Parasound Halo JC-1 -VS- Bryston 7B-ST?

Walsh. Conveying a friend's experience with customer service is not slamming Parsound technology. I have owned 5 Parasound amplifiers over the last 10 years and have been seriously considering purchasing an amp in the Halo line. Of course as you are a dealer, objectivity and bias are usually confounded. As I understand, Parasound was purchased by another company that is not known for manufacturing high end, quality equipment. Pressures to keep costs down can very easily translate into poor customer service, including warranty repairs or a lack thereof. I weigh many factors before spending $6,000.00 for an amplifier, and I also am very aware that companies that have been leading edge in technology and quality can easily begin a downward spiral in a competitive environment, e.g. Sony. Audiogon is an open forum where one can aquire a wealth of information before embarking on an expensive purchase of any product. For me, customer service rankds third, only to the performance of the product, and the consensus of quality of the product. If all three are not met I do not make a purchase. I would rather learn vicariosly than through experience.

FWIW - I purchased used JC1s from a member here that I will not name. The amps were advertised as having no problems. Unfortunately this was not the case. The lights on both amps would change from red to purple but never blue. One mono started running extra hot. I sent them in to Parasound and I believe they performed the repairs the day they recieved the amps. I was without the amps for a total of 10 days. I dont think the repairs could have been done any faster and Im not even the original owner. It was not cheap but they are perfect now and I have nothing but good things to say about Parasound.

I am a current though not future customer of Parasound (I am choosing to go a different direction with my amps). From my experiences, Parasound offers outstanding customer service. I have dealt directly with Richard S. and Paul B. They went out of their way to first get me an in house demo unit of the A21 amp then did everything they could to give me a new replacement unit after I expressed concern about havin to wait for a repair.

Every company has their share of happy customer and unhappy customers. With forums such as these, news travels pretty fast so companies will not be able to to survive if they continue to offer poor customer service. My feeling is that Parasound is one of the good guys.

Braro, I think one of my JC1's had something similarly wrong; however, mine just stuck on red. That said, the amps played fine, but my nervosa got the better of me and I sent it back to Parasound to fix. It was a simple voltage clamp that was undersized...they charged me nothing except return shipping and I had it back in less than 10 days. I would say from my experience that the customer service was outstanding...and I'm the 2nd owner.

On the subject of this thread, unfortunately I have never heard a Bryston amp so can't offer any insight there. I have heard the Magnepan MG3.6's driven by both the JC1's, the Pass X600, and the McCormack DNA2 with Rev A mods. In my opinion, the X-600 was a large step down from either the JC1's or the McCormack...I really did not like the sound of the X-600...veiled, thin, and despite the power rating, it sounded less powerful (keep in mind these are relative statements and may not apply in a totally different system). The McCormack and JC1's were much closer, though of a different flavor. The JC1's are extraordinarily transparent and I feel extended on the highs. The McCormack was a little better in the low frequency weight (not by alot), had a slightly better "bloom" in the midrange, but also sounded darker or more closed in on the top. Both are fantastic amps...I preferred the JC1's in my system.

I have had simply OUTSTANDING customer service on a used Parasound JC-1 power amp that I purchased here on Audiogon.
I accidently blew it up the first time by dropping the end of an interconnect that was hooked to my CD player onto one of the speaker cable ends.
I had to pay for this repair, of course, [no warranty].
Well, about a month later the amp was playing at a normal volume level and just "blew up" again???
This time I sent it to Parasound again.
They fixed it, and even sent me another replacement driver board all for FREE!
They even paid the return shipping!
I have had no further problems at all with either of these amps and its going on 9 months now.
All the folks there treated me with the utmost respect and kindness, including Richard and Tony.
I wish more companies were as outstanding at customer service as Parasound and Pass Labs!
I would have No Hesitation at all in using their customer service dept, or in purchasing a new product from either of them.
Again, great job Parasound and thanks.
Just my 2 cents.
Lanny