2. amps-preamps
  3. 157891-2164

Ayre KV-5 Twenty or Parasound JC 1

I’m using an Ayre KV-5 Twenty amp with a KX-5 Twenty preamp to drive KEF Reference 1s, but I have three JC-1s in cartons with the plan to sell them. I also have a JC-2 preamp. I’m loath to unbox the JC-1s just to try them with the Reference 1s, so I wonder if anyone has compared the two amps and can give advice. I use a QX-5 Twenty for Roon, so like the idea of an all Ayre setup, balanced of course, but it also would be balanced with the Parasound JC-2 and JC-1s. Any thoughts/advice?

db
dbphd
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,178 posts
 
Some people like feedback.... I prefer no global feedback 
but
you probably have to listen to decide
big fan of Ayre, RIP Charlie...
beetlemania
841 posts
 
Hansen used to acknowledge, on the forums, the influence John Curl had on his designs. But I don't know that Curl ever pursued zero feedback as a design goal.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,178 posts
 
I have a lot of respect for JC and others.
i suspect that designers that use speakers that honk up time aNd phase don’t much care about TIM... 
drrsutliff
888 posts
 
When I decided to move from a tube power amp to SS I was lucky enough to be able to in home demo the JC-1 and a VX5/20.  Each was driven by my VAC tube preamp.  Enjoyed both a lot but the Ayre is what has been in my system now for a couple of years.  
dbphd OP
1,633 posts
 
I used the three JC-1s to drive KEF Reference 107/2s and a 204/2C for years.  The JC-1s added great LF authority to the 107/2s.  But it was a pair of 20-watt Cary CAD-572SE tube mono blocks that lead me to the Ayre amp, that and that I had been hooked on the sound of SACDs with my C-5xeMP disc player.  I get an uncanny sense of music just flowing with Ayre as though there's nothing involved in its reproduction.
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