Parasound XRM vs JC3 JR Phono Preamp

[Revelation Sound]

In reading a review of the JC3 JR on theabsolutesound.com the reviewer compared it to the Jc3+ which he owns. Here is a breakdown on what was mentioned about Parasound and John Curl.
1. The quality of components.
2. Musical (another person's syrup?) and sonic detail.
3. Curl's signature RIAA EQ circuit with REL capacitors and passive parts.
4. High-speed/soft-recovery diodes.
5. High quality potentiometer.
6. Quality XLR jacks and 24 gold plated RCA Jacks.
7. High energy, dynamically lively, and slightly forward tonal momentum.
8. A warm ambient flavor with an openness
9. Apprecicable amount of front to back depth and dimension.

Its missing the more costly dual mono architecture, internal AC line conditioner, it has a less costly transformer and smaller filter caps compared to the JC3+. The dynamics and its ambience range s not as big as the JC3+ though we are talking about a slight differences. The overview gives the impression its about 90% of the JC3+. If you have a quality turntable/cartridge and system, you would hear the difference, but is double the price, so if it is worth it...that is up to your wallet.

Thank you again b_a_r for your insightful comments.

 

[AaronJ]

The overview gives the impression its about 90% of the JC3+. If you have a quality turntable/cartridge and system, you would hear the difference, but is double the price, so if it is worth it...that is up to your wallet.

The only conclusion that can be drawn without certainty is the last part about the price. It’s not clear that the JC3 Jr. is 90% as good as the JC3+ based on any controlled metric that holds weight on ASR. It’s not clear that the reviewer actually did hear a difference, or that a person owning the two would hear a difference. Just one person making claims.

Why is it that so many components need to be appropriately matched to the system price to get a benefit? That just makes no sense. If the component is better, it should make any system sound better. Likely anybody spending $3k on a phono preamp already has fantastic speakers, amplification, turntable, and cartridge. I’m not surprised that both phono pres exhibit all the descriptors from bullets 7, 8, and 9. Likely this is a characteristic of the rest of the system, and any phono pre over $100 that isn’t broken will give the same impression.

 

[Revelation Sound]

I don't like to banter back and forth on line with people because there is always some misinterpretation, and generally if you had an actual conversation in person, I'm sure we would agree more than we disagree. It looks like I will have to get my hands on a JC3 JR and compare it the XRM and provide my findings here. From what I gather, the XRM is cleaner and the JC3 Jr has a little more character. Does the amp provide a better presentation due to items 3-9, we shall see.

Though a different topic, I have found McIntosh MC152, the Parasound JC5, the PS Audio 1200 and NAD Class D amps all have their own characteristics. Some claim they all sound the same and its other factors but that is not what I found in my 25 plus years as an audio engineer.

 

[BDWoody]

What you say makes sense, but then when you read or watch all these phono preamp reviews, they make such a big deal about the differences between the preamps. Parasound vs PS Audio, vs Sutherland for example. It just makes one more curious about the differences.

They are salespeople telling a story. If you give the claims as much credibility as you do any other infomercial selling stuff, it might not seem so curious.

 

[Revelation Sound]

REVIEWS ON LINE:

I agree there are people that get paid for doing reviews and to try to sell gear. I know there are people who are paid on some forums to praise certain gear as well. I'm not sure how many are honest and those who just praise gear. I take audio reviews from stores that sell the gear helpful in knowing features but generally thats about it. However with Audio Excellent Canada reviews, these guys tell you if they don't like something and they are very upfront about it.

I know reviewers today get paid by how many likes and subscribers they get. But people like Joshua Valour, Andrew Robinson, and John Darko seem honest with their reviews. Sometimes I don't agree with their assessment which is subjective, but they hit on a lot of topics when doing their reviews that is helpful. By watching multiple video reviews on gear from a person, you get to learn their style and what is being said between the pauses. I was very distraught to hear one of the guys mentioned above received threats for doing reviews, I'm mean serious death threats because they disagreed with them.

Back in the day, people who did reviews of pro audio gear were more well known and had experience that people respected. Also people in audio magazines also were people who were respected in their field. Now in 2023, you can be someone with no audio knowledge or experience and just say anything

 

[Revelation Sound]

I received the Parasound JC3 JR today and I spent some time comparing it to the XRM Parasound phono preamp. I am using a Rega P6 with Aria Pro cartridge, NAD preamp and McIntosh MC152 amp with Focal Aria 926 speakers. I also did testing with the Focal Clear MG's. With doing my test for the first day, I found the difference between them is one thing. There are bigger dynamics with the JC3 JR. The vocals, keys and guitar have greater pop, and the bass is a little tighter. On Modern Love by Davide Bowie, the vocals were pushed little more forward, the keys on the left speaker than hit quick chords stand out a little more, and the bass was tighter. Other than the improved dynamics, the character of both phone preamps sound the same. Clean and quiet. With the improved dynamics, it improves the front to back of the music. It was hard to notice much of a difference initially because they both sound the same for the most part. Once you focus on the dynamics, that is when I noticed the difference. The music is a little more exciting with the improved dynamics.

 

[Revelation Sound]

Records have always had a nice homogenous sound. The higher we go on the food chain with audio gear, the more it separates instruments and provides more detail. There gets to a point however when its too much and you lose that pleasant character that we expect from records. Everyone has their own personal preference, so there is no right or wrong option, it's what you enjoy. I listened to Peter Frampton's Do you feel like we do, and the bass on the XRM was a little smoother with the flat wound bass strings of the bass player. On the Jr, the bass had a little more solid sound and the rthy guitar was little more forward as the dynamics were heard a litlte better. But the difference is not big, but there is that subtle difference that is nice.

For testing audio gear, I found high end headphones to be very useful. You're in the sweet spot, you have no distractions from other people, animals, or noise. Plus you can put it to a volume where it does not bother others. I spoke to a audio store (not in my area) that carry's the McIntosh MP100 and Parasound JC3 Jr. The guy said both are good, but he preferred the Parasound over the McIntosh. When you get someone like audio expert John Curl to give his insight, it can be helpful.

 

[Jaimo]

It is important to apply some scientific rigour to comparing different audio products. If you don’t do this, you will likely end up making very expensive errors in judgement and become more and more frustrated. The list of actions you can take to objectively select equipment below is by no means complete but is nevertheless a good start.

1. Always level match volume levels. In this case, you need to figure out if both devices have identical gain curves. Research has shown that it is common for listeners to attribute better performance to products that play louder in comparisons. Sorry -no citations here but search for some of the many papers from Harman international- Dr Sean Olive, and others.

2. Even seasoned reviewers have been found to suffer from perception bias. Larger speakers and speakers from big name manufacturers are often rated higher in sighted listening sessions and then rated not so highly is controlled blind tests. To be objective, try a simple blind test where a friend randomly switches between level matched units in such a manner that you don’t see what’s playing and then do your rating over several successive runs. Acoustic memory is a bugger so you will want to minimize delays between switching- or better still record the outputs of the two devices with a quality ADC and then have someone switch between the digital recordings. Read up on double blind testing for more details.

As several others have mentioned earlier in the thread, reviewers seldom apply any scientific rigour to their assessments and their opinions are truly worthless. It’s just a ploy to convince people that there is some kind of Audio nirvana so manufacturers sell more stuff and drive consumers into spending insane amounts of money on products that are shrouded in mystery but add no real value. You have already commented about how reviewers rave about the higher priced item and claim that it is so much more superior. Do yourself a favour and purchase a $60 Art phono preamp and do a blind test between this and the fancy John Curl electronics. If the JC preamp measures better and you can tell the difference in a controlled test, go ahead and splurge on the more expensive unit. If not, look elsewhere in your system for improvements or better still, purchase more music…

Also remember that vinyl playback is inherently flawed and don’t fall into the trap of believing the folks that claim that vinyl is somehow superior. I personally love playing records and have a huge collection that I started over 40 years ago. For me, it’s the ritual of playing records that gives me a great deal of pleasure but I am under no illusion that records are superior to a good digital playback system.

 

[Revelation Sound]

I never believed records were better, just different. On many recordings, I prefer the light syrup on the music that my setup with records provide. It is easier on your ears. Some older recordings, streaming services with remaster recordings sound clearer and more detailed in a good way way that I prefer over records.

The important thing is, are you happy with the sound your getting.

 

[Cawafuoshi]

@relevationsound I remember getting into records by a draw of luck and before it became hip again. It sounded „better„ than the compressed MP3s and low resolution streaming I was exposed to from the late 90s on. So, records were somehow *better*.

In retrospect, I contribute this to what they call listener‘s fatigue.

With Mp3s I probably suffered from listener‘s fatigue. Same with tapes and even sometimes CDs.

Nevertheless, I never experienced it with playing records on any of the three systems I owned throughout the decades. So, records are *better*.

So, whatever the flaws of the medium, my sensitivities seem to be more tolerant to sound produced by vinyl than any other medium.

That being said, high quality music streaming seems almost on par with vinyl in that I can listen to it without getting headaches.

Maybe my hearing has changed for the better