tag next to the headline price tag which says something like “£3500 excl. VAT”.
@@JosephTongret are you addressing the right comment to the right person? I never mentioned tone controls and I’ve gone into the price difference.
I can certainly see the argument against tone controls and yes, spending less money on tone controls leaves more money for other things, but as someone who rarely, if ever, uses them (I did use the Loudness button on my Marantz the other day when playing Moving Pictures by Rush, as I found the sound unbearably thin otherwise), I’d probably ignore the presence or absence of tone controls in an amp, if it had the other features and sound I wanted.
Got to this a little late but wanted to add my 2 cents. Very nice review overall. Thank you.
Agree with the idea that each added component takes away from the overall budget. I’m pretty much of that view in general but the Hint design philosophy seems to be a throwback of 1980’s receivers where every thing is thrown in. I’d argue there’re a whole bunch of components I’d get rid of before the tone controls (REC out, preouts with dial, way too many RCA in, balance, AUX in, headphone outs). Buying an amp for the sound and sticking to it assumes that all recordings are of the same standard. Rather going into the trenches with a badly recorded track, tone controls can, in my view, mitigate their excesses as well as compensate the sound curve for late night listening.
Hi Paul,
I'm looking to upgrade my amplifier and would love your advice. I currently have a Marantz PM8005 paired with KEF LS50 speakers in a small listening room. While I enjoy the sound, I find the treble a bit bright for my taste.
Could you recommend whether this amp would be the best fit for my setup? I'm particularly interested in how the Parasound will handle treble and overall sound quality in smaller spaces.
Thanks for your review!
I've had this HINT 6 amp with Klipsch Forte speakers for six months now. The power is more than enough. Treble and bass too (maybe a bit too dry). The medium can be a little too loud when you push the volume which takes your hair off your hair without any problem. price of the whole amp plus enclosure, I could have bought a pair of GENELEC 8361 which would have brought me much much much more, I think. So I may resell my set for this pair of GENELEC and find myself a small network player like an Ayon S10 II or an Esoteric N-05XD in order to have I think!!! a system equivalent to what I tested in Pragues at VOICE, the Kharma veyron, it is sure the price is not the same we are on 1 million euros the whole but the sound was quite close to this besides the perfect bandwidth, I'm looking for the placement of each instrument which is so precise in space, that you just have to close your eyes and you're in the middle of a concert
Like my tone controls, help with room integration.
I'd be curious how the Halo line compares to Parasound's less expensive lines like NewClassic and ZoneMaster.
Is this amp able to send a crossed over hi/mid signal through the speaker out or does it only work for the pre out rcas?
I have a Parasound Halo amp that I bought 5 years ago. While the first 4 years were great, a channel went down about a year ago. I shipped it back and it was repaired under warranty. All good until it went down again about 9 months later. Now their new owners are refusing to honor the warranty for another repair. I am disappointed both wrt durability and shoddy customer service. Be careful!
I would like to hear your review of the Parasound JC3+ phono preamplifier.
Thank you!
That will be an archive review so I’ll need to fit that somewhere into my regular schedule. I’ve made a note though. Thanks for the suggestion.
The inclusion of tone controls is an interesting choice and probably increases sales in the broader market. Maybe I was sleeping but it looks like there is a button to take them out of the circuit directly below. I just had an opportunity to compare two expensive (To me) integrated amps and the results were interesting. Both were well built solid state amps with a tube in the preamp stage selling for $2500 and $2800. One had lots of features and options while the other had just a volume and input control. The amp with all the feature sounded quite good in balance top to bottom and slightly warm but compared to the more minimalist slightly more inexpensive amp, it didn't have the dimensionality and liveness of sound. The minimalist amp, a Unico Primo, was much more live, real and palpable in tonality and presentation. Also interesting was the impression that tube rolling with the Primo brought significant opportunity to really tailor the sound to one's own circumstances and speakers while the other amp with all the features didnt really respond that much to tube changes. It didnt seem to improve much if you took the tone control out of the circuit. Interesting. I kept the Primo.
Timely review Could you say what your benchmark external DAC and external phonoamp are?
Sure Declan - I've added a Reference list at the bottom of the Description now so the info is in there.
@@TheAudiophileMan brilliant!
If the Parasound had big blue meters and was assembled in USA it would cost way more.
I want tone controls..possibly loudness...with a good amplifier
Hint 6 or parsound separates p6 a23+
I have an average Denon Amplifer and don't use the treble or bass tone controls as I feel there is no need for them. It seems strange that this Amp would have them especially as it is a best and a bit higher up in the amplifier chain.
@@GT1Vette I find, I don't have an issue with vinyl. Also it depends on the individuals hearing and their preference of sound plus the equipment that is being used. I did have to use a bass boat on a previous amp.
@@GT1Vette As you say, It may depend on the quality of the recording.
But is it groovy?
Just found it on the website 8/10 Groovy!
Ah good - I was just about to post that link :)
Brevity is not your forte
I find that too much is often lost for the sake of it. So I don't go there. But that's my style. Who I am. There's plenty of other channels out there who worship at its altar.
Typical American made piece of junk, old and uninspiring design, lack lustre sound, etc…
Compared with what?
Bullshit, it’s designed by a highly regarded amplifier designer. I had a Rega Elicit R prior and this amp has far more finesse.