Parasound Halo JC 3 phono preamplifier

According to Parasound's founder and CEO, Richard Schram, the Halo JC 3 began as a phono-preamp retrofit for the JC 2 line stage, with separate small circuit boards for each channel. The smaller the board, the better, Schram says, so as to attract less noise than do larger boards, whose many copper traces can act as antennas.

Designer John Curl decided to keep the JC 3's design simple by choosing purity over adjustability.