Preamplifier

The original Halo JC 3 was designed by legendary audio designer John Curl, and he also did the honors with the JC 3+.

The new model includes a whole raft of improvements over the original, beginning with variable MC load impedance adjustment of 50-550 ohms for each channel using dual gang potentiometers specially made for Parasound by Vishay. This enables precise adjustment to optimize the sound of any MC cartridge. Vishay custom builds these potentiometers for Parasound, and John Curl agreed to adjustable input load only if Parasound used Vishay pots. Getting Vishay to make the pots wasn’t an easy deal. Vishay is a large company, and six months of the JC 3+ development time was spent in negotiations with them to build the custom potentiometers for Parasound. So this is a very big deal indeed.

The Zphono XRM is Parasound’s latest phono preamplifier. It combines high performance with unprecedented versatility at a price that fills the gap between Parasound’s popular Zphono and the internationally acclaimed Halo JC 3 Jr. Parasound built the Zphono XRM for vinyl lovers who are willing to spend to upgrade their entry-level turntable/cartridge, but who are not interested in spending more to upgrade their phono preamp.