New Halo gear?

[P-Stone]

Hi,
Just got an email from Parasound :

There may be some news later this year that has to do with Parasound and some clever designers in Norway. Stay tuned.

This was from a senior executive at Parasound.

Full featured DVD-player with DVI, etc, anyone...??

P..

[Scarp]

Most likely its about the D2 dvd player. That should be out this year. Hardware upgrades for the C1/C2 are planned, but its unknown what and when. A new pre/pro is highly unlikely (better than C1 is a C0 ).

[Chris D]

That's true... I've wondered what they would call a new pre/pro that would be better than the C1. The C0? The C0.5? The C 1/2?

Can't wait for new stuff from Parasound.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Scarp]

Actually... I don't understand their amp names ...
stereo has two models A23 and A21, with the A21 the top model.
surround has two moderls A52 and A51

So why is there no A53? Or A22? Or do those abreviations have some weird meaning somewhere? (In holland the amp numbers are actually also road numbers )

[Chris D]

I've thought about this, too. Parasound seems to have originally tried to make distinct levels of each of their equipment, as the "1" series, "2" series, and "3" series. They started with the "3" equipment, making the P3, T3, and A23, intended to be high-end stereo analog equipment. The P3 is the stereo processor, the T3 is the tuner to match, and the A23 is the matching 2-channel amp. (first number being the number of channels, the 2nd number being the series, so "A23" is a 2-channel, 3-series amp) There is no "A53", because that would be a 5-channel amp in the 3-series, and the 3-series is only stereo equipment. (at least so far)

So then the next step "up" the line, if you want to look at it that way, was made the "2" series, with the C2 and A52. The C2 is the 2-series controller, upgraded from the P3 with more features and surround sound processing for home theater, not just stereo like the P3. The A52 in the same reasoning is the 5-channel, 2-series amplifier.

This is the only point where it gets odd and makes slightly less sense, in that for a 7-channel setup in the "2" series, they would have had to make a 2-channel, 2-series amp, or an A22, that would match the A52. Since they already had a sufficient amp that could be used for this purpose, they just used the A23 and matched the specs to the A52, intermingling the 2 and 3 series.

The "1" series is completely distinct, and all high-end. You have the C1, A21, and A51. The C1 is the high-end controller, a step up from both the C2 and P3. The A21 and A51 are matched to allow the possibility of a matched 7.1 setup, being the 2-channel 1-series amp (A21) and 5-channel, 1-series amp (A51).

Note that in the 1 series, you ALSO have the JC1 monoblock. Yes, it could have been called the A11 in the same reasoning. (1-channel, 1-series amp) But the JC1 is special and even more high-end than other Halo equipment, so it was named after John Curl, the designer, as the JC1.

There may be more to these stories and lines of thinking than we see on the surface. Heck, it's actually probably LIKELY that there's much more background than any of us know. Maybe we'll get to learn it from Parasound someday!

So in the future, it would make MOST sense for DVD players to be released as the D1, D2, and/or D3, being the 1-series as the top-of-the-line DVD player, the D2 having slightly less features, the D3 having even less, etc. If we see something like a D3 arrive first, which is fairly likely, then Parasound is leaving room for a better DVD player to be released later as the D2, and then even better as the D1, whether they are actually planned at the time of release of the D3 or not. Heck, we could see equalizers released as the E1, DAC's released as something like the DC1, etc. who knows.

The other thing that gets interesting, is like I mentioned, since Parasound is going with a reverse numbering for better models, what do you name the replacement of the 1-series equipment whenever it comes out? The 0-series? Who knows...




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Scarp]

Chris ... could you add this to the FAQ ... good explanation

Btw ... going by your chain of thought the D3 would be a CD player, since its in the 3 range and therefor only stereo

Indeed they will have problems in the future with naming, but then again, maybe they call a model above the C1, the C1+ or UC1 (ultimate C1 :P).

Ow...sorry for making this topic go offtopic

[nicholtl]

Or they might just totally start with a different letter (as opposed to C for controller, A for amp, T for tuner etc.) and start the numbers on 3 and work their way up again.