14 DAY TRIAL // It is not so often that a product manages to achieve cult status as it was the case with the Vendetta Research SCP2B phono preamplifier regarded by many audiophiles the best such product around although almost 20 years have passed since its introductions, but the Halo JC3 phone preamplifier has all the chances to achieve such notoriety as it's designed by John Curl, the same engineer that built the Vendetta.
Taking a look at it's specifications is clear why audiophiles think so highly of Parasound phono preamps as the Halo JC 3 has everything that it needs in order to become a hit.
For starters, this preamplifier was designed in order to use the smallest possible amplifier circuit with the least amount of copper to act as an antenna for noise while each channel is housed in its own extruded aluminum enclosure.
Furthermore, the JC 3 uses dual mono power supplies with an R-core rather than a toroidal transformer as well as a built-in AC line conditioner in order to keep the AC line noise to a minimum.
As a result, the JC 3's signal to noise ratio is 83 dB with the MM input and 73 dB for MC, and the RIAA curve is accurate to within 0.2dB, being quiet enough to excel with even the lowest output premium phono cartridges, according to Parasound.
"This project has taken several years, but after listening to the end result it was worth every minute" said Parasound's president and founder, Richard Schram.
“Curl's Vendetta was so good that it was almost magical, but each one was essentially hand made, and would probably cost over $8,000 to build today.
Now, Parasound has a new design that draws from the same creative genius while offering amazingly high performance from each piece we produce," continued the company's president.
If all these sounds just about right to you than you will be happy to know the Halo JC3 phono preamplifier is shipping right now with a suggested retail price of $2,350.