Received my JC1's today!!!

[Peter Nielsen]

I received my JC1:s today! Thanks Brent!!! I was positively surprised to see that they were packaged like the C2 in a plastic bag+black felt bag!!! Yey! And I thought the felt bag was reserved for the processors only . (My A51 did not come in a felt bag?!?).

The boxes were beat up pretty badly by FedEx with several 2" holes in the boxes (my wife was horrified, because she knows that I'll go berserk when something's damaged in shipping), but thanks to Parasound's awsome double-boxing, the inner box and amps were not physically damaged at all :T .

I will let the units sit for at least 12 hours in room temperature before hooking them up. I will report back and let y'all know how these beasts sound. I know they'll require quite some time of warm-up too... :B

Right now they will be powering a pair of Magnepan 3.6s, but that'll change soon: I have a pair of 20.1s coming in next year... :T

Hmm, and I'll definitely need to get a dedicated 20 amp circuit wired with #10 wire. Right now the room lights are flickering with my A51 when I push it... (Gawd I wish that southern builders understood the importance of wiring outlets and light on separate circuits).

Peter

[nicholtl]

Ok, I'm now officially jealous. But that's awesome, congrats. You're one of the very lucky, and very few, people who get to own these monoblocks.

So you have a pair of JC1's and an A51? I'm guessing you run a 7.1 setup, with the JC1's for both HT front-end duty and 2-channel?

[SpOoNmAn]

Good grief, Id die if I could get my hands on a pair of those brutes.

Congrats man! :T

[Peter Nielsen]

So you have a pair of JC1's and an A51? I'm guessing you run a 7.1 setup, with the JC1's for both HT front-end duty and 2-channel?

Correct. The JC1's are for the front speakers (currently 3.6 but will eventually be 20.1). The A51 is driving the center (CC3), surrounds (2xCC3) and the rears (MC1). All Maggies, of course.

I hooked up the JC1's this morning. I now understand why Parasound includes that bias switch on the back. Even at the low bias setting (10W) the JC1 runs much warmer than the A51. It is pretty clear that if I want to run these at high bias, I'll need a *completely* open rack with beams instead of shelves, like the Finite Elemente Spider rack...

Peter

[Chris D]

Yeah, baby! Yeah! :banana:

[NMyTree]

I received my JC1:s today!

Coooooooooooooool :T

Congratulations!! Good stuff!

[Marshal]

Shouldn't you get 30A or even 50A circuit for A51? Manual for A51 says that this amp draws 3000W in full 4 ohm load. 15A is 1500W and 20A is 1800W.

[Peter Nielsen]

Shouldn't you get 30A or even 50A circuit for A51? Manual for A51 says that this amp draws 3000W in full 4 ohm load. 15A is 1500W and 20A is 1800W.

Those figures are PEAK figures. The power cord with its 6-15P plug and IEC-C13 connector on the A51 are rated 15A and the unit is fused with a 15 amp fuse. A single 15A circuit will be perfectly fine if nothing else is plugged into that circuit.

FWIW, using a 30A circuit would violate electrical code since the power cords aren't rated to handle that. 30A receptacles are different, so you would need to switch out the Nema 6-15P plug to a L5-30P plug. This is where you would be violating the code as the A51 only accepts a 15 amp IEC-C13 in the other end (IEC-C19 is required for 30 amp).

However, it is always a good idea to wire the 15A circuit with heavy gauge wire (for instance wire normally used for 30A circuits) in order to keep down voltage drop caused by heavy load.

Peter

[Marshal]

Those figures are PEAK figures

No, they are maximum for full 4 ohm load. Audioholics review mentioned this as they were unable to measure full load in 4 ohm because line voltage started to drop.

Please note that during the 4 ohm load test, my wall voltage sagged from 116VAC to 112VAC. Without having a VARIAC to hold the line voltage constant, it is difficult to accurately measure all channels driven with such a powerful amplifier.

I checked out some other amps like Krells and found very disturbing data like consumption of 6000W for 700w model. This should not be allowed.

I agree with the rest of your post that all HT equipment must be 15A or maybe 20A compatible in order to work in any household. There is absolutely no need for 6000W in consumption amplifiers.

[Peter Nielsen]

No, they are maximum for full 4 ohm load. Audioholics
review mentioned this as they were unable to measure full load in 4 ohm
because line voltage started to drop.

Ah, Yes, I see where you're coming from. In theory the A51 can deliver 400W/channel. However, in practice this power can't be delived all five channels simultaneously and continuously as the allowed total power draw is 1800W max. I would say that the limiting factor is the fuse and the rating of the power connectors since the transformer is rated for 2400 W.

If you load the A51 continuously with more than 1800W, it will blow its 15A fuse sooner or later. Since the fuse is slow-blow, it probably can take a 2000W load for several minutes without blowing the fuse. Also, if it happens to be one of those days when the line voltage is high, say 130V, then 15A will give you 1950 W.... (Here in NC the line voltage typically is between 125-128V).

Regarding the voltage drop, this will happen if "standard" gauge is used for wiring the outlet and the breaker panel is far from the outlet. You would think that Audioholics would have a decent outlet at hand for their tests, but obviously this was not the case...

Peter

[Marshal]

Here in NC the line voltage typically is between 125-128V

That is not right. It shouldn't be over 120V. Correct voltage is between 110-120V. I have 120V sharp.

[Peter Nielsen]

That is not right. It shouldn't be over 120V. Correct voltage is between 110-120V. I have 120V sharp.

ANSI C84.1 Electric Power Systems and Equipment - Voltage Ratings (60 Hz) sets the preferred nominal voltage at 120V and allows a range of 114 - 126V

However, and this obviously applies to you; the California Public Utilities Commission has specified that the service voltage shall be kept in the range 114-120V, with some exceptions. This was done because some studies showed a reduction in energy consumption at the lower voltages.

Today we have 125.8V in my block...

Peter

[Marshal]

Thanks for this interesting info.

[Ricky]

Peter,

A third JC1 for your center speaker?

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/wtb.pl?ampstran&1112137356

[bhuskins]

Peter already knows where to get his 3rd, 4th and 5th JC1's!

Brent Huskins
Media Design

[Ricky]

Brent,

My mistake! 5 JC 1's would be nice indeed!

[nicholtl]

Donate any extra's to the Nick Trust Fund.

[Peter Nielsen]

Peter already knows where to get his 3rd, 4th and 5th JC1's!

Indeed! :B

Brent, please be sure to let me know the next time Parasound has one of those deals that include the JC1s :W

Thanks,
Peter

[KathyMason]

Peter, you will have to give us a review on the JC 1's after a good break-in. I've heard many great things about them. I've heard they have a very long break-in period? Enjoy

[Kingdaddy]

I'm most jealous, what I wouldn’t give for a stack of JC1's, unfortunately I would need 14 and that would break the bank and probably fry my house wiring. Brent let me know if they ever have a buy one get one free promotion.

[bhuskins]

They did have a buy one get one 1/2 off in the past. They might do it again soon, who knows.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

[nicholtl]

If they do it again soon, count me in!

[KathyMason]

JC 1 and Odyssey Statos Mono Extreme's on my mind

I wonder how the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extreme compares to the JC 1
Mono's? The Odyssey gets rave reviews and users swear by them and
it's only $2,800.00 for the separate mono block pair, as a set with German made high quality internals with Groneberg wiring. Some guys did a shootout with the Odyssey and other amps and it was very interesting reading but I can't remember if the JC 1 was included in that shootout.

I do hear that the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extreme's and the Parasound JC 1's have a VERY LONG break-in period but supposed to have superior sound quality that many people seem to favor. Anyone compared the two?
Some say the only big difference is money saved by buying the Odyssey direct from OdysseyAudio without the retail mark-up that the Parasound JC 1's have with having to buy through dealers. I'm really wondering if all the rave reviews are really all that with the Odyssey, anyone know?

[Peter Nielsen]

I wonder how the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extreme compares to the JC 1 Mono's?

The WBT connectors that Stratos use are certainly a (big) plus!

However, in other respects, I would say that the build quality of the JC1 looks quite a bit better or at least more professional. Here are pictures of inside both units:
Stratos Mono Extreme
HALO JC1

IMHO the inside of the Stratos looks very much like the amps I used to build for my friends in the 80's, i.e. it looks like what the japanese so accurately call "one's own work".

Peter

[KathyMason]

Thanks Peter for sharing that! Nice to see what the JC 1 looks like inside.

The stratos mono extreme picture shows the regular stratos, looks like they need
to update that on their website.

I found this users pictures of what the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extreme looks like
on the inside, looks like the extreme doubles the power supply and has 12 capacitors
of 180,000uf per channel. It also shows what the Tempest pre looks like inside.
Doesn't look like much inside the Tempest??

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/modules.php?set_albumName=albur30&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

...just click on the pictures for the larger version pics.
I hear these pictures make the Odyssey look small, but they say they
are huge, when I look at guys pictures of them next to speakers or
on audio self, they do look huge. The picture link above, this guy
has his on the floor next to his equipment, they do look big and heavy.
And I thought my one Rotel was big :E these require two big! 8O

I didn't even know about the Odyssey until I started reading so much about them on
the internet and was curious if they were in the same league as the JC 1's?
Thanks for the information!

I still want to hear how you are enjoying your JC 1's as they break-in!

[Patt]

I received my JC1:s today!

........Great news it is......

[NMyTree]

The Odyssey Stratos Mono Extremes are wonderful amps.

Although, I have no idea how they compare to the JC1. They're both well-made, high quality amps; can't lose with either one.

The Odyssey Stratos Mono Extremes will be in one of my systems, sometime in the next 2-3 months.

The Tempest (Tempest Extreme) is a real nice Pre Amp.

I own the Odyssey Nightingales, and they are real nice, excellent quality speakers. Sweet, smooth...musical speakers -that in my opinion are highly under-rated.

If any of you folks ever get down to my neck of the woods , feel free to drop me a line (e-mail), if you're interested in stopping by to listen to my Nightingales or any of my gear. I should have the Living Room completed and set up by the 2nd week of March.