Jadis amplifiers: rolled off treble?

Chris, which one have you heard?

I don't get this impression, in fact, the opposite, but not in a harsh or bright/shrill way. The words I most use to describe Jadis are romantic, sweet, and musical (probably more of these three than it should be), they're also pretty upfront and engaging. But, as with anything else, with the right tubes, ancillaries, and room, I don't doubt your assertion that things sound dark.

"i enjoy listening to them because, they can be very forgiving of less than ideal recordings." I agree completely, Mrtennis.

My DA60 is difficult to describe, as I can't really call it sweet or euphonic, but it seems to always make the music sound great. I realize that isn't "accurate", whatever "accurate" is, but one is left enjoying the music to the point of not caring.

Going back to the original question of the thread, I thought about some of the recordings played over the year, and despite the above comment about making even bad recordings sound good, I've most probably been able to dig more of the treble out with my Jadis amps (Orchestra Reference, DA30, and DA60) than any other amp I've tried. Cymbals can be majestic, but, flute, piccolo, triangles, etc. come through in a way that I think I have yet to hear eclipsed. The only amp I can think of to put in the same conversation is the Consonance Cyber 300B PSE (none of our other amps approach this) that I represent as the importer/distributor.

Chris, one other thing I can say is that in my experience, a Jadis is more reflective of its output and driver tubes than any other tube amplifier I've been around. It gives you a tremendous amount of power in terms of altering the sound, but you have to really work through a lot of combinations to find the ideal match for you - mine is Sylvania 5751 Triple Mica Black Plate drivers in the 12AX7 driver position, with JJ E34L output tubes. For whatever reason, I've found the preamplifier tubes don't yield nearly the same level of impact.

You're certainly dealing with two incredible products there, Chris.

Others can talk about the potential interaction with the SoundLabs speakers if they are what you are pairing them with. The only thing I can really add is that cabling and the room (most importnatly) are definitely going to figure into things, and a bit of tube rolling may prove enough to change your mind.

I'm not sure what tubes you ran in the JA200, but the DA88S uses KT88, which I find dark/recessed in the mids compared to EL34 tubes. In my experience, Jadis amps sound their best, by far, with EL34 tubes, though you then have to be far more careful in terms of getting the driver tubes right in order to produce the proper low frequency response, which the Jadis are more than capable of.

Peter, did you hear the JA500 with and without the Da Hong modifications? Removing it from my DA60 made all of the difference in the world in my situation. Others have corresponded with me over the years to echo that sentiment. In fact, it was the on the recommendation of a friend that I had my amp set back to "stock", and I can't thank him enough for the performance that wrought.