Parasound Halo JC-1 and JC-2 How good are they?

This has been covered many times on this forum... so do a search to discover affordable nirvana. I drive my Martin Logan Summits with the JC-1 monoblocks thru my Mark Levinson 380S Preamp and can confidentally confirm it beats or at the worst matches the offerings from Levinson, Krell, Classe, Plinius, etc... The JC-1's have a beautiful and full sound production that simply cannot be matched at it's price point of double that in my opinion. No I am not a Parasound dealer. I have had the Krells, Levinsons, Halcros and Pass Labs in my current system and they were no better and sometimes worse in certain areas in my opinion. Never had the JC-2... so no comment.

I had JC-1's. I thought they were great and better than the Nuforce 9SE's that they replaced. Then I went back to the Rotel RB-1090 that I had before the Nuforce and Parasounds and I'm happier. Go figure. You have to try them, everything I read about the other amps was true but I still find the Rotel more satisfying. Synergy and all that stuff.

Hi Rossman and others,
I do have the Parasound equipment in my system. I'm reasonably impressed. The equipment is very dynamic and open. Vocals seem float from the system. However I'm not detecting that last bit of harmonic bloom and richness that my current system has. The amps and pre have been on and "breaking in" with a break in CD for the last two weeks.
I'd think the units have settled, but maybe there is more to come?
Right now I have mixed feelings.

You will need at least 350-500 hours or more of playtime to hear their true potential... so be patient.

So any comments about the JC-2 preamp.

Quote from Stereophile's review of the Magico V3:

...The Parasound Halo JC 2 preamp and Halo JC 1 monoblocks, which had worked so well with the KEF 207/2s, were just too lean with the Magicos...

Sorry still no JC-2...I agree with Rossman on the quality and price of the JC-1s, but add another 500hrs of break-in time. I used a Pass labs X-1 pre for 1 1/2 yrs.with really good results. When I upgraded to a Pass Labs X-0.2....WOW! I have read about the synergy between the Parasound products...but with my setup the X-0.2 turned good into great. I wish I had the 0.2 when I had my Pass XA-160s.

Bizargo,

The Nuforce 9SE you mentioned above, was it a V1 or V2 iteration?

Thanks,

Kenobi

This is what I run. As impressive as the JC-1s are the JC-2 might be even more so. It trounced a fully modded SF Line 2SE that I had been running prior.