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The Parasound JC 3+ is also a dual-mono design, with separate voltage regulators, filter caps (47% larger than the previous ones used) and rectifiers for each channel. We’re talking about better gold-plated RCAs from Vampire, Neutrik XLR jacks, Vishay-Dale resistors and even an internal AC power conditioner.
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He’s been focusing lately on using parts that lower the noise floor. It’s probably wrong to start off my review of the Parasound JC 3+ talking about the Vendetta Research phono pre so much, especially since John Curl has been working continuously to improve his phono preamplifier designs over the last few years. For a couple of months, I forgot about John Curl and Vendetta Research and just started listening to music. Once it arrived at my house, I immediately plugged it in and tried to summon my memories of the original phono stage. Earlier versions of the Parasound JC 3 carried over several design aspects of the Vendetta Research, like the RIAA EQ arrangement. In fact, I swore I read it somewhere-the Parasound Halo JC-3+ is a modernized version. It’s the flagship phono pre in Parasound’s Halo line, which suggests this model is a spiritual successor to that original design. That brings me back to the Parasound Halo JC 3+, which is also designed by John Curl in collaboration with Parasound’s engineering team. It’s a prized possession, like an original Keith Monks record cleaning machine. I know a couple of people in the industry, people known for their love of vinyl, and they still use a Vendetta Research. This was one throwback article where the product still rivaled the best we have today. Michell Orbe SE, SME V and Koetsu Rosewood Standard that I had at the time. It was transparent and natural, and a nearly perfect match with my J.A. (My first outboard phono stage, from LFD, was also a mystery box-there wasn’t even a logo or a model designation on the front panel.) That Vendetta Research, however, impressed the heck out of me. That Vendetta phono pre was sort of plain in a way, with its slim and relatively unadorned rack-mount chassis that inspired me to call phono preamplifiers “little black boxes” in my columns for many years. The Vendetta Research was a revolutionary product, one where the importance of the phono stage was instantly elevated into a component that could make a big difference in the sound, leading many audiophiles-including me-to wonder, “Do I need this? Have I been missing out?” Is the Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono preamplifier ( website) a modern incarnation of the Vendetta Research?īefore you answer that, have you ever heard John Curl’s original Vendetta Research phono preamplifier? I have, maybe about a dozen years ago when I was writing some sort of column about “old school” amplification.