High-End Audio Buyer’s Guide 2024: Parasound Halo JC 3+

$2499

It was only a matter of time before electronics design legend John Curl would author a phonostage for Parasound. Dubbed the JC 3+, it’s a dual-mono design. Each channel is housed in its own extruded aluminum enclosure, and further isolated from the power supply with thick, low-carbon-steel partitions. With top-quality parts throughout (Curl notes that the passive EQ parts’ values and quality are the same as in his renowned Vendetta Research SCP2B phono.) With every rotation from an LP collection, the JC 3+ conveys a heady mix of profound silence and kick-butt energy, a kiss of romance through the mids, and an ability to extract low-level information and define it within acoustic space. (245)