Parasound Halo jc1 or a21

The answer to your question is "no" the A21 does not sound as close to as good as the JC1's. I have owned both and the JC1's represent a great value for mono-blocks.

I currently own the Bob Carver 180 tube amps and they would be a great match for your speakers. These are incredible amps!

I have also owned both, and currently use two JC1s with B&W 803(d)s. I agree with Thankful in that the JC1s sound considerably better. The JC1s have better bass articulation and a sweeter high end than the A21. More detailed and better transient response. The high bias setting sounds particulary good, and for most program material at reasonable listening levels the amps are running Class A. The only downside I have found is that in high bias, the JC1s are sucking 450 Watts continuous from the wall.

As far as power goes, I had no problem driving a previous pair of 804(s)s with the A21. I would think your 802Ns are at least as efficient as the 804s were.

I think I calculated at one time that two A21s in bridged configuration could deliver more power cheaper than two JC1s, but they won't sound as good. Plus, there may be stability problems running A21s bridged into an 802 because these get down below 4 ohms at their minimum impedance, and I don't think you can run that low of an impedance into bridged A21s (min 8 ohms bridged). The JC1s can run as low as 2 ohms, so they are great for the B&Ws impedance wise.

As far as cost goes, wait for some used JC1s to come up for sale here on AGon. I bought mine used here in pristine condition for $3600 for the pair. At that price they are a bargain.

The only issue I have had with the JC1 reliability wise is the surge current limiters on early production units. In one of my amps, one of these nearly caught fire because it was undersized in the original design. I think Parasound will replace these for free with upgraded units (they did for me).

Try some a21's you may love them .. Plus they seem to sell quick if you don't like them . They are a good amp 

johnmc67

You want the extra grunt of the JC1's for the N802's. As it's been said the impedance/phase angle graph is very similar to the 802D's  which has a  tough bass to drive having 3ohms and -55% phase angle , between 70hz right up to 200hz and even at 500-600hz.
http://cdn.stereophile.com/images/archivesart/1205802FIG1.jpg

Cheers George
  

thanks for the comparisons as i've been enjoying the a21 and don't come close to using all the power they deliver. I have demoed gear that made my system sound better and figured the price for the monoblocks had to be justified by better sound otherwise biamping would render the jc1 obsolete. Most speakers have binding posts for bi-amp/wiring these days. Cheers