(new) Parasound JC5, or (used pair of) JC1 monoblocks?

[LRD116]

Hi everyone, looking for your advice on my next upgrade (redoing the amplification section), thank you in advance!:

Current amplification is a single Parasound A21, in stereo mode. In the near-er future, I would like to upgrade to either one of the following two amplification choices:
-choice #1: a (new) Parasound JC5, or
-choice #2: a (used pair of) Parasound JC1 monoblocks

Please note that both choices would be roughly equivalent in cost (which is a moderately-important factor to me.) What I would like your input on is which would sound better, into the rest of my system (detailed below)?

CONFUGURATION OF MY SYSTEM:
=============================
---Source:

...Windows 10 laptop, using almost entirely standard or high-resolution FLAC files, running AIMP as the program, outputting via ASIO​

---DAC/pre-amp/"head unit":

...L.K.S Audio MH-DA004, with the Amanero USB input section upgrade. In this unit, each channel uses ESS Sabre 9038pro chips, in mono configuration, giving possibly one of the highest outputs on the market...Would this present a challenge downstream in my system, as the monoblocks, would not allow for gain adjustment (although to this end, was thinking possibly eventually a Tortuga Audio LDR1B.V25 passive preamp (feel free to comment on this as well...)​

---Speakers:

...Currently PSB X2Ts, to become PSB T3s in the next week or so (this will actually be my first upgrade)... (Have tried the "2.1" thing, with a sub, and this solution just did not work with my environment and ears...)​

---Cabling:

..is nothing special, except for possibly that I am using a USB cable with the 5-Volt wire removed, and XLR cables between the head unit and amplifier...​

Some considerations I am mulling over:
================================
I understand there have been some enhancements on the JC5, but my concern is that the "Class 'A'" operation range is apparently only about half of what it would be in the pair-of-JC1-monoblocks choice. The JC1s do not have input adjustment knobs, whereas the JC5 does. Also, would "age" of the used JC1s be an issue to consider? And, I notice that the JC5 does not have as much available amperage per channel as a JC1, nor does it "double" in wattage rating (Parasound only quotes 1.5x), from 8-Ohm to 4-Ohm load... It is also worth noting that PSB T3s are apparently easy to drive, so a JC5 might do just fine...

Finally, I will posit that...my "end-game" amplification solution would be a pair of monoblocks by Parasound, whenever they decide to update the JC1, like they have done with the A21 to A21+, A23 to A23+, A51 to A51+, and so forth... I did pose the question to Parasound, and they assured me that they are "working quite hard on this matter," although no definitive timeline/release date has been set. Should give me plenty of time to save!...


Thank you so much for your input,
-Lou

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

"Current amplification is a single Parasound A21"

Leave as is. Save your money.

 

[Pogre]

What are you trying to accomplish by swapping amplifiers? Seems like a lateral move either way you go. If sound quality is your goal and you're upgrading speakers as well take your amp money, add it to your speaker money and get the next tier up in speakers. There's where you'll hear a difference.

 

[lovinthehd]

Ampliphilia.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I believe the unanimous answer is......um, WHY?

 

[Leemix]

Amps do matter but i dont know the difference between those two.
Maybe Parasound has a forum you can check?

 

[CostAvoidance]

I can’t directly answer your question but I can add a statement or two to help you decide. In my home theater system I have 7Rbh Sx/r series speakers, 2 status acoustics decimos and 2 SVS ultra bookshelves. In 2016 I finally got sick of trying and failing to get my system to sound the way I wanted so I went to separate amplifiers. I started with a parasound a31 for the front 3. The sound quality of the A31 connected to a Yamaha cxa5100 was a start in the right direction. The sound was so much fuller, deeper and smoother than the previous lineups of Denon 3805,3808,4200 & 4800 series and Yamaha rx Z9. Night and day improvement.

After a year or so I purchased a pair of JC1’s. The JC1’s sound even better than the A31. The music is very smooth, authoritative even at low volumes - which is where I listen, and resolved. When I listen to lossless concerts on blu ray I hear instruments that went previously unnoticed. For instance, on the Eric Clapton blu Ray concert Slowhand at 70, his Martin guitar sounds like a light Martin guitar, not a heavy steel string. You’ll hear cymbals, brushstrokes and squeaks and sounds that we’re previously absent. When you break out your movie collection it probably won’t change anything if you like to watch action packed CGI animation content. But, if you have watch something like Chicago and use JC1’s you’ll hear content that was previously not there.

I can’t tell you if I’d buy a JC5 over a pair of JC1’s. You’ll probably find a pair of JC1’s for around $3500 but there is shipping cost and you risk damaging during transport. The JC5 can be had for about $4500 from safeandsoundhq.com with a great 5 year non transferable warranty.

Regarding the bias. I live in Florida and it gets hot in my media closet, so I run the JC1’s in low bias (10 watt) mode during the summertime. That really kills the refinement, this amp needs to run in high bias to get the robust audio content you’ll want at low levels.

All in all I would probably go for the JC1’s because the have the high bias switch which the JC5 lack and for me it wouldn’t be worth the money to have an expensive amp that isn’t ultra smooth and revealing.

 

[PENG]

Seriously, if money is not an issue, go for the best! Why stop at Parsound's JC amps? I have owned both Halo and Bryston amps and I prefer to more compact size of the Bryston and the look as well. I think Bryston's chassis design allow them to use smaller heat sink. Both seem to be reducing their bias so the class A operating range tend to decrease accordingly. It is a wise move as they like finally realize class AB can be designed to function with virtually no crossover distortions so why take the heat.. Emotiva appears to go the other way, their $699 XPA-1L claimed 35 watt class A into 8 ohms, yet I think few audiophile would go for that instead of an A21 that cost 2X (vs two XPA-1L) yet offers 8 W max of class A into 8 ohms.

This is a funny hobby, some people, including me, don't mind spending money on nice amps for their build quality (objective) and look (subjective) but not sound quality because once you get pass a certain level, there are no audible differences. Yet, there are people who can experienced night and day experience going from a Yamaha RX-Z9 to an A31 and then to a pair of JC1. So those people may hear even better difference (may be night and day again too..) going to the new JC5, or more expensive amps by McIntosh, Krell, even Boulder's and beyond, all the while using speakers that to a lot of people are not all that accurate to begin with, really hard to understand if logic and science are the basis..

To the OP, before you pull the trigger on the JC5, I suggest you to look into the option of using a pair of bridged Benchmark AHB2 that apparently have had the best possible measurements if the Audio Precision analyzer is used. If I remember right, the AP analyzer is used by many reputable labs such as Audioholics.com, Stereophile, Soundandvision.com, Audiosciencerevew.com and large scale manufacturers including D&M.

 

[CostAvoidance]

Your 100% right. Amplification is like anything else, got to find what suits the listener.

I think the preference for sound is some combination of biology/physiology and psychology rather than some magic formula of the ideal digital circuit. There is no such thing as the perfect digital outcome. Find what you like and be happy for the discovery.

 

[PENG]

Your 100% right. Amplification is like anything else, got to find what suits the listener.

I think the preference for sound is some combination of biology/physiology and psychology rather than some magic formula of the ideal digital circuit. There is no such thing as the perfect digital outcome. Find what you like and be happy for the discovery.

Agreed, preference is subjective, science and logic, not so much. Can't argue on subjective matter, it is persona, and even if it is not real, it is still real to the individual..

 

[lovinthehd]

Placebos work for many.