JADE AUDIO Cables

Now, I'm just waiting for the bottom to fall-out of the gold bubble...

Hey, not until I get around to melting down my high school class ring. It's 10 carat AND has a genuine imitation sapphire!!! If I can remember where I put it, I might be able to actually retire ;-)

After hearing JDs cables, all other cables became irrelevant. They do things I did not think possible.

Folks, here is a man driven by obsession and the joy of discovery. He is just happy to keep making something because he knows no one else has anything quite like it. Anyone else probably would have quit long ago.

Now, I'm just waiting for the bottom to fall-out of the gold bubble...

JD, Have you thought of marketing your bears as acoustical absorption treatments? You may be sitting on a gold mine, high WAF as well!!
Best of luck to you, my friend.

The bears are tremendously amusing because they add the necessary flair to the website. They portray each Jade Audio product in a pleasant way and do not distract from the product offerings at all. There are already too many boring websites out there, so I can only applaud this. Jade's cables are presented in a frivol way by the bears and his cables are the best!

Hi, JD, Norm here. I am very happy that all seems well with you.

I was curious to note your use of the Ohno Continuous Casting (OCC) wire. I am presently using long linear crystal wire from Exemplar Audio in both copper and silver and have also used it in the BMC cables. I'm not sure these are all from the same source, but I love the Exemplar Silver Portals.

Best,

Norm

Thanks to the well wishers. I am very excited to get a new heart, I only pray that it is as successful as the LVAD heart pump I had implanted a year and a half ago. I have been feeling better than any time in the past 15 years!

The animals have always had one purpose, to make our website memorable. Over the past three years I had a website that abandon the bears after the first website was launched with the bears. I had virtually no comments about the website when it was traditional pictures of cables. With the bears integrated into cable pictures I have received what I was looking for, reaction.

I'm sorry and a bit saddened that the bears have turned you off Tpreaves. It's hard for me to imagine a web site turning you off enough to simple not try a great cable.

John, We still make the Vermeil. I felt strongly we needed an even more affordable entry level cable. Given the business strategy of so many cable companies to simply raise prices, I felt making something even more affordable would be a nice addition to Jade Audio.

Unfortunately due to the materials used in Jade Audio cables our base costs are extremely high. The only way to avoid the spiraling commodities pricing was to use a lesser metal, thus copper. I ended up with the gold plated copper as it provided the midrange and soundstaging our cables are known for. The silver plated copper provides the dynamics and transparency our cables have always excelled at. I think this is going to be a very popular for the person with a $5,000 - $10,000 system.

Seems like you've outed yourself there champ. It's not very flattering to be quoting old adages that you've clearly not adhered to. I'll explain again, I made a statement about an advertising strategy (JD asked for input in an earlier post). I was not the first to comment on the animals if you take time to read the thread. I asked you not to make this into something it wasn't and you insisted. Mattheus, I apologize about the thread derail, you'll hear nothing more about it from me. JD,again, I wish you well in your business and health.

How do you know so much about adults Tpreaves? What are the points of your adolescent posts? Most adults know that if you can't say something nice, you should simply refrain from speaking.

Hi JD- Good luck w the new web site and esp. in getting that new ticker.

I didn't say anything about being afraid or disturbed about anything. I made a general observation about a products advertising strategy, don't make it into something it isn't. Your squawking like a fanboy also turns off most adults.

Tpreaves has a stuffed animal phobia? Really, that's interesting, I wonder how Dr. Freud may diagnosis that. Pediozoophobia perhaps???
I am not enamored with stuffed animals, but they do not frighten or disturb me either. Certainly stuffed animals would not prohibit me from buying some of the finest cables availible.

I'm glad to hear that you are still making cables J.D. Have you given up on the Vermeil? (gold plated silver)? I see you mention gold plated copper and silver plated copper. I haven't heard your Reference and your Hybrid is wonderful, but I always thought the Vermeil was a terrific bargain cable.

Here's hoping that you soon receive your heart of gold my friend.

What's up with the stuffed animals? I lost interest in your product as soon as I saw them. Sorry but I think it's a big turn-off to the majority of adults. I wish you well in your business and your health.

Good luck JD. I still love my Hybrid Gold IC's!

JD...I'm pulling for you, as I'm confident others are too. I wish you all the best regarding your health.

Hello everyone. It has been awhile since I have written anything about Jade Audio.

I am very excited about this spring. We just launched a new website, please check it out at www.jadeaudio.com

I am just finishing up the development of a new entry level cable utilizing gold plated OCC copper and silver plated OCC copper. The one meter price will be very competitive. These will be very special affordable cables.

I personally am still waiting for a heart transplant. I am now number one on the list, so we are expecting to have good news soon regarding my health.

Otherwise, we launch our Reference line a year ago, and continue to have the Hybrid our top seller.

That's about all the news for now.

JD

I like the new website, looks good! :-)

It's great to see you're working on your web site! I am actually a web designer myself, and if you need any help with that stuff just send me a message. I know it can get unbearably hairy sometimes.

Looks good JD, wish I could do my own-I tried and it wasn't to good! lol. I hope you are doing well and your health is on the rise!

Sincerely,
John

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the input. Yes I did design and build the site myself. The launch was a bit tricky, but I finally figured it out. There are a couple glitches, but hey...

Thanks always for your kind thoughts and prayers...

JD

Looks very good, JD!

Did you do it yourself? At any rate, as always, my best to you and yours.

Hi all,

Please take a moment and check out the new Jade Audio website at www.jadeaudio.com or www.thejadeaudio.com

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

Not sure if anyone has checked out his web site...but it's pretty weird. I think that a passion for teddy bears is fine (I'm actually just saying that...I really don't), but maybe you could make a dedicated site for your cable business and a dedicated site for your BearPassion.

This, of course, has zero relation to the quality of the cables. In fact, it has no Bearing at all. Pun intended.

-Dusty

Please keep us posted!

Hmmm, I was wondering why the treble was a bit reduced lately. It's amazing what 40 tubes had been doing for me all that time. I'll just have to be content with the remaining 75 tubes in the system! And the room is a lot cooler now. But what's amazing is that I added an Oyaide R1 outlet last night, and a lot of the treble detail returned. So go ahead and keep the tubes as I don't need them anymore - I owe you for the broken lamp anyway.

And I am ready for phase 2 of the 4' vs. the 8' speaker cable test.

The Jade Audio business model is finally unveiled!

Hi John M.

I think John F. is still on vacation so we have not been able to test the four footer. I just hope it is not over cooked by now. I hope to hear from him in the coming days so we can get an answer.

BTW, I am offering to sell John's address for a reasonable fee. He has a lot of very nice stuff to borrow))) Oh and I doubt he will notice the 40 tubes I took last night.

Hi John,

Any update yet on the 4 ft. vs. the 8 ft. run of Vermeil speaker cable? Would you say the 4 ft. run is burnt in yet?
One thing I noticed about the Vermeil interconnects was that their sonic character changed more for the better with burn in than any other interconnects I've ever heard (including the Solid Gold and the Hybrid). I've long been a proponant of cable burn in, but I've never heard it change the sound as much as it did with the Vermeil interconnects.

I've never had the opportunity to listen to a short run vs. a longer run of the exact same speaker cable. I do know some cable manufacturers won't sell lengths shorter than 6 ft. However, many manufacturers are only too happy to sell shorter lengths. Who's right?
JD, feel free to chime in here if you wish.

Cheers,
John

Good points, John. I have the same situation now where a 4-feet pair would work well. But I am likely to go with a longer pair that would be more universal. Ideally, for summer months, I need to find a cooler but similarly performing stereo amp to the CATs. If I decide to switch over to a stereo amp or want to get the CATs further away from the SLs, I will be happy I bought the longer cables. The SLs throw a lot of energy from behind and all that blowing into the amp tubes is not a good thing.

I'd hate to skimp on cost and get the smaller pair now only to find out in a year or so that I need an 8-feet pair later. And once Jade Audio is sold to a wealthy fellow overseas where the cables are now 3x the price, JD will likely be on a beach in Tahiti. This would be the end of my "upgrade" opportunity. So it's safer to go longer and use some of the posted tricks to dress the cable so that it is not coiled up next to the amp or speaker.

Since spkr cables are not that huge of an influence here, this will very likely be my last pair. I am hoping to say this with my PCs too, but I am not yet done with ICs.

I can bearly tolerate some respected cables for long enough to get them broken in.

I can certainly relate to that comment! I use the home theater setup upstairs for some such opportunities.

They were noticeably different and I preferred the Jades, but when I had to send the Jades on to Jmcgrogan, I found the CTs perfectly acceptable.

Exactly the same feeling when I returned to the PAD Opis.

I hope to hear the Hybrids from the Io to Callisto one of these days. I need an XLR which adds to the cost. Indra XLR cables are tough to find as well. It will take me awhile to find an XLR cable here that locks in. And I want to drop in a Jade Gold here again too as that was soooooo nice in this link. But my system has changed dramatically since then so who knows. The Stealth Hyperphono remains the reference tonearm cable here. The other two IC links will likely be Hybrids for a long long time.

John

Jmcgrogan2, I am using two different stereo amps now but when I had mono blocks and 8' speaker wires, I put a camera tripod behind each speaker and a Rightway Audio Suspender on top of each. I ran the speaker wires up to the top and down to the speaker inputs. You did not really notice this from the listening position.

I am anxious to get the latest version of the speaker wires, hopefully on my return from Europe in late July.

Jafox, I agree with you that interconnects and power cords vary more substantially in their impact on ones sound. I continue to use Cerious Technologies speakerwires but did try the 8' prototypes from Jade. They were noticably different and I preferred the Jades, but when I had to send the Jades on to Jmcgrogan, I found the CTs perfectly acceptable. In many cases with interconnects and ac cords, I can bearly tolerate some respected cables for long enough to get them broken in. My preferences are pretty cleanly drawn as with the Stealth Dreams, which are the only power cords I use. The Jade Hybrids are excellent but can be used in only one place in my system. They do not work in vinyl and are too expensive for my 4 m. run to my amps.

Thanks John, things that make me go hmmmm. I also demo'd the 8 ft burn in pair of Vermeil and was very impressed. I await your further testing after the 4 ft pair is burned in. I'd really hate to go to an 8 foot pair, not just because of cost, but my amps are right next to my speakers, and I'd have to coil the wires (alledgedly a no-no) just to take up all the extra slack. I suppose I could run my right monoblock to my left speaker, and switch i/c leads, though this seems a bit odd too.

Cheers,
John

I finally got a chance to get a sneak preview of the Jade speaker cables.

For the last year or so I have been using PAD Opis speaker cables. These have a great tonal coherency to lock in well between the CAT JL-3 amps and SoundLab A1 speakers. The Opis retain that strong PAD characterization of dynamic contrasts. The PAD Aqueous Anniv spkr cables were non-linear in my system with peaks and valleys all over the place.

After trying many spkr cables in the $1-2k range, the only other cable that worked well here was the Coincident xTreme, but the Opis outperformed this in dynamics .... otherwise they perform nearly identical here. I had several of these cables here at one time last year to play for a couple weeks.

Enter the Jade this week: Tonality is nearly identical to the Opis but the Jade has a little more extension in the low end and clearly more reach into the top. This latter difference allows for decays to last a bit longer and give the impression of more air to the notes. This was an 8-feet cable that had several hundred hours of use.

I then tried a 4-feet pair of the Jade cable with no burn-in time. Tonality was very similar but not as extended in either direction. The projection was much reduced which lead to a somewhat flat performance. A return to the burned-in 8-feet pair brought back the openness. All tests were done with the souped-up APL Denon into the Callisto with 2 pairs of Jade Hybrid ICs. PCs were a mix of Dream State and Stealth Dream.

The outcome of this mini audition indicates that this cable may need some serious burn-in. The 4-feet pair will be burned-in on a cable burner for a week or so and the test will be repeated to determine how the 8-feet and 4-feet pairs compare here again.

As it stands now, the Jade 8-feet cable was a very nice step above the Opis. One thing I have noticed here is how much less spkr cables differ vs. ICs and PCs. The difference between the two top ICs I have had here, the Indra and Jade Hybrid, have very dramatic differences from source to pre or pre to amps than the above differences between the Opis and Jade spkr cables. And the same with PCs into the APL Denon CDP and Running Springs Haley PLC: the Dream State PC in these positions is a much bigger step ahead of the Stealth Dream PC than these spkr cable differences. So there is clearly a priority here as to where to invest money in cables.

Osgorth: Oh and yes, that mystery IC was the GG Revelation. It did not work out well for me here at all.....whether straight out of the box or over 150 hours of continuous signal for nearly 7 days. Oh well. Leave it to me to wreck a perfect record! I was very appreciative to get refunded from Steve.

John

I have two stories about the length of speaker cables. One comes from long ago and Bob Fulton also of Minnesota fame. His were the first special speaker wires that I ever bought although that started a long series of trials. His speaker wires were 57 inches long! Why? Because he had taken various lengths to the Minneapolis zoo in the babbon area and played alarm calls recorded by him. Only when the speaker wires were 57" long, not longer and not shorter, did the babbons react. I bought some. Although they were yellow, they were identical to welding cables I had used and sounded like them. I never cut welding cables to 57" , however.

The other story is much like this. It comes from my experience with the Omega Mikro charged speaker wires. This company sought to remove all insolation material, and refused to make speaker wires shorter than 8' long. When I asked, I was told nothing more than because shorter did not sound as good. This is also the company that still has two power cords, the Red and the Blue, which sound quite differ one from the other on most components. The power cords differ only in that the ribbon draw on the red goes from the wall plug to the IEC and then back. The blue is the opposite. Having heard this, I trusted them on the speaker wires.

Norm

Hey, you two keep me posted on the 4 ft vs. the 8 ft results. Hey JD, any chance of you moving to Pennsylvania so that I can be you guinea pig instead of John Fox (the other John)? 8-)
I do find that my tastes run very similar to both of yours, so I'm waiting to 'hear'. I did not realize that John was such a 'clutz' though. Honest JD, if you move to PA I won't break anything. :)

Cheers,
John

I too have heard the claim that speaker cables should be 8-feet lengths but this never made much sense.....no more than digital cables need to be 1.5m instead of 1m. Afterall, how long is a speaker cable in an active speaker or a digital cable between the transport and dac stages of a cdp?

I am quite surprised that JD has invited me to return to his manufacturing facility. Last time I destroyed an antique table lamp and a few months before I wiped out a mobile hanging down from the ceiling in the back of his room. I suppose he will require me to stand out on the front porch to evaluate his speaker cables so as nothing else ends up in the landfill.

I have an even better idea.....why not bring the 4' and 8' pairs over here and we can finally hear them in my system? And in fact, why not voice them here! Afterall, with just a few tubes here, I hardly have any colorations in my system. 8-) And I can more readily accommodate 4' pairs as each amp is 3 feet from its associated speaker. So hey, next weekend? Don't forget Lucinda.

John

All I can add to the length discussion is I assume the length issue is in regard to whatever filter affect the dielectric, filler and shielding might have on the signal. If these attributes are having a large affect and the cables ability to transmit the signal, then I assume it is important to have the length as close to the length used to voice the cable. If however the combined affect of these materials is small, ie low dielectric value and low dielectric filler with no shielding, I can not see why a few feet of wire should matter.

All cables are basically a filter, having some relationship with the signal. The greater the detrimental value, the more length matters???

I'm just thinking out loud, I do not actually know the answers. Let's see what John and John learn, the two Johns (I'm not talking about a public restroom here) both use short length speaker cables. It would be easy; and now I'm sure mandatory for Jafox to do a side by side.

In fact, I will try and build a four foot set this week and see if Jafox can come over and do a listening test. It would be an interesting experiment, and this will help us not guess what will happen, but have some actual experience to add.

Thanks guys for the support,

jd
Jade Audio, LLC

Hi Audiobuzz, no harm, no foul. No, I haven't heard a longer length of the PAD Dominus in my system. The only speaker cables that I've heard short lengths vs. longer lengths were a pair of Ridge Street Audio Design Poiema!!!, Tara Labs Decade, and Cardas Golden Reference.
To my ears, I could not detect any real difference due to cable length. The basic sonic charateristics remained the same.

While I do realize that some cable manufacturers recommend at least 6 ft lengths, none, including Steve, have ever had a good explaination as to why this would be. I may have a better grasp on this when my Jade Audio speaker cables come in. The demo pair that I tried was an 8 foot length, the pair I ordered was a 4 ft length. JD has made no comment regarding the shorter length, in fact he also mentioned that it didn't make sense to pay for a length more than you require. Why use 2.5 meter interconnects when all you need for your application is 1 meter? Have you noticed sonic differences in different lengths of cables (i/c's, s/c's or p/c's)?

I'm not really going to argue over the longer interconnect/ shorter speaker cable vs. the shorter interconnect/longer speaker cable debate, that debate is endless, IMHO. Just like tubes vs. SS, or digital vs. analog, each side will have it's proponants. All one can do is listen and choose for themselves.

Cheers,
John

Hey John
No hidden agenda here and no affiliation with Gabriel Gold.
As far I know he seems to be a 1 man operation for the time being as I believe the gentlemen from Jade is.
This may be the reason for the high quality sound coming from both of these cables.
There is no personal attack here either I guess I take comments a bit seriously and may be a little bias.
Please accept my apology if you think this is any type of personal attack.
I have been following both this thread and the Gabriel Gold thread and just thought you left out a few details
that you noted in the long running Gabriel Gold thread that you did not mention here.
I simply provided a little more info.

I do have a strong opinion on short lengths of speaker cables not sounding as good as longer,however,this is just my opinion and that would make for a good thread if it hasn't already.
On a different subject sorta
Have you ever gotten a chance to listen a longer pair of say Purist vs the pair you use now?
I would be curious if you heard a big,little or no difference.

Audiobuzz, it is hard for me to see if you have some hidden agenda here. Do you have any affiliation with Gabriel cables? You seem to take my comments pretty seriously. I have no affiliation with any manufacturer, and I really do like the Gabriel cable line. So I do not understand your appearant venom towards me.

If not, don't take my critique too hard. The Gabriel's are some VERY good sounding cables. I had no chance to audition the Revelation interconnects, only the Extremes (thanks Art). I also own a 1 meter pair of the GG Revelation speaker cables. Yes, Steve mentioned that he had no way of knowing how they would sound, as they are shorter than any pair he had made previously. My PAD Dominus pair of speaker cables are 3 feet long, and the pair I ordered from Jade Audio is 4 foot long (no complaints from JD). Some cable manufacturers claim that length is an issue, some do not. Since I run monoblock amps, and run a 2 meter length of interconnect to the amps, I do not see the need to spend extra money on cable I do not need. My speakers are about 2 feet from my amps. So what is your point? Should I buy 8 feet lengths and coil them behind my speakers? I find it hard to believe that this is the answer to better sound. Which manufacturer is right? Who knows? Do they simply recommend longer lengths for greater profits? Or is there really a fact driven reason? I would be happy to listen to an 8 foot pair of the Revelation if Steve would lend me a pair, to see if there is a difference. Also, if you are willing to lend me a pair of the Revelation interconnects, I'm all ears. 8-)

FWIW, I do think the 3 ft pair of PAD Dominus sounds great. It is a tad rolled off in the frequency extremes, something that I have heard about this cable in general. The GG Revelation did cure this problem, but it had other issues that led me to prefer the PAD Dominus.

Also, fwiw, both Steve and JD are great guys to deal with. I also do concur with Audiobuzz's comments about us having some great options from 2 giant killers. If you hear any of these cables, you will be surprised at how much you can save. I've owned many higher priced cables from Nordost, Jena Labs, Audioquest, PAD, etc, and both the Gabriel Gold and Jade Audio cables beat all that I've heard fairly easily. I'm also a fan of the Stealth Dream power cords like Tbg and Jafox.

Cheers,
John

I've not heard the Jade cables,however,I believe member jmcgrogan2 should have listened to the Gabriel Gold Revelation interconnects instead of the Extreme's if he had the opportunity.The Extremes sound fantastic,but the Revelations take things to another level and then some.

Also in fairness I believe both the Revelation and Purist speaker cables member jmcgrogan is using are very short, and not a recommended length by nearly any manufacturer.
It is not uncommon for a short run of speaker wire-say 3ft-
to sound somewhat truncated and to not necessarily take on the true effect of the design whether it be Purist,Gabriel Gold,Audio Metallury,etc.
It should be noted that most speaker manufacturers frown on short lengths and are very reluctant to sell such lengths.

I see that Jade is coming out with a speaker wire line,it will be curious to hear if they will make short lengths and would advise them to do some careful listening to a short run.

I will probably get a pair of Jade cables in the near future so that I can check them out myself.

As far as Audio Metallurgy goes I owned some of their original designs and have heard the GA-O's .
The GA 0's are also a very good cable especially at the auction prices.

Based on jmcgrogans comments I also concur that the Gabriel Golds are in another league and if the Jades are up there with the Gabriel Golds then the consumer has some great options from 2 giant killers.

I currently own a pair of the Hybrid (RCA) and two balanced pairs of the Vermeil. I also own a pair of the Audio Metallurgy GA-0's (RCA) and a pair of Gabriel Gold Revelation speaker cables, as well as some PAD Dominus speaker cables. I've also had a pair of Gabriel Gold Extreme interconnects on loan recently for a couple of weeks. I've also recently demo'd a pair of the new Vermeil speaker cables. I placed an order. As you can see, I also have fallen for cables that use gold in the conductors.

I concur with all of what Jafox has stated, regarding the Hybrid, The staging is amazing with all of the Jade cables. That is why I prefer them. Though it is difficult for me to compare the Hybrid straight up with the Vermeil because of my system setup. I run the Hybrid from phono stage to preamp. However, I need a two meter balanced run from preamp to amp, so for the sake of cost, I went with the Vermeil cables here. The Gabriel Gold Extreme/Revelation are also very good cables, and to be honest, I could live very happily with them had I not heard the Jade cables. Tonally the Gabriels are very impressive indeed. Possibly even better than the Jade, on certain music. I would say they sound similar tonally, the Gabriel's are slightly quicker, while the Jade's tend to sound slightly richer. They both do brass instruments with incredible natural 'shimmer'. The Jade's win out with the 3-D soundstaging though, IMHO. It's not like the Gabriel's have a faulty soundstage, they just can't match the soundstage of the Jade, but then my PAD Dominus cables cannot match the 3-D stage of the Jade cables either.

The Audio Metallugy GA-0's are very good cables, especially considering their prices. I would have to put the GA-0's in the 'best bang for the buck' category. They are not as refined and rich as the Jade cables, nor quite as clean and crisp as the Gabriels, but they do get you close for a fraction of the price. I currently am using them to run from my DVD player into my preamp.

John

Hi Osgorth, I have gotten a lot of email inquiries about many things lately. For now I prefer to hold off and not disclose the cable to soon be auditioned. If I get it soon, and run it 4-5 days straight, by next weekend I can do an evaluation to the Hybrid and report back here.

As you can tell, the 3D aspects are more important to me than the last word in detail. This is entirely why I run with the Aesthetix products. So my results will be influenced heavily in this regard.

I have not heard of Audio Metallurgy cables. And at one time I considered Synergistic cables but my system was a rat's nest already with cables. The thought of several more small cables to power these cables would have been too messy. If someone local (Minneapolis) had these or any other they wanted to try out in my system, that would be fine, but for now, the thought of continuing this cable quest has lost its appeal to me. I like the Jade and Stealth cables that much.

Tbg - I find the Stealth Dream PCs to be the greatest value of PCs so far to cross my path. However, the Dream State PCs are quite impressive as well. I would not let the materials used in these get in the way of a home trial.

John

Jafox, It is difficult for me to want to try the Dream State cords, as I don't like Oyaide plugs or ERS paper. Maybe some time I will get the chance. I guess by what you say you think the Dream States are in the same league with the Stealth Dreams. That is hard to believe.

Thanks for your detailed replies!

Jafox, yes I know the Indra is a very nice IC indeed. Did you ever try the Gabriel Gold Revelation IC? I have heard of some people replacing their Indras with that one, quite intriguing. I have one myself, but RCA only, in my headphone rig where it works really well. My main system works much better with balanced connections so I haven't tried it much there. I might get some XLRs to play with, we'll see! This is the cable that got me into the gold stuff, and now I'm eager to try more! I also have a set of Audio Metallurgy cables coming in shortly I hope, that'll be fun to test.

I'm currently evaluating the new Synergistic Tesla stuff - I have a set of the Precision Reference cables at home right now and they are not too bad at all.. Very quick and detailed, reminds me of Valhalla a bit, but more body. I'm gonna try the Apex too when I can find one, I think that'll be better with some added warmth. Did you ever try any of these two?

The 3D projection you speak of with the Hybrid caught my interest.. You would say that these excel in imaging and soundstaging then? That could well be my cable then, I treasure those aspects highly. I'm listening a lot to opera and classical, and my aim is to get a natural reproduction, with life-like voices (midrange).

I'm also curious as to what the last IC you're going to test is - care to elaborate? :)

Osgorth - Unfortunately my system was down for 3 weeks as I had many cables out on loan to two different parties. Some of these got sold; the rest returned late last week. Only this last week have I been able to replace some to have music again.

This last weekend, I did some serious comparisons of the Indra vs. the Hybrid; I like both of these. Since my last writing to this thread, I have removed the Rives PARC. And I have changed to a "suped up" APL Denon CDP. Both of these opened up the frequency extremes, and significantly improved the system's resolution. With the speakers another 18" out into the room, the degree at which the Hybrid outperforms the Indra in the soundstage depth and layering is more dramatic than I observed before.

The Hybrid is incredible in how it fleshes out the mids and conveys space, especially depth and out to the corners. There are greater dynamic contrasts here as well. The Indra has a top-end extension and clarity that is first rate and never bright nor fatiguing. That last bit of structure and sheen to percussion instruments is very impressive, and this allows those highest of harmonics to float a bit longer ..... very nice. I have no issue with either cable in the low frequencies.

Returning back to the Hybrid and I am aware of the slight reduced detail on the top, but you gotta love the 3D projection of this cable. Ideally, I would like a cable right in between. A mix and match might be the way to go for some systems.

This week I have loaned out the Indra but I now feel I have a good handle on the sound of these two cables. There is one more IC I want to hear and then I am done! When this happens, I will report back on my findings. Unfortunately I have to repeat this painful process to find an XLR IC between the Aesthetix pieces. I have spent way too much time evaluating cables and trying a ton of different tubes in the preamp and amps, that it's time to lock down the system for no more changes. There are so many cables out there to try, but sooner or later, we have to be content and focus again on the music.

Tbg - If you find you have a little free time, borrow a Dream State PC or two or three or four. 8-)

John

Guys, I have at least once been through the evaluation of multiple interconnects in various locations in my system with each having a different impact of being moved and being connected. I have had Cerious Technology, Jade, Siltech Compass Lake, Crystal, Acapella, Indra, Vacuum Reference, Jena Labs, Omega Mikro, Bogdan, RS Audio, and several others. I love the Indra for the encompassing soundstage when the music comes on and for their lack of what I think is silver and gold colorations. I love the Cerious Technologies for their great bass and lack of splash, but they are not a quiet and detail gets lost as a result. I love the Jade Vermeils for their lack of coloration that I hear in the Golds and for the richness of the timbre on voices and instruments, but I would concede that the Golds have a better sound stage. I thought years ago that the Omega Mikro were the most neutral although the cables are too fragile. The Siltech G5s were somewhat dull but very quiet and way too expensive, especially as I need a 4 meter run between my linestage and the amp.

I am willing to share my experiences, but I think you all should beware that you might not share the same opinions given your systems, rooms, hearing etc.

I am getting a Jade Hybrid 1 m. RCA to use between my dac and line stage. I can use neither the Vermeil nor the Hybrid with my phono as they hum. There I continue to use the Cerious Technologies. I use a 4 m. Vermeil to my amp and am unlikely to ever go to the Hybrid for expense reasons. I did have a long Indra there but found mixing Indra with other cables did not work well. I have placed my order for the Jade speaker wires, having heard them in beta form, but found on reinserting my Cerious Technologies speaker wires that I preferred them as more open and involving. JD expects that the production Jades will resolve that. In short I will probably retain a mixed bag of cables, not entirely because I know which sound best where but rather because of other considerations.

I love the Stealth Dream power cords, but realize that they must be the only cables in the system. I may soon try the Stealth Dream speaker wires.

Finally, although I don't want to bore you with the debate over the H-Cat linestage's Wave Timing Control, I must say that the setting where it is best varies greatly with the cables I am using, another fly in the ointment.

Good luck to us all in our quest.

Just checking in here since I'm interested in the Hybrids too.. Any updated opinions from Hybrid owners, Jafox, Lak, others? :)

I received my Hybrids today.
Here's my take on the Hybrids straight out of the box, no break-in time.
They sound better than my Silversmith Silver interconnects. A bit more authoritative bass, (the Silversmith are very good with bass), mids and highs sound as good as the Silversmith. I do hear cleaner, more detailed music that I've not heard before. It's clean sounding and not smeared. I'll have to see if they improve with break-in.
I'm happy with the Silversmith, but I do believe these are a keeper. You know how the rule of diminishing returns goes!

I have 2 pair of Jade Hybrids that are suppose to ship on Monday, so I wait for their arrival. They will go into my Greatroom system in place of my Silversmith silver RCA interconnects.

john,

if you'd sell an Hybrid, let me know :-)

it seems this one is the way to go

I can't find any price tags on the Hybrid ...

renaat

Jafox,

I have been wanting to try the Gabriel cables for a while and the Revelation are on my list as well, but I thought I may as well try the Extremes to get started. BTW - there were 4 pair available and I'm only getting 1 pair, maybe Steve will contact you regarding the others.

Ironically I have tried the Jade Vermeil and am probably one of the very few to send them back. I agree with both yours and Tbgs assessment of these cables, but in my system at the time, while I thought the Vermeil's were excellent and for the money a great value, they did not beat out my Oritek X-2 cables. My goal was to try the Jade Gold, but so far I have not gotten around to it and based on yours and Tbgs experiences with the Hybrids this may be the cable to try in the future.

My system has changed a bit since my last IC evaluation and in hindsight I wish I still had the Vermeil to listen to for comparative purposes. The Oritek have been replaced by the RSAD Poemia!!! and I have some VD Master cables in the system as well. I would definitely be interested in your opinions on the M-5000 and Dream power cords. So feel free to email me offline.