New Parasound JC3 Jr. vs Gold Note PH 10

Again, you and me both.

That's why I am thinking Adagio - it is definitely a full tube design, front to back - with a separate PS to boot.

 

Yes, I definitely bit the bullet on the higher price of the JC3+. In addition to the positive reviews and the flexibility of the PH-10, the reasonable price was part of the initial attraction to me. That said after adding the power supply, and later on the tube addition which Gold Note says is coming (I know myself, I’d eventually add it), the cost is comparable.

 

Let me know what you think if you get the Adagio. This thread did in fact cost me (or rather my lack of self-control leading to an impulse purchase) to purchasing a JC3 Jr. off eBay today. So myself and/or this thread cost me $1152 delivered. I also have a bid in on the Parasound P5 preamp. I read so much about synergy of system, I'm curious what the Jr---> P5 ---> A21 system sounds like paired together. I've never been 100% satisfied with my Rogue to be honest. The noise floor is just too high.

I am jealous @Wee Wiily , the JC3+ looks to be amazing piece of equipment. I pondered it but I'm just not at the point I can pay $2500 used for a phono stage or 3k new. Congrats.

 

This is my experiment with the Jr. as well. I want to know what a $1500 phono pre sounds like compared to a $300 one. The mono button was a selling point as well. Some late 60's records sound absurd in the channel separation category. I think your bolded quote above sums up this hobby in one sentence.

 

We have much in common - I have an A21 too, and looking at the P5 also. I have a Denon x7200WA delivering both HT and 2 channel to my A21 currently, and although no slouch, I have too wondered what adding a P5 for the 2 channel analog would do for eeking out that last bit of SQ. My current system sounds really good, but we both know that AVR's aren't always the best possible 2 channel analog delivery systems. But again, will the improvement be noticeable? I am not sure... yet... but just may take AA up on their offer to try the P5 for 30 days and return it if it does not offer an improvement over the current set up. I talked with one of their veteran salespeople, and he is assuring me I will be pleased with the results vs the x7200wa AVR.

A JC3 jr or JC3+ should definitely give you that "synergy" you referred to with a P5 / A21 combo, at least you would think. I am convinced that the P5 / A21 marries up nicely, there is enough testimonial all over the net to justify that conclusion. However, from all my reading not as convinced the JC3 Jr or + is as much an obvious adder... but YMMV. There are some interesting reads regarding integrating the JC3+ into even the A21 / P5 - some were having noise issues. vpiforum.com • View topic - Parasound Halo JC3+ Incoming

The Lounge and Lounge / Copla stages I have on separate TT's do sound good, and I have had a lot of time with the current set up and will know if something is an improvement.... even my third TT with a Mani is very capable. Let's share notes as we test, upgrade on what we discover on our thoughts on how much improvement the incremental $$ provides - if even on PM. BTW, I have one Lounge LCR standalone driving a DP-59L Denon, the Lounge / Copla driving a Yammy GT-2000 and the Mani driving an SL-1200.

BTW, I don't mind spending $$ on trying new things - one thing about this hobby is if you buy good gear, it's all resaleable. Do your homework, buy what you think will offer improvements, sell off the things left behind as you grow. Again, I am very pleased with the sound I am generating currently, so if something comes in that's a step backward, I'll know it and will return it if so. That's why I prefer to buy new.... the return / satisfaction guaranteed angle. This hobby is notorious for gear not playing nicely together, and I want a ready-made out if there is any funny biz in integrating components. It's always unexpected. For instance, I was surprised the number of threads I read around the net from people saying their JC3+ did not play nice with their A21 / P5.

 

Hi VA, I probably should take this to a PM but I'll post it in the hope that maybe others can learn from our experiences. When I first purchased my B&W 804's, my 20 year dream come true speakers, I wasn't that impressed. I was running it with my Yamaha AVR. When I added the A-21, the sound improved, mostly the bass. But I was still underwhelmed. When I added the Rogue Preamp...and got it upgraded from the factory, the sound got significantly better. For the first time I was actually satisfied with my system.

I would bet a large sum of money the P5 would sound dramatically better than you Denon AVR. Before my upgrade I thought the same thing. I thought that the preamp wouldn't impact the overall sound that much, but it made a huge difference. The Rogue was the first time I was happy with the "new" speakers. I've been rocking this setup for about 4 months happily:

Thorens -> Lounge -> Rogue RP-1 -> A21 -> 804's.

Today I got the JC Jr. thinking the Lounge was good and it is. I thought it wouldn't make much of a difference. But goddamn it sounds terrific. The details, the vocals, treble, bass, everything is clear

 

I perfectly understand this.

 

Any other thoughts on the JC3 JR now that you have lived with it for 3 months?

 

I agree. I did not think a phono preamp could make a significant difference until I bought the Lounge a year and a half ago. From the first note coming out of the speakers I noticed a big improvement. I'm experiencing the same jump in sound quality with the Jr. this weekend. And it's not even broken in yet.

 

Great news and what I want to hear.

All you've really done is loosen up my wallet, and made it easier for me to spend my hard earned $$.

Looks like it's time for me to make the phono preamp leap and try the next level out for myself.

 

And preamp...and cartridge .

 

Sent a PM, we've taken this far enough off topic.

 

I replaced my cartridge from the 2M bronze to the Lyra Delos, and the improvement going to the new preamp was bigger. You would think cart > preamp.

I took for granted the mono switch, thinking it is a gimmick. Now, all of my mono jazz albums sound good!

The fine adjustable loading is also much more useful than I thought. With the new cart, I can really tweak the loading to get the sound I want. The problem is I am always tempted to adjust it

The only con of the jr is that the gain settings are somewhat limited, with a max of 60dB. What if I want to use a LOMC?

EDIT: The jr sounded "bright" at first. Keep using it for a bout a week and it will settle in (just like my Elex-R did).

 

You hit the major reason I don't already own a JC3 Jr --- if my LOMC were 0.5mv and above I would not be as concerned, but with my 0.2mv - 0.3mv LOMC's the specs on gain, Input Sens, etc shied me away. That and the review by HiFiNews in UK that reiterated what I was reading....

I am certain it is a fine stage, but nothing does it all, and this MIGHT be the achilles for the JC3 Jr. BUT I would love to hear from others.

@Bananas&blow - what say ye, have you tried the Jr with LOMC in the 0.3mv range? Gain enough?

 

I have only tried the Jr. with the Bronze. Actually never used a MC cartridge. Only about 2 years spinning records and actually caring about the sound quality. I agree it sounds a tad bright right now, but I expected that and experienced the same thing with the Lounge. I recall after 48 hours leaving it on the Lounge mellowed out. With the sound quality I'm getting right now I'm not sure I need to go further up the chain in terms of carts. The bronze sounds incredible right now. It is very satisfying getting more out of my speakers. I knew they were capable of more than what I was getting. I am a very happy audiophile today.

One thing that surprised me about the Jr. was the weight. It is a substantial build. Much heavier than I expected.

@PATB do you leave your Jr. on all the time?

@TheVinylAddict What speakers are you running your A21 with?

 

I put the jr on standby when not in use (power switch on the front; switch on the back always on).

 

A little off topic, but i just pulled the trigger on the P5... @Bananas&blow -- you helped to loosen the wallet and give it a shot to pair with the A21... I am sending you a bill for your part in the expenditure.

I am confident especially since it is pairing with another Parasound component...

Now, back to the topic at hand... do I abandon the Adagio idea (recall it is many weeks away from being ready) and bite the bullet on a JC3+? I must admit the lack of user reviews on the Adagio has me second guessing at times... on the flip side the feedback on the JC3+ is growing by the day...

 

I've been eyeing the JC Junior for a while and accidentally found one this morning for 1k used with original box, etc. I could not pass that up. On the flip side there is a Herron 1-MC on US Audio Mart for 1.5k and the seller is willing to deal. I almost pulled the trigger on that but did not want to be limited to MC only right now. I'm still saving for the Herron second gen hopefully later this year.

Oh and my Ania is 0.35mv, so I am going to find out real fast just how well this performs with ultra low MC carts. If it doesn't play nice I'll sell the Ania and grab another 2M Black or Bronze.

 

The Junior has ample gain for the Ania MC in my system using the balanced outs. Not sure about The Jr.'s SE outputs, which have slightly less gain.

 

Unfortunately I won't be using the balanced outs.

 

I called Parasound a few weeks I just had a quick question pairing a new cart with my jr. Parasound said they use the Denon DL103 as one of their test carts, with good results. The Denon is lower output than the Ania.

 

Yeah I can't use these either as I have a Rogue RP1 which has no balanced inputs. I love the sound and I don't think it would be worth upgrading just to get balanced inputs, despite the fact that my Opponent 105 and Jr could both use them. The increased gain on the JR. is not something I need as my amp has enough power.

 

The Dynavector P75 MkI that I've been using for over a decade recently started to exhibit some problems. This past weekend I took it into a local shop to drop it off for them to have a look at it. They in turn sent me home with a JC3 Jr. to play around with. I must admit that it is a very impressive piece of gear. I'll state up front that I've never paid all that much attention to things like soundstaging and imaging in my system as it's just not a priority for me (I'm mostly concerned with dynamics and tone (timbre) of instruments). Of course, I don't have the P75 around for direct comparison, but the space presented by the sound reproduction of my system is much more noticeable now with the JC3 Jr. in place. The things that matter most to me such as dynamics and tone are both covered nicely as well. This unit is also indeed dead quiet as others have commented on. Everything sounds very well detailed and defined, but not at all edgy if that makes any sense. All in all I'm finding vinyl playback as heard through the Parasound unit to be very enjoyable.

I'm not sure what else to comment on other than perhaps the rest of my system which consists of a Rega RP3 with a Dynavector DV10x5 cartridge, along with a Naim Nait 5i and Rega RX3 speakers. I also have a Naim CD5 with a Flatcap 2 outboard power supply for CD playback. The Parasound phono stage makes quite a noticeable difference within the context of this system. I would also point out that I've never heard (or heard of for that matter) the Gold Note PH-10.

 

When are you getting your Jr. Mike? I'm curious to find what carts work best with the Jr. I can say the bronze sounds great, but I have not compared it to anything. If anyone finds a cart that's magical and under 1k I'd like to know about it. If I get no feedback I may just spring for the 2M Black and roll the dice. Considering I'm thrilled with the Bronze, hard to imagine I wouldn't like the Black.

 

Bananas&blow, if you're truly thrilled with the Bronze, why not just stick with it for a while and buy more vinyl instead since you just acquired the Parasound? (I'm not trying to be a wise guy, I'm only asking the same question of you that I ask of myself.) At some point I might like to upgrade my turntable, but when I experience satisfaction from a component upgrade I find that's the best time to enjoy more new music as well as my old favorites. I wouldn't have experienced the Parasound if it hadn't of been for my P75 going haywire (not long after I just bought new speakers, the timing of which really sucks).