Why all these JC-1's for sale?

5) The amps aren't performing up to snuff due to a lack of available current i.e. each should have their own 20 amp AC line. As such, they blame the amp when there are other problems.

I have not had any problems with dynamics running a single 20-amp service shared with all components and the two monoblocks.

6) The heat and power consumption of these amps are more than they bargained for.

This is a function of the biasing. If it is not adjusted correctly, one amp can get a lot hotter than the other. When I mod these, I adjust the biasing to be matched. This can cause one amp to buzz louder than the other. Once adjusted, they dont get very hot at all. You can put your hand on the heatsink continuously. As for musicality, these dropped from being my references after I modded another amp which outperformed them. However, this summer, I found the time to mod the JC-1's and they have regained the reference status. Have not heard a better amp, anywhere.

Steve Nugent
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer

I have not spoken with Richard since I modded them. He's a good egg. I doubt if he cares much. Besides, if it sells more amps, then it's good for him too.

Bob - you should come to my room at THE Show next Jan. and hear them. You will not believe how good they are...You and Curl did 95% of the work and I only had to do the last 5%, so you guys get most of the credit for this.

Sean - the draw from the wall should be only steady-state current. If the amp is working correctly then the transients should be supplied by the internal storage capacitance. These transients are what is quite loud. I have experienced no compression at all, but I dont listen at 110 dBA either. Sometimes I do listen at live volume levels, to my wifes dismay, and the 20 amp circuit seems to be fine. I wired it with about 10 foot of 10 gauge wire from the sub-panel to the outlets. I of course use my own power cables.

Sean - the bias on my particular monoblocks was not set the same. One was much higher, so I adjusted them to be the same. They still get 20-25 Watts of class A. This misadjustment is fairly common - many have reported more buzz and higher heating from one monoblock.

The temperature of the JC-1's is overblown. If you are in a small room and leave them on high-bias, then you will need air conditioning. You can always leave them on low-bias until you are ready to use them.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer