Why are Parasound’s top-flight products emblazoned with a ‘JC’?
Imagine owning an amplifier whose circuit traces its heritage back to the Grateful Dead’s legendary Wall of Sound PA. A circuit designed by someone who was at the forefront of solid-state technology and understands transistors down to the die, doping, and silicon-layer level. Someone who is quoted in audio engineering textbooks, but whose designs were considered extreme by engineers still versed in vacuum tube technology.
This is the weight behind that ‘John Curl’ signature on the front of Parasound’s JC series units: the life’s work of a man who Darren Myers, the well-known PS Audio alumnus and now Parasound’s vice president of research and development, describes as his idol. John Curl is legendary, says Darren, because he is able to balance the objective side of audio engineering while “accepting the subjective reality that we live in”.
Meet the JC5
We recently chatted with both Darren Myers and David Sheriff, the CEO of Parasound, as we got up to speed on a real sweet spot of the JC line-up, the JC5 stereo power amp. Says David, “This is a stereo amp for people who want the best, but don’t want monoblocks”. (Or, as is common, don’t have the space or the permission to run two beasts on the living room floor.)
There’s a certain “group shipping” value you get with a stereo amp. Indeed, John Curl, who lives in an apartment in San Francisco, uses the JC5 in his home system. But if you have the room and a bigger budget, there is very good reason to pay $20,000 for a pair of the JC1+ or $15,000 for the JCM250 pair versus the $7,400 of the JC5. In terms of the house sound, “the bones are the same” says Darren, but the part quality and power supplies of the JC1+ and JM250 are of a totally different order. The increased tonnage brings you more separation, and also gives you even tighter control over bass and other dynamics without losing the musicality that the JC line is famous for.
We are excited to try the monoblocks sometime, but for now, the JC5 stereo amp is demanding our full attention. One of our team took it home to try in his main system, replacing popular monoblocks that are about half the price per pair then the single JC5.
Are Big Amps Clumsy?
Many people subscribe to the notion that big, powerful amps trample over detail, and you need small amps for delicacy and nuance. The suggestion is that you just can’t have both, at least not until you’re $20,000 in.
Hefting 73 pounds of the JC5 onto the rack, we needed no assurances that this power amp would bring all the bass. Indeed, the JC5’s sound is a lesson in the word “authority” as used in audio: there’s an ease to the way it swings the deepest notes around like a yo-yo that’s mesmerizing. The plunging subterranean glissando that ushers in the bouncy beat of Run the Jewels’ ‘Down (feat. Joi)’ is barely audible on many systems, but here it runs through your entire body. The deepest notes hanging off the equally bouncy ‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Eilish actually made our listener’s living room pop and crack the way it does as it heats up or cools down.
But this is as expected for a 400 Wpc amp that’s in danger of exceeding carry-on dimensions and is the weight of a full-grown Labrador. We were more interested in listening for delicacy, detail, air… all the stuff that’s said to be lost when you throw tonnage at your power needs.
With happy memories of recently revisiting this song at a group listening session at Kevin’s house, we cued up Leonard Cohen’s ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ from Songs of Love and Hate, listening for the tinkling background noise at the beginning, the “dah-dah, dah-dah” female chorus, and finally the soaring soprano at about 3:40. The JC5 renders these details with what we can only call love, with clear spacing between each element, side to side and front to back. Add in the JC5’s performance on bass-heavy tracks and we must ask you to picture this amp as the Incredible Hulk smashing through the brick wall of your living room and executing a perfect pirouette to arabesque.
As Darren says, “The JC is very coherent from the bottom to the very top, giving you musicality and resolution” two aspects of sound that are often at odds with each other. It’s easy to find products at the extremes, either purveying warm, rolled-off nostalgia, or hyper-detailed clinical reportage. Combining the two philosophies takes a very special product, especially when it’s not a hybrid.
John Curl’s open-loop design in the JC5 can sound richer and a little slower than amps with lots of feedback, but those amps can also sound pinched and rushed, and the higher frequencies can get glassy as you turn up the volume. Still, if you are a chaser of PRaT, we’d recommend auditioning the JC5 with particular attention to its tonal balance and pacing. Do you think the midrange will bloom just the right amount on your speakers, or could it get a little too saturated? Are you enjoying the rich musicality or do you prefer something leaner and faster?
Those of you who listen for tonality and soundstaging are sure to completely fall in love with the JC5. If, for some reason, you are considering moving away from tubes but fear solid-state glare, the JC5 needs to be on your must-audition list. In fact, on the morning of our conversation, David had got a call from a dealer who heard the JC line for the first time before demoing them to a customer. “This isn’t just about hearing a new sound for the first time,” said David, reporting what the dealer said. “These are people who say, ‘I just heard something that changed my life.”