Parasound Halo HINT 6, new integrated, replacing HINT

Another possibility, my house power, if I do not have clean power,

Great to know!

 

I own and have owned the pieces you are speaking of. You will be totally and completely happy with the A-21 combined with the HintO, and you will be 100% there, plenty of power and there is really no difference in the old and new Hint, I promise!

 

Would it be more cost effective to get a new P6 to use as a preamp rather than a HINTO if you are not using the amps ?

 

Absolutely!

 

Between the HINT6 and the KI-Ruby, which has the better phono section?

 

Being a real Parasound fan, that would be a really tough question and I would think either would be very nice, but my vote must go for the K1-Ruby Integrated, they did spend some time on their phono stage. While you are at it, go ahead and get the Ruby SACD player. When it is time to resell, you WILL get a better price for the Ruby, no doubt about that, because it's signature status. Happy listening!

 

I can tell you from personal experience that I was already very pleased with the phono section of my former KI-Pearl and when I read how much attention the phono section received during the development of the KI-Ruby I got really excited. At the same time, I've heard nothing but good things about the Parasound, so I wanted to ask the question. I'm a minimalist, so it's paramount that any IA includes a solid MM/MC phono section. If I decide on the Ruby IA it likely wouldn't happen until next year as with the dollar exchange and a Federal Tax of 5% it would run me almost $6,000 Canadian. That's a lot of scratch for someone who's retired and on a limited income.

 

You are so right, and I am in your exact shoes, semi-retired. With audio components you must find a small dealer that is willing to discount. In the US, the large online folks are not going to discount above about 10% if that, and that's no real product discount. I am very interested in the Ruby components as well, however in the US, it appears they are not sold in anything but black and that is a non starter for me, as the Marantz Champagne is so stunning. I want to scale my system down and was very interested in the SA-10 and PM-10, as we can get those two in the champagne finish, but I have some things to sell to get there. Good luck with your purchase, call lots of people and get the right price, smaller dealers WILL help you, just find them.

 

New idea here, (me thinks). I just wired my Playstation3 optical output into my HINTO. Idea being I can use my PS3 as CD transport into the Sabre 32 DAC direct to my speakers. I think it sounds great, but I am only a couple hours into it. I know most older CDs are only a max of 16 bits PC and 44.1khz, but the onboard DAC is capable of a lot more bit resolution and sampling rate. Is the data up-sampled from PS3, and should I expect to hear a difference?

I am tempted to say it sounds better than my old 1990 Onkyo CD player with 18 bit PC and 8x over sampling, it seems the bass and dynamic range seems to be much wider and deeper, but this might be power of suggestion at this point. I am loving it tho!

 

My only digital has been the HINTO's DAC since I bought it. I really like it. Not as good as my vinyl rig that goes through a JC3+ but very enjoyable.

 

I think the HINTOs' onboard phono stage is good, but I have a small record collection. Still, I am interested to get back into vinyl, they have their own unique sound!

 

Yes it's a good phono, but the JC3+ is a Parasound phono stage that alone is more expensive than the whole HINTO, so of course should be (and is) better.

 

Every CD ever made is 16/44, that's the CD spec. Some DACs upsample, but there will never be more actual resolution than is on the disc. Not that it really matters, a good master at 16/44 will always beat a poor high-res one.