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Parasound JC-1 power amplifier

According to John Curl the Parasound JC-1 power amplifier cannot be improved, because it is already at the pinnacle of solid state circuit design. Of course I could not disagree with John, afterall he is the solid state guru...
But I would address the following (and I hope I will not offend anyone): Parasound is not an ultra high end brand like Mark Levinson, Krell, Accuphase or Boulder. It is rather a mid-fi to lower high end company where cost restrictions are very strong (because otherwise they wouldn't sell their products to the consumers). Because of this cost restrictions they simply could not build the world's best amplifier, even if John is designing some nice circuit for them. For example the parts quality is not very good, because they use cheap off the shelf parts. So in fact is the JC-1 IMHO a very compromised product. John could say that it is the best amplifier money can buy, but because of this cost restrictions it is only part of the truth.

Chris
dazzdax
daltonlanny
301 posts
 
No offense, but:
The parts that are inside the JC-1's are not "cheap off the shelf parts" by any stretch of the imagination.
They were carefully choosen, and carefully matched together to sound their best.
slowhand
610 posts
 
I have a friend that has the JC-1. It is a excellent sounding pair of power amps. Who can say what is best? This is totally subjective. I hate when someone says this is the best power amp, preamp, etc in the world. Even if you have heard every other power amp in the world, it is still just the opinion of the person saying it. Personally, I am much more interested in equipment that gives great sound for the dollar than I am in the "best in the world". The JC-1's are a great value.
peter_s
1,340 posts
 
I had a pair of JC-1's - used them on the top and bottom ends of Maggie 20.1's and on Gallo Reference 3.1's. I sold them. My experience was that the JC-1's seemed pretty flat - lifeless and uninvolving. Maybe I'm just a tube kind of guy, but my VTL 450's sounded sooo much better. If I were buying solid state, I would look elsewhere. Perhaps Plinius 102 or better, perhaps Odyssey Statos dual mono. Definitely elsewhere.
zormi
105 posts
 
I must ask: what does "SOTA" mean..?? Excuse me, but sometimes it's not easy to follow some threads for us with English as a second or third language...
zormi
105 posts
 
BTW, what is the current US price for pair of JC-1..?? The last I remebered was 7000USD per pair - bur dollar dropped significantly last months...
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