Jadis Fidelity

Cwlondon, I looked at A LOT of products before purchasing my Jadis. Long before that, I came to the conclusion that tubes just sounded more real to me than solid state. And, despite what most say, I find it cheaper to go the tube route. Many of the solid state amps that I enjoy are REALLY big bucks. In contrast, I find many sub - $1000 tube amps pleasing to my ears. I checked out tube amps from Air Tight(my other favorite), ARC, Cary, CJ, Jolida, Quicksilver, Rogue, VAC, VTL, etc. The only one that grabbed me(and my girlfriend!) by the collar and screamed out, "THIS IS THE ONE!" was the Jadis. No, it was not cheap. But, like Rcprince stated above, when I heard it, I knew what I was buying. I took the same CDs around for my auditioning. My girlfriend said she had never heard sound like this from a stereo before(quite a comment for a person who had NO interest in this stuff prior to hearing the Jadis). Dar Williams was actually singing for us in person. Or so we thought... According to Jadis, the Jadis sound is no sound at all. I don't quite agree. But, I can say they sound more like music to me than other brands. I am not a fan of AR power amps. I find them quite solid state sounding. Perhaps selling to people who buy the big names like Krell, Mark Levinson, but want the cache of tubes. Bragging rights, "I have tubes"??? There were other tube amps that caught my ear(especially SETs), but when you look at the balance that Jadis presents, I don't think there is a better product overall(other than Air Tight - but Jadis offers flexibility of using many different tube types). Power, dynamics, great bass for a tube amp(even more so if I jack up the bass controls - for the "club music lovers"), tangibility, and musicality. The fact that it accepts a WIDE variety of tubes(KT90/6550/KT88/6CA7/E34L/EL34) means that it offers almost any sound its owner is after(within reason). From sweet and pure to neutral and forward.

I have owned JA-30, JA-80 and JP-80MC mkIIs. I really think Jadis has a very musical sound. I had this equipment for several years and while I wondered if there was better out there, I experienced many magical listening sessions with the Jadis. I am thinking of buying a used pair of JA-500s right now. I did buy the Aesthetix I/O with Volume controls to replace the JP-80MC. There was know question in my mind that the Aesthetix I/O provided such much more information, better transparency, and music as the Jadis JP-80MC. And all I neede was Phono for my system. I did also replace the JA-80 amps with a pair of Audio Note Ankaru PSE-845 mono blocks because they sounded more transparent and I know the designer Andy Grove. This added to the pleasure of ownership. But, I do admit the I miss that Jadis sound and their looks. Lets face it. Jadis does design and manufacture quality equipment. They also don't kill you with yearly upgrades. You can do far worse than Jadis and you might be buying your last amplifier because they are that good.

Cwlondon, in looking at the cables I mentioned to you, I realized they're all kinda (some might say outrageously) expensive. I should note that Trelja has been using some affordable silver cables with his Jadis with which he is pleased, and that in the past I have used both Dunlavy and Sonoran speaker cables with the JA80s with good results. Gerrym5, I was interested by your post, I had gotten a separate inquiry about the IO and had relayed pretty much the same thoughts about it as you noted. Be careful before you get the JA500s--they are a different beast from the other Jadis older style amps. They run in ultralinear, rather than Class A (they can be factory adjusted to run class A, reducing the power to 225 watts), and as I recall are not auto biasing and only use the 6550 tubes (although I'm sure that Jadis could adjust the bias to take other types of tubes). Still sound excellent, but as I noted above with the Defy, I think they give away a little of the finesse and delicacy of the other Jadis mono amps. But there are times I'd like that extra power in reserve...

Rcprince, I am intreaged by what you say about the IO and very curious. I find you right on the dot again about what you say about the Defy and the Mono 80's. The Defy can be punchier, however the music is less finely woven, a touch less resolved, the width and depth of the soundstage a litttle more truncated in comparison to the Mono 80's, an effect which strangely enough seemed less, when I retubed the Defy with KT 90s. The main effect there was like moving 5 rows closer to the orchestra. Even more direct and forward, but still eminently musical. For cables I have found the XLO top gear to merge well with my front end, was however obliged to resolder all the connections, which I found noisy, because sloppily done by the factory. Someone in the threads above remarked, that Jadis gear does cut off the top end slightly. I thought so too for a long time until I was lucky enough to get a pair of those plasma tweeters which are generally only sold together with very complex and expensive hornspeaker systems. "A capella" has managed to solve the ozone problem, so you can listen safely now, without being slowly poisoned to death. Since there is no moving mass any more, just a "flame", the highs have breathy directness, sometimes a whispering sweetness, sometimes a clear sparkling presence which is hard to believe. So I am lead to believe now, that this slight lack of air "up top" is not to be attributed to the Jadis gear but must come from somewhere else in the chain.

Detlof, now you've GOT to let us know how the IO compares. I think Gerrym5's description of the differences is a good one, based off what I've heard. Still not convinced to give up the Jadis, though--the mods Andy Bouwman's made to mine have made it sound even better, the IO has an awful lot of tubes, and I too have a taste for NOS Telefunkens, it does take up more space and I'm low on funds for audio application. Hope you're right about the new plasma tweeters not poisoning you to death!