Any chance you have owned an A21 before? Curious about the differences between the A21. and the JC5, other than the obvious power rating.
Everything about your system works, the stand, the components, the wall color, it all looks so nice, congratulations on your A-21 purchase, it's Parasound's most popular amplifier. Your ModWright Pre-Amp really makes things pop! Very clean!
Well, thank you very much! The A21 the LS-100 are an extremely good match, I have also lowered the gain on the A21 to about 1/2-3/4 output, this lets me open up the Modwright a little more and let that wonderful 6SN7 tone shine. btw, I've been a Polk Audio fan for many years. I currently own three pair of their old SDA line. When properly upgraded, the SDA's sound very good.
You entire room is absolutely stunning, beautifully laid out and executed, treatments are killer! I want that space! Top shelf to say the least! I owned not one pair, but two pair of the Polk SDA-SRS 1.2's for many years, a pair of walnut and a pair of oak, sold them to two very good friends and they both have them to this day, they look brand new, BIG mistake on my part! I did try a pair of these just for the fun of it, and added the super tweeters. Polk LSiM 707's with addition of Aperion Ribbon Super Tweeters
I’ll contribute, but mine seem quite modest after the last couple.... I run a pair of 2125 v2 as monoblocks. The picture makes it look like they don’t have any circulation, but they do. On a budget these sound really good.
I had a dream about 25 years ago that I had a tie-dyed faceplate Parasound amp. Wonder what that meant?
I have a good friend I sold my Polk SDA-SRS 1.2 speakers to, he had the older version of you exact amplifier and it must be 20 years old and has never had any service whatsoever, and works perfectly, your configuration is great, and that is a great amplifier. I had a similar amplifier, and sold it after 16 years and that must have been 8 years ago, and it's still working perfectly, those are GREAT amplifiers, they just keep on keeping on.!
I initially considered a used A23 , but ultimately went this route so I could purchase new. I was replacing some vintage stuff and really wanted a worry free listening experience, and monoblocks were an added luxury.
Planning on joining the owners' club with a HINT 6 Integrated to run my Magnepan .7's. Currently running a Cambridge Audio CXA80, which works fine, but looking to take my obsession to the next level. Question on the sub/pre outs... for two subwoofers, are you using the sub side, which appears to accommodate two subs in MONO? Or do you use the pre-outs, which are stereo? (So, then, does the low-pass or high-pass filter prevent those frequencies from going to the mains?) For the most part, I've preferred black components, but these silver ones are dead sexy.
All, I have had the wonderful experience of auditioning a pair of JC1+s in my house and I can honestly say that they are stunning. They are a potential replacement for my JC1s that have been my go-to amp for the last 10 years or so, but the JC1+s are simply in another dimension. They are more expensive than the JC1s were ($17K versus $9K, when the JC1s were available) but the sonic difference is outstanding. I won't go into all the differences that I hear, but the main difference is soundstage, soundstage, soundstage, coupled with strong, deep bass and an almost eerily silky mid and high end. My image has expanded to way beyond my speakers and goes deep into the space behind the speakers. I have always thought that Parasound's best products have an almost tube-like warmth to the way they play music, but somehow they have combined the best of tube-like sound with the accuracy, and resilience, of solid state equipment. I think Parasound has reached a new level of capability with these amps and I honestly think that they will go down in history as an amp that set the standard for quality at any price but astonishing for this price. This amp ranks, IMHO, with the finest amps out there but at a price that some of us might be able to afford. John Atkinson's review in Stereophile just came out and all I can do is repeat how he ended his review "Well done (Parasound and) John Curl"
I'm one of these relics that likes to stay with one single audio component brand for everything if I can, however Parasound has always been more about amplification, however they have dipped their toes in the CD/SACD waters with several offerings through the years. I think my favorite has to be the model HALO D-3 CD/SACD player, which matches my current components perfectly, Fully HDCP-compliant (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) I would be curious to ask the community if there are some people out there that still own and use the HALO D-3 player, or any of the past Parasound CD and CD/SACD/DVD players? Here is a quick list. Another CD/SACD player in their Classic line was the model, Classic D200. Are there any of these players out there at this time? CBD-2000 CDP-2000 CDP-1000 CDC-1500 HALO-D3 Take a look at this beauty! Discontinued Products > Halo D 3 Disc Player Classic D200 Discontinued Products > New Classic D 200 Disc Player Z CD HALO CD 1
I did own the A21 amp and now own and use the JC5. The JC5 has better cosmetics to begin with. The speaker connectors are infinitely better than the cheap connectors used on the A21. As stated, there is more power available in the case of the JC5. I found that the JC5 has a smoother presentation. All said, you would probably need to hear the JC5 in your system. The biggest knock on the JC5 is the price. This is a statement piece of audio equipment. If you can afford it, by all means do so. If you budget is smaller, I would look at the A21+. These amps are made to last you a long time time. That is the way I approach Parasound products.
Thanks for the comparison, I have thought about an A21+, but I know myself well enough that I will bide my time and own a JC5 one day...In the meantime, I'll just have to get by with the A21
