Parasound has announced a new flagship stereo power amp, the Halo JC5. Designed by John Curl, Parasound say “the Halo JC5 distils the essence of the top-of-the-line Halo JC 1 monoblock power amplifiers into a single chassis”.

The design features a high power and ultra-high bias Class A/AB topography capable of delivering 400 watts per channel. 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. It can deliver 600 watts per channel into 4 ohms and can be bridged to mono for 1,200 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 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 distortion caused by voltage sagging when the amp is under load. Independent power supplies for left and right channel input stages employ filter capacitors totalling 8,880 µF. Driver and output stages employ massive Rubicon filter capacitors totalling 132,000 µF.

The Halo JC 5 is direct-coupled, protected by DC servo circuits to eliminate coupling capacitors, to extend bass response down to 5 Hz. Its balanced inputs use discrete circuits with Neutrik locking XLR connectors. The connecting hardware includes 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.

Comments Parasound founder and president, Richard Schram: “The new JC 5 is a remarkable amplifier that creates a new sweet spot in our Halo product family. Our customers often tell us they love everything the JC 1 offers while wondering if we could deliver comparable performance in a no-compromise stereo power amplifier, to save them money and space. We challenged John Curl to distil the essence of two JC 1 mono blocks into a single chassis and the result has exceeded everyone’s expectations.”

Read our review of the 2.1 integrated Halo here

The JC 5 is available in silver or black. Rack mount hardware for its four rack space chassis is included. The net weight is 33kg. The Parasound Halo JC5 is available now in the UK, with an SRP of £6,999.00.

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