Would Jadis Orchestra work for Dunlavy IV?

Okay I auditioned the JOR with Jadis Tubed JD-3 CD player. It turns out that the owner of store brought his own JOR. It had KT-90 tubes that the owner has switched from original EL-34. He hooked up the JOR with the Vandersteen 2c. He did not feel it is good idea to hook that up with the Wilson MAXX in the other room (:)). It was first time I ever show Wilsons in person and later listened to them. More on that later.

The interconects used were Cadras. I played my own CDs that I was familiar with. The music was all different - Raggae, Jazz, powerful orchestra, electronic, White strips, and Baroque music. First observation was that the JOR was much bigger in size than what I visualized. Awsome looking. The sound was much more powerul , dynamic and fuller and louder than what I thought would be. At no time it did not sound like JOR was struggling at all. The bass content was there, but rather fuller and rounder than what I am used with my classe CA-400s. This was expected. Mid range was fluidic and lush (especially Baroque music) and captivating. At times I heard more music details than my big system at home. However I thought highs were rather lacking and does not seem to have much air in it. Could be the Vandersteens. Harmonics and timbre sounded close to real and thought that it was notched a vee bit and I thought could be better at the edges. Overall I think I will be very happy with the JOR. I just to have get right set up with my Dunlavys. Like Rcprince suggests i should get the KT-88s that comes with JOR and try out. The owner offered to get KT-90 for me like his unit. I asked about EL-34 and he was vague about its compatibility with newer ones. Need to check with Pierre. I don't have any doubt that JOR won't work with the Dunlavy IVs. I also have Dunlavy II's that I can try out the JOR once I get it. The store did not have DA-30 OR 60. They did have mega bucks mono blocks though.

Later I listened to Wilson MAXX with great expectations. Looked really good. They were driving the speakers with Hovland electronics. Sounded clean but only sound stage was left to right. No depth at all. Did not sound like music. more like HIFI. May be it was the smooth jazz cd they were playing. It did not even come close to my expectations. The Little JOR and Vandersteen did mcuh better job producing music.

I will let you know when I get the JOR and hook it up and will report back. Thanks

First off, CONGRATULATIONS NILTHEPILL!!! Welcome to the Jadis family! Secondly, there has been a lot of great discourse in this thread.

I'm really happy that you were impressed with the JOR. As I say over and over again, it is a crying shame that most people do not even know the Jadis name these days. It truly is in that strata of upper end high end gear. Hopefully, over time, Pierre Gabriel will be able to reestablish the marque to its rightful place in North America.

The fact that the entry level amp is able to make music that is glorious to the point of measuring up with components with another digit in their price tag tells one all they need to know. The JOR is a most beautiful component, and its looks certainly have high WAF. Though, as you heard, it is a Jadis, and its sonics take no back seat to its looks. Mating it to a Vandersteen is not a match made in heaven.

Again, as Russ stated, the KT88 really flesh out the lows and add some weight to the sound. They offer a midbass fatness that sounds better to me than the KT90, though the KT90's extension is superior. You can expect a much more lifelike, beautiful, and sunny midrange and treble with either the EL34 or KT88. What sound is right for you in the end can only be determined by your own ears and heart.

Supposedly, an EL34 gives up between 25% and 35% in terms of power to a KT88. Perhaps the famous Jadis transformers allow the gap to be a lot smaller than in most instances. I noticed my JOR and DA30 didn't give nearly as much power up when I ran them with EL34. Interestingly, when I recently tried the EL34 tubes in the DA30 for fun, I sat down to try to sort things out in terms of differences, and to see which was better. However, both my wife and daughter were able to announce in less than 5 seconds that the JJ Blue Glass E34L was clearly superior to the JJ KT88. Just shows that they really do hear better than us...

You can DEFINITELY run EL34, 6CA7, 6550, KT88, and KT90 in the JOR. The standard Orchestra's standard tubes are EL34, and its smaller transformers allow only this and the 6CA7 tube to used. The JOR came with KT90 standard previously, and now KT88. Its larger transformers allowd both the larger and smaller tubes to be run.

Also, I have prepared a six page guide to biasing the JOR, and you are most welcome to a copy. I had to really scrounge to get a copy of the biasing procedure (it mentions ONLY EL34 and KT90) from the North American distributor at the time. In the typical French fashion, it was all but intuitive. One sheet of paper, with an almost illustration, not very many words, and those that were there confused as much as helped. Eventually, I got everything sorted out, and it was not as bad as my dealer tried to scare me into believing. When I sold it, I created this document, full of color pictures, to make sure the person buying it had nothing to worry about. As an aside, my advice is to remove the bottom plate, which you need to do to bias it anyway, and drill additional holes that will allow outside access to the resistors and potentiometers involved in the biasing procedure. Then, it will take all of about 3 minutes to bias. The hardest part in my opinion is reassembling the amp after you bias it.

Hope you love it for a very long time,
Joe

Thanks Joe and Russ for all the inputs and info you have provided on the JOR. I can't wait to get my hands on JOR.

I like finer things in life. I love my BoxsterS. I love my Dunlavy V, IV and II. I love my new SUV G500. I love my armani wardrobe. I love art and beautiful music. I think the JOR's looks and its performance more than fits right in there. No intention to brag or show off but I wanted to make my point clear as to where I rate the Jadis JOR. It is ineed one of the rare high end work of art piece out there.

Joe, If you don't mind pl send me JOR biasing guide at nilp@earthlink.net. Also let me know where to get the EL34 tubes. I am a tube novice as you can tell.

Nil