Parasound NewClassic 200 Integrated Amplifier

Great unit that blends solid sound quality and ergonomics with a minimal but well chosen feature set. First and foremost, this amp delivers a good amount of power cleanly and with low noise. It easily drives my large 4 Ohm speakers to much higher volume than I need. In addition, since it has pre-amp and sub outputs with optional crossover filtering, if I ever find the integrated power amp lacking it's easy to beef it up with a sub or a dedicated power amp of my choice, in which case this unit effectively becomes a NewClassic 200 Pre.The integrated DAC works well from both the s/pdif inputs and the USB which is plug-and-play on iOS devices and Linux. iPHONE works great as long as you use the "camera adapter" with auxiliary power input and connect power to it. Even though the adapter only powers the phone (not the USB device), the phone will deliver more current to USB if it is being charged.Features fall into two categories. The first is features this unit has that I appreciate. Pre-amp bypass input for integration with a surround system or other volume-controlled source. Assigning names to inputs. Setting per-input level adjustment to account for differences between sources. Tone control on the remote. Configurable power-on volume. 12V output for control of external power amp.The second category is features this does not have that I don't miss. Namely bluetooth and streaming. These quickly obsoleted features are ubiquitous in other inexpensive devices like blu-ray players which are easily upgraded as technology changes. I find it undesirable for such features to be integrated into the core of a high-fidelity audio system.If anyone is interested, the power amp is a class-D module from Pascal Audio, I think the U-PRO2S. The full engineering datasheet for this module is available on their web site. It gives great detail and fills in some info not listed by Parasound, like output impedance from which damping factor may be calculated. I was impressed.

I like the many useful functions like setting a turn-on volume plus the individual input levels can be adjusted. It has excellent bass management including an adjustable high pass filter to remove low frequencies from your main speakers that you are sending to a subwoofer. Everything is adjustable using the remote. I also think it sounds great!

Volume control is good and so is the sound quality. And remote control is nice too. Right now using Klipsch 600m. Sounds amazing. Also have used the Klipsch 800f with this amplifier and both sound great. With the Klipsch 800f I also used this parasound amp with the crown xls 2002 for a little more power. Again sounds amazing. Have tried listening to different styles of music and it all sounds good to me. But I’m definitely no expert at this. All I know is I enjoy what I’m listening to.

I have been listening to my new 200 Integrated for a few days now. It 'replaces' my Parasound HINT that I moved to another room. First impressions are that it compares favorably with the HINT driving a pair of PSB Synchrony One B's, and feeding a REL SE Sub (be sure to use the right sub output, I didn't read the manual but followed a Parasound video that was very misleading). I'm using the full range sub out, as the REL SE has a crossover that cannot be disabled. The PSBs are high-passed at 80Hz. Predominantly, I will be using the Optical SPDIF input for Roon (Google Chromecast Audio endpoint). The 200 Integrated is limited in it's digital inputs compared to the HINT, topping out at 96kHz for both USB and SPDIF. My HINT is direct connected to my Roon Server via USB and can play up to 384kHz (converted DSD) files, there is an audible difference to my ear, but really not significant. What is significant is that I don't seem to need any bass treble boost with the 200 Integrated, whereas I always dialed in about 3db of each on the HINT. I see that as a positive for the 200 Integrated. I have purchased a new phono cartridge and will evaluate the phono capability later. So far I believe this amp to be a great value, especially if you need full featured subwoofer management, phono preamp, and digital input, all in one compact package.Spent several hours getting the amp 'dialed in'. I find the amp somewhat harsh (listening fatigue) compared to my Parasound HINT (perhaps not a fair comparison, the HINT 6 is almost 3X the price). Although the remote has tone controls, I find the tone adjustments are unsatisfactory - they don't EQ the way my HINT does. Upon further evaluation, I decided this Class D amplifier is not meeting my expectations. I returned my unit and upgraded to the Parasound HINT 6 - excellent Class A/AB amplifier.

I Bought this amp through a dealer and I was looking for something all in one class D. Overall it is a good amp. It powers up my Buchardt s400 speakers with no problem. I am pleased with the sound. To my imperfect ears this amp sounds fairly neutral. Al low volumes i use tone controls to make music sound nice and warm. At higher volumes i clear the tone controls to make the speakers sound more dynamic and punchy. This way i have best of two worlds. I like the tone controls on the remote. It is very convenient to engage tone controls and clear them. One thing i do not like is that this amp draws to much power from my ipod. If i connect my ipod through usb, my ipod tells me the parasound draws to much power and is unusable in that sense. You will need a computer for this amp or dedicated player. It will not work with portable devices. That is why I’m taking off one star

Ships in a double layered box for starters. Setup is extremely easy. Just plug and play. After the initial burn in period, this amp keeps sounding better and better. Remote is a great feature to finely tune certain songs as the playlist changes. I have my Parasound hooked up to Tekton Moab speakers and a vintage Pioneer PL-570 turntable. The built in DAC works wonders with streaming digital music from my computer. Very happy with this purchase as I moved from a vintage Pioneer SX-1010.

Simple to use and hookup for high end stereo system.