Parasound Plugs Power Amplifier Stage Into Preamp to Create $1,200 Integrated Amp

Parasound added a 110 watt-per-channel power amplifier stage to the NewClassic 200 Pre preamplifier to make it the company’s most affordable integrated amp, it said Thursday. The $1,195 component, dubbed the 200 Integrated, will be available this summer, and the $895 preamp will remain in the line, it said. Features of the integrated amp include analog bass management for pairing with compact speakers and a powered subwoofer; a moving-magnet/moving-coil phono stage; two RCA line-level inputs; USB, coaxial and optical digital inputs; a home theater bypass; and a front-panel line-level input with an automatic 12-dB gain increase to boost sound quality from portable devices, said the company.