JADE AUDIO Cables

My comments from last night's listening were with the Gold RCA on the specified components. When I listened to the Gold a few months ago, it was an XLR used in the Io-Callisto link. Here it was miles ahead of the Vermeil which was way too sterile in this link. The Io reacts to tubes, PCs and ICs unlike any other product I have owned in that the results are often not at all in common with the results of such tubes and cables tried elsewhere in the system. So even though the Gold did not win me over in the listening last night, I have not at all dismissed it back at the Io. Only a listen to the Gold vs. Hybrid vs. Indra XLR cables there can determine how these 3 cables compare and which one I will choose.

I am done chasing cables to compensate for tonality flaws elsewhere in the system. Discovering cables that flesh out the rest of the character of the music is where the fun begins. And so far the Jade and Stealth cables do this like no other cables I have had in my system.

Jafox, while we are not in agreement about the Golds or really about having a real confidence that there are cables that don't compensate for tonality flaws (I don't know how I would know this), I fully agree that the Jades and the Stealth Dreams are truly exceptional. I truly look forward to hearing the Hybrids and speaker wires.

If you are anyone else have not experienced an all Dream power cord sound, all I will say is rush to do so. It is the zenith of audio ac supply bar none. To do this you must follow the careful use of the three different Dream cords. The Power must be used on you amps and phono and tuner if you have one. The Digital needs to be used on both dac and transport. And the Preamp should be used only on your preamp or line stage or in running a outlet box into which everything is plugged. I must say that I was just dumbfounded by the improvement.

Speaking of Stealth, anyone try the M-5000? I'm interested in trying one but thought maybe someone would be able to give an opinion of it first. Of course, if it is an all or nothing proposition with Stealth power cables that might not be a good solution for me.

Clio09, I didn't mean to imply that the Stealths only sounded good if they were throughout your system. Rather although an individual power cord by power cord comparison proved them to be better, when you used them throughout, the sound improved enormously.

I have had communication with users of the M-5000 who seem happy with them but who say they will ultimately try the Dreams. I have not had the M-5000s.

Tbg - It was not my intent to imply a cable can be without tonality flaws. My comment was about avoiding the temptation to choose a cable to compensate for peaks and valleys elsewhere in the system. There are many threads here where somebody is seeking a cable to bring on more "warmth", greater bass, etc. The visit here by Joe Kubala in late 2005 made it clear to me that such a practice is not the way to configure a music system.

Even between the 3 Jade models, there are tonal differences but these differences are easily overshadowed (at least in my system) due to the much greater differences in dynamic contrasts, initial strike of the notes, piano and voice textures/decays/ambience, etc. Other than the Gold's softer frequency extremes, the 3 cables are very close tonally.

Concerning the Gold, as stated before, this was just magical in the Io-Callisto link compared to the Vermeil. Only an XLR will work here if I want to achieve the Aesthetix models' phenomenol rendition of space. With a number of other ARC, BAT & CAT phono stages I have owned or heard here, this would be less a factor and perhaps the Vermeil's strengths would make it the "winner". But my system does decays like no other system I have heard and here the Gold excels over the Vermeil in this very critical attribute. Of course now I am eager to hear the Hybrid XLR in this link.

Clio09 - Congrats on the Gabriel Gold Extreme auction. I was chasing this but once I got two more Jade Hybrid cables here today and dropped them in the system, I backed off the auction. I too would like to hear the Gabriel Gold but now I need to hear the newest top model, the Revelation, to determine if it has any chance against the Jade Hybrid or Stealth Indra.

And concerning the M5000s, as I wrote up above, I have much experience with the M5000 vs the Dream. And with 3 more Dream PCs arriving next week, I will have all sorts of combinations to try with 5 Dreams and 4 M5000s and the 4 Electraglide Epiphany X. Once I iron out the pros/cons of the PCs in the system, I can email you what I learned.

And as much as I think so highly of the Stealth Dream PC, it was only marginally "better" than the M5000 in the amps when I only had two Dreams here. But the Dream is phenomenol on the front end. I also have an itch to get a pair of the DreamState PCs and try these on the amps vs. the Stealth Dream.

Now onto the 3 Jade hybrids in my system. I started with the change of the one Gold to a Hybrid. The Hybrid brought in a far more balanced rendition of piano fundamentals. Dynamic contrasts were much improved. And with this came more splash and portrayal of harmonics into the trebles. The somewhat overdone and fatiguing piano was now well controlled.

With 2 Hybrids and 1 Indra in the system, I then swapped out the Indra for the 3rd Hybrid. These two cables are so very very close across the board. Where the Hybrid renders more distinct strikes on the piano, the Indra conveys a smoother transition from key to key. The Hybrid is more lively in the mids vs. the wee-bit more mellow and distant Indra here. But the Indra also has a little more ambience and carry-through into the trebles. The differences are truly slight with the one exception of the Hybrid's weightier lower mids; there's just more meat on the bones. Between the ManleyDac-Callisto and Callisto-PARC links, it comes down to personal preference here. Both cables are truly so close otherwise. When it came to the PARC-JL3 link, the Hybrid's more dynamic and alive presentation was more like an analog vs. digital comparison. The Hybrid more greatly brought on the believeability that this was the real thing instead of a recording. This yet again confirmed that the most critical IC link in my system is the one into the amps. IC differences have always been the greatest here.

For all you Vermeil fans out there, you will be pleasantly surprised of the tonal coherency of the Hybrid but also appreciate all the other attributes in the performance that all too many cables out there simply do not let through.

The Jade Hybrid and Stealth Indra ICs are a significant cut above all others I have so far auditoned here.

John