At the beginning of the 2000s, Parasound made great success when they launched the Halo series. In 2003, a number of amplifiers in this series came with a new and fresh design, in a series that gave Parasound a boost in both moderate and heavy HighEnd.

We at Audiophile.no had a special eye and ear for these models, and we first tested the HighEnd amplifier set C2 and A5 and then the stereo set P3 and A21 .

But also the JC 1 monoblocks eventually came on Trond's test bench. And he was mightily impressed with these heavyweights. Only at one point did he have a critical comment - the speaker terminals were too close together, with the associated danger of short-circuiting.

Parasound Halo JC 1+

Now, 17 years after JC 1, Parasound is launching an upgraded version of these flagships. Parasound has been working with JC 1+ for 5 years, and these monoblocks have received a number of improvements. And since we mentioned the speaker terminals, these have been improved. Not to Neutric, as Trond suggests, but to a set of CHK Infinium, designed by Parasound.

A little more essential is that the power is increased from 400 to 450 watts in 8 ohms, 800 to 850 watts in 4 ohms, and from 1200 to 1300 watts in 2 ohms. Similar to its predecessor, it operates with Class A up to 25 watts, and then in Class A / B.

It was John Curl himself who initiated an improved version of the flagships in 2014. During 2015 and 2016, a number of prototypes were built to confirm the ideas he had for improvement, and the result convinced the leadership of Parasound. The result was JC 1+.

JC 1+ bears its name rightly, for these beasts weigh 30% more than its predecessors. One of the improvements is that the XLR loop output is added, which makes it easier to use JC 1+ for bi- or triamping.

The manufacturer's overview of the improvements over JC 1:

• 400 → 450 Watts @ 8Ω
• 800 → 850 Watts @ 4Ω
• 1200 → 1300 Watts @ 2Ω
• Filter capacitance: 132,000 → 198,000 uF
• Transformer capacity: 1.9 → 2.1 kVA
• Output transistors: 18 → 24 Sanken 60Mz devices
• Peak current: 135 → 180 amps
• Weight: 64 → 83 lbs net
• Bybee Music Rails™ active high frequency noise filters
• John Curl driver stage employs a new cascode circuit design
• FR-408 input circuit board material improves HF signal integrity
• Gain switch to select 29 dB or 23 dB of gain
• R-core power transformer for input stage
• Input circuit board is shielded
• Double thickness copper on output/power supply circuit boards
• Gold-plated internal audio signal path connectors
• Custom CHK Infinium speaker binding posts
• Looping Neutrik XLR output for easier bi-amping
• Front panel power indicator LED
• Updated auto turn on circuits with 3.5mm 12V trigger Jacks

Parasound JC 1+ is available in black and silver. When Trond tested its predecessor in 2005, the price was approx. 70,000, - for a couple. It is now noted that there has been some water in the sea since its launch 17 years ago, in addition to the krone exchange rate not being what it was. It is to be expected that the price in Norway will be somewhat below a few hundred thousand.

Parasound is imported to Norway by NCMS

Read more about JC 1+ at NCMS

Read more about JC 1+ at Parasound