Jadis Orchestra Reference vs. Cary SLI-80

Now I've added a third to the list. The VAC Avatar.

Hi,

I've had very good results w/ my VAC Avatar and de Capos.

I own the Jadis, and know about the Cary and the Avatar.

First, the Jadis is best of the three, sonically. No question.

However, if I had to recommend one it would be the Cary. The service/support issue being the reason why. Also, the Jadis is much more difficult to bias.

While the Cary sounds darker, richer, and slower, it is still a good pick. The VAC is also a nice amplifier, from a company which offers first class support. But, the Cary offers a bit more value.

That being said, I find that Cary amplifiers work best with more forward sounding speakers to offset their richness.

I really, really liked the Cary SLI-80 sig, and I have to disagree with Joe T. on the Darkness issue.

WIth the Stock (crap sovtek) 6922 tubes, it was REALLY, really anything but dark.

Once I got soem decent tubes in there, it was MUCH better, but I never found it to be dark.

None of my electronics are considered "bright", so as to offset the reputed darkness of the Cary, such that I wouldn't have noticed.

That being said, I wondered why Cary stuff was rumored to be so dark, as my experience was anything but.

The reason that I didn't keep the Cary, was that I got a much more believable presentation from the (not as sexy) ROgue Tempest integrated.

I think the Rogue is the Cat's meow, so to speak. I'm tough to win over, and I've had that thing since August/2001. That's pretty long when you're constantly auditioning new gear.

I couldn't get believable placement or depth from the cary.
I never replaced teh Rectifier tubes, but everything else was replaced with high $$ NOS (well, not the power tubes) but I tried 3 types of those, too.

In the end, it was VERY pretty music, unfortunately, Very obviously coming from the 2 speakers.

WIth the Rogue, it was as if they were just boxes on stands, and have nothing to do with the beautiful music hovering all around them.

Good Luck!

Oh, I'd love to hear the Jadis, (I'd also like to have bass and treble controls, sometimes, but don't tell anyone)

It's always interesting how two people see things differently, Joe. To me, what Cary makes these days, save the V12, is darker than I could take with either of my current speakers.

One day when you come up to Pennsylvania, stop on by and give a listen to the Jadis. And, you can play with the bass and treble controls all you want!