Switch from Parasound JC-1 to Bel Canto Ref 1000?

Bryan, aside from their opposite prognostications, Stan and Bill are both correct. . . You may need to try out the BC Ref 1K Mk.2s side by side with your Parasound to gage if they are of your liking. I have found the BC Ref 1000 Mk2s to be extremely charming and very musical and refined amps. Here is the review I have written for Positive feedback:
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue43/bel_canto_ref1000.htm

Seems to me that Ryan's immediate concern may be the amount of heat generated by the Parasound amp during summertime, rather than the sonic return on the investment of upgrading amp vs upgrading speakers. Hence his specific question about the Bel Canto class D monoblock amps.

Until Spring of 2008 I used to run high bias class A/B Rowland 7M monoblock amps. Living in Austin (TX) in a house whose energy efficiency is somewhat in between an afterthought and a pure figment of my home builder's feverish imagination, I could never listen to music between the beginning of May and the end of September as my listening loft turned into a regular sauna.

Since then I have replaced the 7M with class D amplification. I find my class D amps, including the BCs, as musically satisfying as my former 7Ms. . . and as class D amps run essentially almost cool to the touch, I can leave the system running and making music 24/7 even in the middle of Summer. . . The listening room remains (almost) livable even when outside temps surpass the 100F mark. . . . to tell the truth, the 'almost' clause is invariant as to my stereo being on or off. . . my roof insulationcirculation is that poor.

BTW, if your current or future speakers can handle a little less power than the Ref 1000 Mk.2s, you may also have a look at the Ref 500. I have heard unconfirmed reports that they may sound even sweeter than their bigger brothers.

Glory, even in Summer time Bel Canto REF500M will run barely warm to the touch... But why not get the REF1000M Mk.2 instead? I found the latter to be a sweeter-sounding amp by a fair stretch. G.

Bel Canto Ref1000Ms are based on the ICEpower 1000ASP module. The Mk.2 version features an enhanced pre-power supply rectification stage that I described in the technical section of my PFO review at:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue43/bel_canto_ref1000.htm

"The engineering enhancements of the REF1000 MkII over the original model are exemplified by their newly redesigned power input stages, where high-speed,
low-noise rectifiers and high-voltage film and electrolytic filter capacitors are used producing energy storage capacity of 400 Joules—twice the energy
storage capacity of the original REF1000 version. The advanced design of the new power input stages convert the 120 AC 60Hz power from the largely unavoidably
noisy public electric grid into a clean, filtered, and buffered current at approximately 305V, before feeding power to the regulated switching mode power
supply of the 1000ASP module, which is compatible with DC input voltages as high as 385V. The optimization of pre-power-supply rectification is a general
methodology that is gaining favor among several manufacturers of switching mode amplifiers, including Bel Canto, Spectron and Rowland."

The rectification stage of REF500M is similar. REF500M is based on the ICEpower 125ASX2, which is a newer module. In spite of the 125ASX being a newer module than 1000ASP, having had both of these excellent amps in my own system, in the long run I have formed the opinion that the REF1000M review unit was not only comfortably more authoritative, but was also edging REF500M in sweet and open musicality... Granted, since then both devices might have undergone silent updates, and my early observations may not reflect current production.

G.

Hi Glory, Sorry can't do... My REF1000 Mk.2s were review samples and returned to the factory. G.