Which integrated amp for better musicality - Parasound Hint vs Primaluna vs ???


I've been having a blast looking up threads and doing some research but my dilemma is this - I want to get more enjoyment out of my music (don't we all). My Anthem and Oppo setup honestly sound great but I can't help but think that maybe I am missing out. I am thinking of upgrading some of my gear by either adding an integrated amp or separates. I'd love to hear some recommendations. Based on some reading, I am considering: 

1. Parasound Halo Integrated 6
2. Primaluna Dialogue Premium or Premium HP

My current setup is as follows: 

Oppo 105D
Anthem MRX 510 AVR
Ascend Acoustic Sierra RAAL Towers and Horizon Center

Any recommendations or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. 
freesole

Showing 2 responses by wolf_garcia

The myth that tube amps are somewhat tonally "darker" is nonsense, although some may be more than others by design, not necessarily due to tubes being in the mix. 
I think you should decide between tubes and transistors, then pick whatever seems like a good idea. I'm in the tube camp as they sound more musical, and music is what I use my rig for (except for sometimes listening to Harry Shearer's show)...a great tube amp is every bit as snappy and "fast" as one could want, and SS amps often note that they're designed to sound like tubes...SS amps don't require buying tubes so they have that going for them, but, with the possible exception of Nelson Pass' recent SIT based amps, transistors generally aren't so tube-like as hey...they're not tubes. It's all about that pesky harmonic content issue, and that bears consideration. There are obviously plenty of choices out there from either camp, but one clear difference is you can swap tubes out as a taste decision, but rare is the audio freak who swaps transistors.