Sonic difference between the CAT JL2 Sig & CAT JL3

Sirspeedy, I purchased the pair of Ascents that Michael Gindi used to write a review for Sounds Like magazine. I really liked that mag and Gindi's reviews, too bad they didn't last long. Bill Wells who I think published that mag bought the pair Gindi reviewd and I bought them from him. I know the Rowland amps work well with Avalons and other speakers. I heard Rowlands drive the Eclipse at the 96 NYC show, extremely detailed, delicate and musical. There is a agoner that is selling the ASR Emitter 2 for a good price but it is a 240vac model. I would have to run a 240 line which isn't out of the question. I have emailed him a couple of times. He wants to replace the ASR with a VTL 7.5 and Rowland 302. That Peak Consult sounds like a keeper. It would be nice to have the kind of flexibility in amplification selection that speaker will allow. I expect the next Home entertainment show will be in NYC and I can check out some possibilities. I am working backwards from the speakers and have the cables. The next step is the amp or possibly preamp. I'll due the front end last. I recently bought a tube tester and have learned that a bunch of the NOS tubes I have purchased are bad, another reason to consider SS if I find something that has the liquid presentation that tubes offer. I realize that the Ongaku would not be able to do dynamics and slam factor effectively on the Osiris. I was just relaying the story that Lucien told me to dismiss all the posts I read about the Osiris being a very difficult load, it is not. BTW Sirspeedy have you heard the CAT JL2 Sig and or JL3? There is a dealer in north Jersey I am thinking about visiting. I guess I would suffer with the heat if the tube amps I audition better the SS.

Bart,I have only heard the CAT at trade shows.I had NO problems with them,and do know many posters love them.Also,please ONLY take my scribes as "opinion" only.I surely have no intent of coming off as some expert.Also,my phonostage is a hybrid tube unit,and I have done extensive NOS experimenting.It IS REALLY WORTH experimentation here,as this is the first place the signal starts from.For me(though I do have a wonderful Levinson 390s).I realize you have exclusive digital.

Best.

BTW Bart,and sorry to be such a "Nudge",were your Ascents ever updated to the later tweeter/woofer mods.Just curious,as the review pair Ghindi had were one of the very first units made.He subsiquently got a later model for personal use.
I had the two mods done about two years after buying them,and the difference was really significant.

Also,the publisher of Sounds Like was Jeff Goggin.A really nice guy,who once got me over to Sea Cliff(HP was away)for an interesting listen.

Best!

Sirspeedy, I never had my Ascents upgraded (I was never aware there was an upgrade). I know that they made the umbilical cord go directly into the speaker cabinet on later models. I liked the fact that I could remove mine and use three short runs of whatever speaker cable I was using at the time. Back to the thread title. I spoke with Ken Stevens again today and asked the question directly about differences between the Cat JL2 Sig and JL3. He said that the bass was better on the all JL3's but that the JL2 Sig beat the JL3 (not the JL3 Sig MK2)in all other areas.
He said that the JL3 Sig MK2 in addition to having better bass was more transparent than the JL2 Sig. So that is his assessment of these two products. I am thinking that I will opt for the JL2 Sig for the following reasons:Less than half the cost, half the heat, half the power consumption. The order I listed the reasons are probably the order of importance. I may change my mind though since I am trying to assemble a system that will last at least a decade. Incremental changes are costlier in the long term.
Patience is a monetary godsend in this hobby. If you can wait for someone with much deeper pockets than yours to get bored with his JL3 Sigs you can have your cake and a paper plate to eat it off! Jafox if you see this post, which JL3's are you using? I think I understand why there are no direct responses to the JL2 Sig vs JL3 question is that the JL2 Sig is a brand new product and I think the JL3 Sig MK2 is also a relatively new release. Bart

Hi Bart - I have the JL-3 Sig but the original (MK I), not the MK II. The JL-3 Sig MK II like the JL-2 Sig has many passive component updates which could lead to major improvements in midrange and treble clarity and resolution.

In a recent upgrade of my Aesthetix Io at GNSC with many capacitor changes, these same improvements were heard in the upper octaves but there was also a significant improvement in the bass. This was the one area that I did not expect to benefit from these changes. So the component changes in the latest round of CAT amp updates might benefit in the same way.

It should be no surprise that the bass (and I would also suspect the dynamic contrasts) would be superior on the JL-3's simply due to their doubling of power tubes. And I believe the power supply in the JL-3 is beefier as well. And then take the same component changes to create the JL-3 Sig Mk II and it is no surprise that this model once again sits atop the product line. But even with all these upgrades, and benefits of the JL-3 over the JL-2, the original JL-2 amp is something I could easily live with and be very happy with forever. It truly is that good in what it does.

Maybe next year I will update my JL-3's as I want to focus on getting my system cables finalized. And then a little more effort into room treatments and component isolation. It may sound so incredible that I will not want to ship the amps off for the upgrade at all. Perhaps a super-duper tonearm upgrade would make more sense. It just never ends.