Parasound Halo JC-1

Duke,
I know from reading your other posts (which are always articulate and well-reasoned) that you're very familiar with Clayton amps. How do compare the M-100s to the JC-1s? My speakers are a 4 ohm load and are ~93 dB.

Thanks for any input.

Bill

Hello Bill,

Thanks for your kind words.

I'd have to say that, between the Clayton M-100 and Parasound JC-1, it would probably depend on the voicing of the speaker.

The only such direct comparison I've made was on a pair of Gradient Revolutions, which are ballpark 85 dB sensitive (4 ohm load) . I'd thought the Claytons were a pretty good match, but the Parasounds made the Revolutions considerably more lively sounding. The owner sold his Claytons and bought a pair of Parasounds.

Now with 93 dB efficient speakers, I'm not sure the extra power of the Parasounds is going to make a significant difference. What speakers do you have? How would you characterize their voicing, and in what area would you like a little improvement?

Best wishes,

Duke

Hi Duke,

Thanks for your response. My speakers are made by Rick Reimer (Reimer Speaker Systems) in Cody, Wy. They are the Wind River GS model which have a ribbon tweeter and a second order series crossover. I love them! I could spew out all sorts of subjective superlatives but the important thing is that I am very, very happy with them. As far as characteristics - they are fast, accurate and revealing. As far as improvements - right now I'm using a Stan Warren-modded Adcom 5400 and I think that the Reimers could make me even happier with "better" amplification. I have a First Sound pre-amp and a Stan Waren-modded Pioneer CD/DVD player as my source (which is also destined for upgrade.)

Again, thanks for your advice.

Kind regards,
Bill

Bill -

I'm completely unfamiliar with your speakers, and didn't find much about that particular model at the Reimer website. So I can't predict whether they'd work better with the Claytons or Parasounds or some other amp in the same general price ballpark. If they are a bit on the forward or bright side, I'd say the Claytons would make more sense. If they are neutral to a bit laid-back, the Parasounds would be a better bet.

Just curious - this has nothing to do with amplifier choice - how do they sound at very low volume levels?

Thanks,

Duke

I used the prototype to the JC-1s at the CES two years ago with the Wind River's bigger brother, the Tetons as showed with Rick Reimer.....We called the amp the CTC BBQ and it worked pretty well, but think we had a bit too much damping factor for the port Rick had used with the Tetons......He had the port set for the tube amps and the small Claytons he uses there so the bass was a bit too tight for my tastes......I would shoot Rick an email to get his thoughts before you plunk down any money on a set of Levinsons, Claytons or Parasounds.....I drove the CES system to Wyoming so Rick could hear it before the show and we both were pretty pleased with the result.......