Just got a new Parasound JC5 amp, and every time I power it on from standby, my P20 will peg to 2000 watts for a couple seconds, then shut down into protection mode, It seems once I hard power down the P20 and power back on, then attempt to power the amp on again, all is good. Load on the P20 before powering on the amp is always extremely low.
The amp is plugged into one of the “HC” high current outlets, which I thought its sole purpose was to limit the in-rush of current demanded by a high current power amp at start up, hence not tripping the powerplant.
Does this mean my P20 is not functioning properly, or am I doing something wrong? I have had many amps with the P20 (including high power BHK and Mac 601 monoblocks), and have never had the inrush issue. Wondering if there is just no getting around this due to the high current draw of the JC5 at start-up.
That’s good to hear…I sold my P12 which was powering my
former A21 to purchase my P15…
How are you liking your JC5?
Which speakers are you using with it?
My P15 with all my gear on seldom varies off of 330 or so
watts…but on strong FFF strong crescendo or Time Warp
tracks can for a fleeting wink of an eye move up to about 800
or so but it happens so fast you can hardly see the power
needle …
I really enjoy the JC5! It is the best Parasound amp I have ever heard. I’ve never listened to the JC1’s. It is so much more refined than other Parasound amps I have owned and a one box solution. It has an excellent grip on the bass and plenty of detail without causing fatigue. I am using with a pair of Aerial Acoustics 7B’s(they need high current) that I am having a hard time parting with. Love these speakers!
My P12 shows 385-450 watts under normal listening loads.
Hey thanks for sharing…
your impressions on the JC5 match mine…the beauty of the
1st 12 watts Class A, the refinements in the input section…
the Nichicon Fine Tune Gold caps that Nichicon agreed to produce
for Parasound along with the massive power supply allows
for the creation of a beautiful highly detailed 3d image even at
low volume levels…
Your Aerial Acoustic 7Bs are mighty fine speakers…
So often times we read about those who though loving
their speakers still scratch the itch and move on, only
to later regret replacing them…
It is a great amp. I too have had many Parasound amps (including JC1’s), and the JC5 beats those monoblocks in the bass department…which is a bit surprising. Just a beautifully detailed and airy top end, with warm and detailed midrange, coupled to sledgehammer hard and fast bass, with total control. I was thinking I would try this out before considering monoblocks again down the road…but this single chassis amplifier may well be all I need for the next few years!
I have had the Harbeths for about a year…sold the Focals just before that. The Sopra 2’s were driven by a few different amps (JC1s, BHKs and 601s). The Harbeths were powered by the 601’s up until a few weeks ago…but I was always wanting more in the bass department…especially mid-bass punch and speed. The JC5 took care of that shortcoming in short order. I can’t imagine how good the JC1+ monoblocks sound.
So because of the large Parasound following asking for a one
chassis stereo version of a JC1 John Curl was tasked by Richard Schram to design a stereo version of the JC1s on a single chassis.
Thus the JC5 was born, is a distillation of 2 JC1s in to one chassis…
Really really pleased with my JC5.
My father had a similar issue with ARC REF250’s. If you use a 20 amp power cord it will stabilize the surge of power required. This worked in his case. YMMV
It works after powering off/on as there is still lots of charge on the caps on the JC5 so the inrush on the second turn on is not as severe. The HC input may be limiting the inrush, but it seems not enough to not enter an overload condition. I suspect PS engineering did not account for the potential size of the capacitor bank potential on some loads, not to mention magnetic impacts of magnetic saturation, especially if they current limit and flat-top the output (like running DC into a speaker).