Jadis Fidelity

I, too, am soundstage obsessed and this thread is making me wonder if I should have kept my JPL and shopped around for a Defy 7. Is this amp the star of the line up? Could anyone please comment on the Defy 7 and its various versions? Are the Jadis monoblocks better or worse? While this thread praises both the amps and pre-amps, do you think there is even greater musicality using Jadis all the way through? Any ideas for similarly musical cables that match well with these electronics? Thank you.

Detlof, you will probably be VERY happy with the Aesthetix, it is one of the few units I have heard which I would put on the same plane as the Jadis equipment and that I would consider as a replacement if I had the money, the space and the inclination. It will probably be a somewhat different presentation, as I think it is a no feedback unit, so it may be a bit more vivid but perhaps with a little less depth of soundstage (we're not talking a big difference in this respect). It does have that musicality and realism that I like in the Jadis. Cwlondon, actually, I have never been as impressed with the Defy 7, at least in its first two marks, as the JA80s. There was more brute power, but it clearly lacked the finesse, delicacy and intangibles that you got from the JA80s as well as the JA30s and JA200s, and the increased power still didn't bring you much better bass control. Plus, you could only run it with 6550s, at least then, and to my ears that is the least desirable tube I've used in the JA80s, as far as sonics go (they do control the bass better, but give up some of the midrange magic). I've heard that the later marks of the Defy might be closer to the sound of the monoblocks, but haven't made that comparison, and my setup requires I use monoblocks; personally, I have not heard a stereo amp which sounds better than its monoblock counterpart (excluding a bridged stereo amp used as a monoblock, which is another story). Also, my comments only relate to the earlier versions of the Jadis amps, not the newer versions which use KT90s, which may sound different. Since I use both the JP80 preamp and the JA80s, and before used the JPL first with the ARC Classic 150s and then with the JA80s, I do believe that there is a good synergy between the Jadis equipment (as I usually find between the equipment of any fine manufacturer) that leads to an overall greater musicality, although it is certainly possible to mix and match to your taste. As far as cables go, Siltech works very well with Jadis; I use a cable called Full Spectrum, which is no longer made, so it's not much help to you, but is very revealing and slightly sweet in the highs, a good match for this equipment. I'm trying out some NBS Monitor Zero tonight which I just bought; I'm pretty sure that will work well, and in the past I've found good Purist Audio and Kimber silver cables to work well with Jadis equipment. The better and more neutral the interconnect and speaker cables, the more you'll be able to appreciate the special qualities these components possess. Hope this helps a little; good luck in your search.

Cwlondon, I looked at A LOT of products before purchasing my Jadis. Long before that, I came to the conclusion that tubes just sounded more real to me than solid state. And, despite what most say, I find it cheaper to go the tube route. Many of the solid state amps that I enjoy are REALLY big bucks. In contrast, I find many sub - $1000 tube amps pleasing to my ears. I checked out tube amps from Air Tight(my other favorite), ARC, Cary, CJ, Jolida, Quicksilver, Rogue, VAC, VTL, etc. The only one that grabbed me(and my girlfriend!) by the collar and screamed out, "THIS IS THE ONE!" was the Jadis. No, it was not cheap. But, like Rcprince stated above, when I heard it, I knew what I was buying. I took the same CDs around for my auditioning. My girlfriend said she had never heard sound like this from a stereo before(quite a comment for a person who had NO interest in this stuff prior to hearing the Jadis). Dar Williams was actually singing for us in person. Or so we thought... According to Jadis, the Jadis sound is no sound at all. I don't quite agree. But, I can say they sound more like music to me than other brands. I am not a fan of AR power amps. I find them quite solid state sounding. Perhaps selling to people who buy the big names like Krell, Mark Levinson, but want the cache of tubes. Bragging rights, "I have tubes"??? There were other tube amps that caught my ear(especially SETs), but when you look at the balance that Jadis presents, I don't think there is a better product overall(other than Air Tight - but Jadis offers flexibility of using many different tube types). Power, dynamics, great bass for a tube amp(even more so if I jack up the bass controls - for the "club music lovers"), tangibility, and musicality. The fact that it accepts a WIDE variety of tubes(KT90/6550/KT88/6CA7/E34L/EL34) means that it offers almost any sound its owner is after(within reason). From sweet and pure to neutral and forward.

I have owned JA-30, JA-80 and JP-80MC mkIIs. I really think Jadis has a very musical sound. I had this equipment for several years and while I wondered if there was better out there, I experienced many magical listening sessions with the Jadis. I am thinking of buying a used pair of JA-500s right now. I did buy the Aesthetix I/O with Volume controls to replace the JP-80MC. There was know question in my mind that the Aesthetix I/O provided such much more information, better transparency, and music as the Jadis JP-80MC. And all I neede was Phono for my system. I did also replace the JA-80 amps with a pair of Audio Note Ankaru PSE-845 mono blocks because they sounded more transparent and I know the designer Andy Grove. This added to the pleasure of ownership. But, I do admit the I miss that Jadis sound and their looks. Lets face it. Jadis does design and manufacture quality equipment. They also don't kill you with yearly upgrades. You can do far worse than Jadis and you might be buying your last amplifier because they are that good.

Cwlondon, in looking at the cables I mentioned to you, I realized they're all kinda (some might say outrageously) expensive. I should note that Trelja has been using some affordable silver cables with his Jadis with which he is pleased, and that in the past I have used both Dunlavy and Sonoran speaker cables with the JA80s with good results. Gerrym5, I was interested by your post, I had gotten a separate inquiry about the IO and had relayed pretty much the same thoughts about it as you noted. Be careful before you get the JA500s--they are a different beast from the other Jadis older style amps. They run in ultralinear, rather than Class A (they can be factory adjusted to run class A, reducing the power to 225 watts), and as I recall are not auto biasing and only use the 6550 tubes (although I'm sure that Jadis could adjust the bias to take other types of tubes). Still sound excellent, but as I noted above with the Defy, I think they give away a little of the finesse and delicacy of the other Jadis mono amps. But there are times I'd like that extra power in reserve...