Jadis Fidelity


Somebody can tell me we do not see too many Jadis product on Audiogon? What do I have to expect(buy or sell) for a Jadis 100 (E34 Tubes) ? Do Jadis people keep their gears longer?
odiomuse

Showing 12 responses by detlof

Trelja, strangely enough meth works, especially for those nasty fingerprints, which sometimes are so hard to remove. Your caveat about brass polish is dead to the point. It will ruin the gold. Silver polish-don't know what's in it - does so less, but has to applied with extreme caution, tiny portions and not too much rubbing. I am pretty sure, that if not done carefully, the gold will suffer as well. (Been lucky so far)
Jadis presence in the US is probably fairly minute. Not so in Europe, but also here you will find practically no offers on the used market. The reason is the reliability of all gear, their policy of not upgrading every three months, ( think of ARC of yore!!) and the musicality of these products, People who own Jadis gear, no matter what, generally see no reason for changing. The sonic signature has something very seductive. Solo instruments and voices have a tremendous, three dimensional presence, especially via electrostatics or the better horn speakers made here in Europe, and last not least there is just that slight euphonic touch, a combination of very subtle warmth with a slightly exaggerated punch, which can give you the illusion of being there. Then of course first class workmanship and very good looks. Who wants more.... to me that's why you practically do not find them anywhere and if at all, then at exorbitant prices.
Cwlondon, try silverpolish, but very carefully and sparingly, that worked with me. You can use it freely on the chrome parts, but must be careful on the gold.
CWLondon, the 200 is a dream and you are lucky if you can get one. You are right in assuming, that they combine the best of the two worlds. The best Jadis preamp I know is a four chassis job, the JP-200 MC. MC stands for moving coil, so it has a phonostage, you can have a line stage version too. Next to all what has been said above, this gear has even more resolving ability and a wallop and a transient speeed which I have never-ever heard from anything else except in concert. Wonder what Rcprince and Gerrym5 will have to say..
Rcprince, thanks for your excellent input. I was not going to comment on this topic, because my experience with the latest ARC gear is limited, but from what I have listened to, you are-to these ears here - dead right! I can corroberate every word you say ! By the way, I am waiting for an Aesthetics IO to arrive and am very curious to compare it to my Jadis Pre-Pre and JP80 chain. (With Telefunkens NOS ) Shall report here again, if anybody is interested.
Sidhh, you are dead right about what you say about the soundstage too. Its also my experience.
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.
Rcprince, OK I'll report as soon as the unit has arrived, which will be (hopefully) midst next week. Gerrym5: May I get in touch with you about the IO as well? About being killed by the "ATR -ION TW 1S", more about it on www.acapella.de, I would say, what a way to go...but seriously now, the ozone being formed by the burning of the air molecules in the plasma arc, is being oxydised through a catalyst and bound to the copper, the horn outlet is made off. Neat arrangement. Never any ozone in the air.
Samaul, generally ss and tube combinations in a chain are poor bedfellows, if you want to use them full range. It makes sense here to also look at specs and compare input and output impedances of the gear you want to combine. A mismatch here can have a multitude of strange effects especially in the midrange. If you run multiple amps however and like a fast, tight and well defined bottom end, I've heard excellent results with a Jadis front end and various higher powered SS amps. I think its wrong to generalise. You have to use your own ears- and best another pair of female ears, well disposed to you and our passion -to find out.
The Io arrived sooner than expected. Its a used unit, already well run in. I used new, unbroken in interconnects with it however, in comparison with the Jadis front end and its cabling. These are first impressions only after a long day's work. I used an LP with a Jazz Combo in a life session, one side Jadis, the other IO. I started off with the IO and found a substantially bigger soundstage, both in depth and width, more space between instruments, a better defined string bass and a much better resolved high hat ( so Jadis perhaps does truncate the highs a bit after all ??!!) I found a stunning silence in those "inbetween-moments" almost CD-like, but without the CD feeling of being in a void, which I dislike. I found the whole presentation "polite" and a little laid back in comparison to the Jadis, the kickdrum lacked that last bit of punch, the xylophone hat a little less bloom on long drawn out notes. The Jadis brought in more atmosphere, you had more the feeling of being in a Jazz-club, you were closer to the players.....the IO presentation seemed musically and spatially very "right" but just a teeny bit uninvolving. Is it a case of that Jadis magic again? Or in other words, am I so used to the colorations, the charming little cheats and seductive exaggerations to the real thing, which my "French mistress" imbues me with, whereas our Greek godddess is so much more true to the recording venue, more "sec" and realistic, musical yes, but I miss those shivers down my spine. Maybe Jadis has softly seduced me through the years into a slightly euphonised land of milk and honey and Lady IO brings me back into reality? And do I like that? I am confused.
Rcprince, your suggestions are wise. I wondered myself if I was listening actually to the IO, or rather more to cables not broken in. I'll give it time, let her stew and then we'll see if this here right-brainer will be more happy with IO's presentation.