What are your guys' opinion with regards to the Parasound JC-1 monoblocks?

[Joey_V]

Just wondering who has this pair of monster amps and what do you think about them powering a pair of Summits....

Just wanting to kick the thought of them for a little bit...

I know they're not full Class A, but they're not ridiculously out of range pricewise, about $3500 used on 'gon.

Let me know my fellow maniacs...

Thanks!

Joey

 

[risabet]

Use that money to buy some music! Equipment is nice but focus on the focus and hopefully that is music.

 

[kwr]

Buy another SAl02 and run them as monos. I am down an amp at the moment and we are using one of our SAl02's as a stereo instead of two as monoblocs. We are seriously missing the presence that the power of the monobloc setup brings.

There are a lot of Soundlab owners that use the JC l 's and it is used by Roger West of Soundlab in speaker development. I have heard them via big Legacy's where they sounded awful initially but after months of use sounded a lot better. Reputed to have a long break in time.

Difficult to know how they compare to your current setup. We run a dynamic setup as well with Focal drivers (Legacy previously Focal) and the Plinius made a better sound with our speakers (Osborn). Too many variables but I go a lot these days on whether a system engages me rather than a blow by blow analysis.

Not a lot of help with regard to your specific "any owners with Summits" but happy to kick it around a little.

Kevin

 

[Joey_V]

Thanks guys for the tips....

Music is definitely something I'm building up a collection with, but that's another thread, not this.

I was just interesting in the fact that the JC-1 are Mosfet based and not necessarily bipolar transistor based... though the fact that they arent full Class A is a minus, but then again, it all depends on execution.

I know my local dealer uses JC-1 with his Wilson speakers, aside from the Halcros and the BAT gear.

 

[Audiophiliac]

Speaking of Wilson speakers, we just resurrected (they are shipped in coffins basically) a pair of white Sophia 2s. They are GORGEOUS!! And we havent even taken the protective film off yet.

 

[Joey_V]

Speaking of Wilson speakers, we just resurrected (they are shipped in coffins basically) a pair of white Sophia 2s. They are GORGEOUS!! And we havent even taken the protective film off yet.

I bet those are gorgeous... I have a soft spot for the Sophias. :cheers:

 

[DTB300]

Buy another SAl02 and run them as monos. I am down an amp at the moment and we are using one of our SAl02's as a stereo instead of two as monoblocs. We are seriously missing the presence that the power of the monobloc setup brings.

Agreed!!! Wish I could own a second SA-102, and there have been a couple over the past few months on the 'Gon.

Dan

 

[Pcar928fan]

Agreed!!! Wish I could own a second SA-102, and there have been a couple over the past few months on the 'Gon.

Dan

There is one right now, but it might already be sold... How do you think they compare to Pass Labs stuff? Don't want to start a war here... How about price and power output? How do those two compare? The Plinius seems fairly affordable, the Pass seems pretty expensive...

 

[Rich]

There is one right now, but it might already be sold... How do you think they compare to Pass Labs stuff? Don't want to start a war here... How about price and power output? How do those two compare? The Plinius seems fairly affordable, the Pass seems pretty expensive...

Great question, James. I don't know how easy it is to compare apples to apples between these two brands. The Plinius SA-102 puts out 125 wpc in either Class A or Class A/B (user-switchable) and costs something like $6500 new retail. Would you compare that to the Pass X-150.5, which puts out 150 wpc with the first few watts in Class A and then the rest in Class A/B (retail price of around $4,500) or would a better comparison be the XA-100, which puts out 100 wpc of pure Class A power and retails for a lot more (I think something like $13,000)? So I guess depending on what you compare it to, the Plinius may be more affordable or more expensive than the Pass gear.

I know my X-350.5 retails for around $9,000 (obviously I paid a lot less than that for a dealer demo) and to get the same power from the Plinius line I think I would have to go with a pair of SA-102 (now SA-103) run in dual-mono mode, which would retail for somewhere around $13,000. So like I said, it is difficult to compare apples to apples and make generalized price comparisons between these two brands.

One thing I found out for sure in my search for an amp. If you are buying used or demo, there is just a lot more availability of Pass equipment on Audiogon than there is Plinius. I still have not ruled out selling the X-350.5 down the road if I can get a pair of SA-103's or SA-REF's to run in dual-mono mode for a decent price. I think a pair of Class A monoblocs putting out upwards of 400 wpc would be sweet. :rocker: Ain't this hobby fun.

 

[Robin]

You Know ~ It's Thoughts Like This...

Just wanting to kick the thought of them for a little bit...

Joey,

A couple of years ago, I auditioned Parasound gear which sounded pretty good concidering the Hi-Fi shop was using M&K speakers with them, instead of ML's.

Joey, you know it's thoughts like this, which cause you to up-grade at a moments notice...

Besides, you have a DAC coming in the mail real soon. :cheers:


Your just audio-addicted, man just face it...

 

[Joey_V]

How would I go about with DUAL Plinius 102s? Is this bridged then?

I always heard bridging introduces noise to the system....

 

[Robin]

Bridged Plinius 102's...

How would I go about with DUAL Plinius 102s? Is this bridged then?

I always heard bridging introduces noise to the system....

Joey,

I don't know about the introduction of noise, but...
Dave did say it was possible to run them as mono-blocks.

IMHO, I would recommend ~ two Plinius SA-102's in mono-block configuation or a Plinius SA-250 or better yet ~ Two Plinius SA-250's run as mono-blocks, instead of Parasound JC-1 mono-blocks...

 

[Pcar928fan]

I know my X-350.5 retails for around $9,000 (obviously I paid a lot less than that for a dealer demo) and to get the same power from the Plinius line I think I would have to go with a pair of SA-102 (now SA-103) run in dual-mono mode, which would retail for somewhere around $13,000. So like I said, it is difficult to compare apples to apples and make generalized price comparisons between these two brands.

One thing I found out for sure in my search for an amp. If you are buying used or demo, there is just a lot more availability of Pass equipment on Audiogon than there is Plinius. I still have not ruled out selling the X-350.5 down the road if I can get a pair of SA-103's or SA-REF's to run in dual-mono mode for a decent price. I think a pair of Class A monoblocs putting out upwards of 400 wpc would be sweet. :rocker: Ain't this hobby fun.

All good info and stuff I did not know! Most appreciated. What are the benefits of true class A vs. AB? Don't send me over to that VERY LONG description on another thread. I am no engineer and I have a short attention span... Use small words too, it helps me read faster! LOL!

 

[kwr]

How would I go about with DUAL Plinius 102s? Is this bridged then?

I always heard bridging introduces noise to the system....

Yes - bridged with a the selector switch at the back.

You are right in many amplifiers if they are bridged there is greater measured distortion. However in terms of audible noise this is not neccesarily the case. The Plinius simply brings increased power to the game which is manifest in better dynamics and in our system (Monolith lllp) better low level resolution. It may well be with the Summits built in amps that you notice little/no difference as the stereo Plinius is well within its comfort zone. The Monoliths are not an easy load and this (I believe) contributes to their less than stellar reputation - they sound trerrible without muscular amplification - rolled off bloated bass poor integration. They are not an audio bargain as they require grunty -read expensive- amplification.

I have no knowledge of the Pass/Plinius comparison. Not a lot of Pass amps in this part of the world. The exchange rate and distances involved have made American gear very expensive in this part of the world. A pair of Summits are $25,000 Aus - the average annual wage has only recently passed $50,000 in a higher taxation environment.


If you are already comfortable with the Plinius sound this could be a satisfying way to head but you will need a decent power supply to get the available benefit. I am in Australia and we have a dedicated 20A/230v line feeding the amps. The other electronics run off a dedicated l0A/230V line. They draw 2200 W between them in Class A. Also we have a three phase power supply and the audio systems are all on the same phase with only a couple of other little used circuits on that phase.


Kevin

 

[lugano]

All good info and stuff I did not know! Most appreciated. What are the benefits of true class A vs. AB? Don't send me over to that VERY LONG description on another thread. I am no engineer and I have a short attention span... Use small words too, it helps me read faster! LOL!

circuit simplicity

is this short and small enough ? If not, erase the word "circuit"

 

[Pcar928fan]

circuit simplicity

is this short and small enough ? If not, erase the word "circuit"

That is certainly short enough, but I can probably handle a BIT more detail than that...

 

[Rich]

That is certainly short enough, but I can probably handle a BIT more detail than that...

James,

Pure Class A provides a sweeter, more musical presentation. More "tubelike" than solid state. Class A/B has a bit more grain and etch that is characteristic of solid state designs. It's kind of hard to describe, but any Plinius owner who has flipped the switch can attest to the fact that Class A just sounds "better" than A/B.

The downside is that Class A is a highly inefficient circuit, and converts something like 90% of the energy it draws into heat, which is released by the heat sinks of the amplifier.

 

[Pcar928fan]

Pure Class A provides a sweeter, more musical presentation. More "tubelike" than solid state. Class A/B has a bit more grain and etch that is characteristic of solid state designs. It's kind of hard to describe, but any Plinius owner who has flipped the switch can attest to the fact that Class A just sounds "better" than A/B.

The downside is that Class A is a highly inefficient circuit, and converts something like 90% of the energy it draws into heat, which is released by the heat sinks of the amplifier.

Sounds good to me! I will check around and see if any of the shops I normally go to here in town have any PURE Class A amps that they sell so I can give a listen. Do they throw off as much heat as tube amps? I wouldn't think so, but I know they can get hot. What is the Rotel RB1090? Must be A/B as mine gets warm but certainly not hot...

 

[Joey_V]

Sounds good to me! I will check around and see if any of the shops I normally go to here in town have any PURE Class A amps that they sell so I can give a listen. Do they throw off as much heat as tube amps? I wouldn't think so, but I know they can get hot. What is the Rotel RB1090? Must be A/B as mine gets warm but certainly not hot...

I think the Rotel 1090 has 10w in Class A bias, before going A/B.

Class A circuits do not necessarily mean better in general, design/topology, parts used (caps black gates, solen... resistors like vishay, etc), output and input stages whether bipolar transistors or FET based designs.... all of this and more contribute to an amplifier's overall sound.

Now, with regards to an equally well built amplifier, a Class A circuit will yield better sonic results than an A/B circuit because of 2 main reasons:
1. The amp circuit runs at full capacity, which means that regardless of signal input, the amplifier does not have to transiently respond the way an A/B designs has to.... cleaner signal amplification.
2. Because the amp runs at full current through-put, the voltage rail does not fluctuate as much... more linearity.

Joey

 

[kwr]

Sounds good to me! I will check around and see if any of the shops I normally go to here in town have any PURE Class A amps that they sell so I can give a listen. Do they throw off as much heat as tube amps? I wouldn't think so, but I know they can get hot.

For what it is worth with my soft non manual labour hands I can just hold my hand on top of the Plinius in winter. Summer with ambient temperature in the room approx 25C I can not hold my hand on it. Heat sinks are working overtime.

They do act like heaters and assuming l0% efficiency in Class A, the amp pulls a consistent ll00W from the wall so there is not far off l kW dispersing to the room. Yes they are hot. This is why the effective standby function of A/B with the Plinius is so useful.

Kevin