Reynaud Bliss Jubile vs Cantabile Jubile


Has anyone here heard the latest iterations of these two soeakers and can describe the differences. I've read Bob Neill's write-up of these two on his website, but the descriptions are a bit hard for me to grasp, perhaps not specific enough for me. They're also written by someone who is trying to sell them. I'd like to hear from those who might not have as much of stake in the game. Bob does think the Cantabile is the better speaker, but is it a small improvement or a significant one? 

 

It's also hard to find reviews on these. There are a couple out the, but not comparing to each other. 

 

Thanks for any insights here. 

 

analogj

I’m listening to my Cantible Jubilees right now being driven by a Pass xa30.8, and they are smooth at all frequencies.  Give them a bit more time.  BTW, what amp are you using?

Be patient as I didn't find the "recommended" break-in time to be nearly enough with either the Abscisse or Bliss Jubiile"s.  If you said earlier I don't remember, but what is the rest of your gear and cables.  

You'll have to hope your brain "breaks in" to the sound ;-)

Best of luck!

(I've liked the various JMR speakers I've auditioned).

My amp is the Pathos Classic Remix, a tubed hybrid. Certainly not a bright sounding amp. The speaker cables are bi-wired silver Grover Huffman cables. Note that I didn't have this issue with the Castle Edens using the same equipment upstream.

 

There's certainly a lot of musicality going on. The rest of the frequencies, from the midrange on down, have gotten less tight and more expressive. The speaker is quite liquid when not pushed. The speaker sounds natural and engaging. But when pushed, the top end gets tense and hard, and sticks out from the rest of the presentation.

 

I'll say this, in that when I first got the speakers, the top end sounded really confused, no focus at all. That is not the case now. It's pretty concise. It's just not relaxed. It's like I'm almost listening to two different speakers with certain kinds of music. With the tweeter taking on more of the frequency response, it seems to be taking longer for the frequencies they're handling to unify.

 

From the next room, I can hear the life in these speakers. It sounds like real music being made. But I can occasionally hear the hardness up top when pushed. With such ease coming from the rest of the speaker, it makes the top end stick out at that point.

 

Thanks for the input!

@analogj 

The Eden's are a stand mount speaker with the tweeter below the bass driver and the Cantabile is a floor stander with the tweeter at the top of the cabinet.  How have you set up the Reynaud's in relation to the set up of the Eden's in relation to positioning in the room and to your listening position?  Also you need to take into account your seating height difference for the two speakers as it will be vastly different.  You may need to adjust the rake angle of the Reyanud's either forward or backwards to get you in line with the driver positioning difference.  If you have an adjustable height office chair somewhere in the house try it to determine the correct seating height.