For several months I lavished in the sounds of my favorite CD's. I listed just a few of my audition CD's which I felt were perfect for testing performance in two channel digital and also DSP modes. Since Reference System 2 included bass cable speakers ( Canton Karat Reference 2 DC ), I conducted most of my stereo CD auditions without the subwoofer in the comfort of my listening chair. In stereo mode the Halos were able to present tremendous detail and imaging without sounding mechanical. I listened for hours on end to Marillion, Steely Dan, Cowboy Junkies, Mark Johnson and a host of other CDs. In all cases, I was quite impressed with the way the Halos performed and processed the digital material presented to them. There were times however, that I thought the bass wasn't quite as pronounced as I liked and so I boosted it via the "bass" adjustment which was easily accessible on the remote. And why not? I was in digital domain anyway so I didn't feel that using the digital bass management would have adverse effects on the sound quality.

My all time favorite two channel CD for listening to stereo and all DSP modes for that matter, was Mark Johnson's first solo CD. The first two songs, "Overture" and "Exit 33" are enough to get the bass slapping and the midrange fired up on any system. There's so much happening in these songs starting with smoking brass guitar to rhythmic drums and explosive percussions that on the right equipment it should prove to be more than enough to the shake the room with and without the sub. Luckily the Halos partnered with Parasound's A 51 and A 21 amplifiers were indeed the right equipment for bringing down the house . During my DSP modes audition, I was impressed by how well the Natural, Party, Club and Concert modes really sounded. The fact that the Halos provided reverb adjustments for Club and Concert modes really helped me control the non-tempered echo in my reflective room. I changed the reverb settings from "Dry" to "Wet" and the net effect was enough for me to appreciate and acknowledge. For my room, I left both on "Dry." I then implemented the same CD's with PLII Music and Neo:6 music. Once again, I was pleased to find useful adjustments for PLII which included "Panorama," "Center Width" and "Dimension" along with adjustment for Neo:6 which included "Center Image." These adjustments were extremely useful for creating a "wrap-around" effect from the front channels to all other channels. Once again, I was able to set them to an optimal setting for the room which houses Reference System 2.

Since Reference System 2 was also my "live-in" system, most of my listening experience was with Digital Satellite as I listened to hours on end of Digital Radio Stations with a variety of music formats ranging from Jazz, to New Age, to Classic Rock. The only stations I didn't listen to were rap and country. Unlike my stereo audition with CDs where I did not use a subwoofer, much of my Satellite Radio listening was done in two-channel with the sub as I spent most of that time in the kitchen or surrounding rooms, either cooking or doing house work, and so I preferred a boost. This type of audition helped me better understand the depth of sound that the Halos were able to produce since I was out of the "sweat spot" most of the time. I was impressed with the Halos performance and dynamic reproduction of the music as the bass from the subwoofer sounded seamless when coupled with the mains. This was likely attributed to the auto-calibration which we have shown to be very accurate with the exception of the subwoofer on the C 2. When I actually had the time to sit in the "sweat spot" and listen to Digital Satellite, it too sounded impressive. Again, the Halos demonstrated they were not mechanical tinny sounding processors, but formidable contenders in a very competitive market.

The current firmware included in our C 1 and C 2 did not provide PLIIx. Our understanding from speaking with Parasound was that they will be updating the firmware soon to include this mode, but they have not yet provided an anticipated date for its release. We will likely amend this article once we've experienced PLIIx on these processors. For our auditions I listened to many of my favorite shows and a few good movies on HBO. Most of them were through TiVo as I typically didn't have the time to watch them when they were actually aired I'm convinced TiVo is the invention of our time as it streamlines the TV watching process by allowing us to skip commercials and blow through the bad parts while speeding to the good parts. Most TV and Movies I listened to from Satellite were done with PLII:Movie and Neo6:Movie. On the Halo C 2, I was impressed indeed with the presentation using these modes. Both the Halo C1 and C2 were a treat to listen to during my evening relaxation time with the family in front of the proverbial boob-tube(s).