AXPONA 2018 Show Report -- Audio Expo North America

Parasound Debuts Halo JC 5 Stereo Amplifier At AXPONA 2018

   Parasound has introduced its Halo JC 5 stereo amplifier ($5995) designed by audio legend John Curl and will be at AXPONA 2018 within room 730. Delivering a remarkable 400 watts per channel, the Parasound Halo JC 5 distills the essence of two top-of-the-line Halo JC 1 monoblock power amplifiers into a single chassis that is the same size as one JC 1. The new Parasound Halo JC 5 combines high power and ultra-high bias Class A/AB sonic quality at roughly two-thirds the price of a pair of JC 1s.

The Parasound Halo JC 1 monoblock was designed by John Curl and introduced 16 years ago to instant international acclaim. High bias Class A/AB provides 12 Watts per channel pure Class A power and Class AB to its 400 watts per channel 8 Ohm rating (600 watts per channel into 4 Ohms). The unit can be bridged to mono for 1200 Watts into 8 Ohms. The output stage employs 24 beta-matched, 15 Ampere, 60 MHz bipolar transistors to deliver a formidable peak current of 90 amperes.

The power supply employs a 1.7 kVA shielded toroid power transformer with a premium H18 grade steel core. It has independent secondary windings for its dual-mono power supply. As with the JC 1, input stage B+/B- rails are 10 V above the output stage rails to eliminate any chance of distortion caused by voltage sagging when the amp is under load. Independent power supplies for left and right channels input stages employ filter caps totaling 8,880 ตF. Driver and output stages employ massive Rubycon filter caps totaling 132,000 ตF.

The Halo JC 5 is direct-coupled, protected by DC servo circuits to eliminate coupling capacitors, while extending bass response down to 5 Hz. Its balanced inputs use discrete circuits with Neutrik locking XLR connectors, and Vampire 24k gold-plated RCA input and loop output jacks. Five-way "propeller" speaker binding posts are custom-manufactured for Parasound by CHK Infinium. They are 24k gold-plated and accept 7-gauge bare wire.

Features 
• Circuitry designed by legendary John Curl 
• Ultra-high bias Class A/AB operation 
• 12 watts per channel of pure Class A power
• 90 amperes peak current per channel
• Stable with speaker impedance dips to 1.5 ohms
• Balanced inputs with discrete circuits
• CHK Infinium, custom 5-way speaker binding posts 
• Neutrik locking XLR input connectors
• Vampire gold-plated RCA input & loop output jacks
• Direct-coupled signal path, no capacitors or inductors
• DC Servo and relay protection circuits
• AC turn-on inrush surge protection with relay bypass
• Dual-mono input stages with ฑ110 volt DC rails
• JFET input stage, MOSFET driver stage 
• 24 beta-matched 15 ampere, 60 MHz bipolar output transistors
• 1.7 kVA shielded toroid power transformer with independent windings for each channel
• Independent power supplies for left & right channel input stages, driver stages, output stages
• 8,880 ตF Nichicon Gold Tune filter capacitors for input stages
• 132,000 ตF Rubycon filter capacitors for output stages
• Full power is rated all the way down to 5Hz for unrestricted low-end bass
• Harris hyper-fast soft-recovery bridge diode rectifiers
• Automatic turn-on by 12 V trigger or audio sensing 
• Four rack-space chassis with rear carry handles
• Rack mount hardware is included
• Premium quality 9-ft, 12-gauge IEC power cord, with silver soldered connectors
• Finish: Available in silver or black
Specifications
• 400 watts x 2 @ 8 ohms RMS, both channels driven
• 600 watts x 2 @ 4 ohms RMS, both channels driven
• 1200 watts x 1@ 8 ohms, in mono bridged mode
• Frequency Response: 5 Hz - 100 kHz, +0/-3 dB; 20 Hz - 20 kHz, +0/-0.25 dB 
• Slew Rate: > 130 volts per microsecond 
• Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) < 0.05 % at full power; < 0.03 % at typical listening levels 
• IM Distortion: < 0.04 % 
• TIM: Unmeasurable 
• Inter-channel Crosstalk > 87 dB at 1 kHz; > 72 dB at 20 kHz 
• Total Gain: 29 dB 
• S/N Ratio: > 116 dB, input shorted, IHF A-weighted; > 111 dB, input shorted, unweighted 
• Damping Factor: > 1200 at 20 kHz
• Dimensions: 17-5/8" x 7-3/4" x 20" (WxHxD)
• Weight: 73 lbs

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