Jadis Fidelity

Samaul, generally ss and tube combinations in a chain are poor bedfellows, if you want to use them full range. It makes sense here to also look at specs and compare input and output impedances of the gear you want to combine. A mismatch here can have a multitude of strange effects especially in the midrange. If you run multiple amps however and like a fast, tight and well defined bottom end, I've heard excellent results with a Jadis front end and various higher powered SS amps. I think its wrong to generalise. You have to use your own ears- and best another pair of female ears, well disposed to you and our passion -to find out.

If anyone wants to get a glimpse of what a Jadis is all about, please check out the preamp in the feature auction on the Audiogon home page. My amp features cosmetics along these lines. Stainless steel and 24k gold plated brass on the faceplate. Tubes/transformers/caps on top, sitting on a stainless steel bed, transformer covers in black and 24k gold. Side plates are real wood. But take a closer look. At the business end of things, and you will see that a Jadis is not just a pretty face. It is as serious as things ever get. THAT is why they sound so special. I once read a description of Jadis, "must be seen, and more importantly heard(so they say)". NO BS there. I don't think anyone can dispute the fact that Jadis presents a combination seemingly without peer. Those looks AND those parts... WOW!!!

So many questions....Cwlondon, the JA200s, and the more recent versions, the JA250s are the amps that will give you better bass with the rest of the Jadis sound we're all extolling. Again, haven't heard the 250s with their KT90s (probably a leaner sound than EL34s or KT88s), but I have heard JA200s with NOS KT88s and they are beautiful. Actually, though, I think the JA80s sound slightly better than the higher powered ones, just a personal opinion. Their bass is actually pretty good down to about 40-50 hz (I've never heard an amp better at reproducing a cello), it's below that they run out of steam and control. I've solved the problem by getting a 4-piece speaker system where I can use the 80s above the bass and a solid state amp (Meitners, which tonally are a decent match for the 80s) for the bass, although I wish the cut-off was at a lower frequency. As far as Jadis preamps go, Detlof is right, the JP200MC is the best full feature preamp I've ever heard, but its price is astronomical and it is a four-chasis design. They have a new model, the JP800, which is priced like the top of the line but I haven't heard it. The JP80MC, which I use, gives you most of the performance of the 200 and a great phono stage (it looks like the JPS2 Trelja refers to in the featured auctions--that's the line stage only version of the JP80). I had a problem with my preamp for a while recently (related to a mod, not Jadis), so had to make due with other preamps for a while, and can report that the top of the line VAC preamp works well with it and (here's a surprise) so did the new Innersound phono and line stages (my preamp runs into a solid state crossover now, which then goes to the amps; that may be part of the reason it worked so well, as I think Detlof's post is essentially correct, as a general rule). Still prefer the JP80 over both of them, but that Innersound was a shocker! And while I haven't heard them in my system, I think that the Herron and the Aesthetix units would also work well with Jadis amps, as they both were designed for music lovers. Still think that it's better not to mix and match unless you've tried the combination; I think Gerrym5 has with the Aesthetix, though, and he obviously liked it enough to buy it. Gerrym5, thanks for your offer, I'll contact you later.

This thread has developed surprising momentum! I am especially interested in tube and SS biamping and will start a separate thread. Thank you, everyone, for all the info. How about the Jadis CD stuff? Is there UFO like transport or their D/A magical too?

The Io arrived sooner than expected. Its a used unit, already well run in. I used new, unbroken in interconnects with it however, in comparison with the Jadis front end and its cabling. These are first impressions only after a long day's work. I used an LP with a Jazz Combo in a life session, one side Jadis, the other IO. I started off with the IO and found a substantially bigger soundstage, both in depth and width, more space between instruments, a better defined string bass and a much better resolved high hat ( so Jadis perhaps does truncate the highs a bit after all ??!!) I found a stunning silence in those "inbetween-moments" almost CD-like, but without the CD feeling of being in a void, which I dislike. I found the whole presentation "polite" and a little laid back in comparison to the Jadis, the kickdrum lacked that last bit of punch, the xylophone hat a little less bloom on long drawn out notes. The Jadis brought in more atmosphere, you had more the feeling of being in a Jazz-club, you were closer to the players.....the IO presentation seemed musically and spatially very "right" but just a teeny bit uninvolving. Is it a case of that Jadis magic again? Or in other words, am I so used to the colorations, the charming little cheats and seductive exaggerations to the real thing, which my "French mistress" imbues me with, whereas our Greek godddess is so much more true to the recording venue, more "sec" and realistic, musical yes, but I miss those shivers down my spine. Maybe Jadis has softly seduced me through the years into a slightly euphonised land of milk and honey and Lady IO brings me back into reality? And do I like that? I am confused.