JADE AUDIO Cables

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

john,

if you'd sell an Hybrid, let me know :-)

it seems this one is the way to go

I can't find any price tags on the Hybrid ...

renaat

Jafox,

I have been wanting to try the Gabriel cables for a while and the Revelation are on my list as well, but I thought I may as well try the Extremes to get started. BTW - there were 4 pair available and I'm only getting 1 pair, maybe Steve will contact you regarding the others.

Ironically I have tried the Jade Vermeil and am probably one of the very few to send them back. I agree with both yours and Tbgs assessment of these cables, but in my system at the time, while I thought the Vermeil's were excellent and for the money a great value, they did not beat out my Oritek X-2 cables. My goal was to try the Jade Gold, but so far I have not gotten around to it and based on yours and Tbgs experiences with the Hybrids this may be the cable to try in the future.

My system has changed a bit since my last IC evaluation and in hindsight I wish I still had the Vermeil to listen to for comparative purposes. The Oritek have been replaced by the RSAD Poemia!!! and I have some VD Master cables in the system as well. I would definitely be interested in your opinions on the M-5000 and Dream power cords. So feel free to email me offline.