Anyone been in contact with Jade Audio recently?

Tomer,

I just exchanged e-mails with JD today. It sounds like he's taking a break for the holiday season. He's a bit worn out from some new found business hassles, and decided to take a short break. He says he plans to be back to work early next year.
BTW, that phone number is his home number. He works out of his home, lower overhead. Try calling him again, he is a wealth of knowledge and a very pleasant fellow.

Cheers,
John

Tomer, I have had all three of JD's cables, the Solid Gold, Vermeil Gold, and Hybrid. They are much like JD descibed them in his ads, with the original Solid Gold being the sweetest, sounding like a SET amp, the Vermeil like a very good SS amp, and the Hybrid like, well like a Hybrid amp. Which you would prefer is up to your system and musical tastes. I know several who prefer the Vermeil's speed and transparency over the added rich harmonics that the Hybrid or Solid Gold bring to the table.
It's all about balance and what you need, if your system happens to sound best with the less expensive Vermeil, which is entirely possible, just relax and enjoy it. The Vermeil is one of the best bargains in cables that I am aware of today.

Cheers,
John

I agree with pretty much everything John (Jafox) has said. I also prefer the Jade cables. However, it is true that I have found gold cables in general to have a strong sense of harmonic textures that I enjoy. I've also heard gold cables from Gabriel Gold and Awesound. IMHO they all have a similar harmonic 'rightness' to the notes that makes gold so addictive. I prefer the way the Jade soundstages though, and the notes decay into a black space. It sounds more natural to me.

The one problem I have with cable manufacturers in general is that many tend to keep increasing the 'break-in' period, but they don't seem to be increasing the money back guarantee trial period. I've had other manufacturers besides GG originally tell me that 100-150 hours would be sufficient. When I hit that mark, if I'm not impressed, the number increases to 300-400. Virtual Dynamics did this to me as well. When I explain that that many hours would put me past the return window, I then realized that is probably the intention of it.

From my cable burn in experiences, I believe a cable may keep developing for 100-1000 hours, but I would say that 90% of the burn in occurs in the first 100 hours. FWIW, I felt Jade Vermeil cables changed more in the first 100 hours of any cable I've ever heard, that includes the Jade Hybrid and Gold. I can't explain why though.
After 100 hours with a cable, if I haven't heard improvement, or it's not in the ballpark, I tend to move on. I find it difficult to believe that a cable I've listened to for 100 hours and have mixed feelings about will all of a sudden just bloom into wonder cable after 300-400 hours. If this possibility does exist, cable manufacturers will need to extend their money back guarantee period to 90 days or longer. Otherwise I'm tempted to believe that this number is just extended to take you past the return date trying to burn the cable in. Call me cynical if you must, but that's my $0.02.

Cheers,
John

I do believe in burn in John, as I have heard it. I think it has more to do with the dielectric breaking in.

I don't believe in it to the extent that some do, recommending at least 300, 400, even 500 hours or more until a cable starts to work it's magic. I haven't heard this happen in my 30 years of listening. I guess anything is possible, but I still believe that a cable's sonic signature is pretty much established by 100 hours. Certainly enough time to decide if a cable has serious potential or not. As I stated earlier, I've found 90% of the burn in happens in the first 100 hours. You may get some slight change after that, but it won't be much, IMHO.

Darealjaydee, you seem to take any GG comment a bit too seriously, as if it were a personal attack on you. Maybe you should stick to the GG threads, there are a few of them out there. I tend to leave those GG enthusiasts to enjoy their euphoria on their threads now. I made a few comments on there when I was trying them. Obviously I was not well received there because my comments were not totally ga-ga. I do not mean to demean the GG cables or Steve, they are good cables (they do have gold in them), and Steve is a good guy, they're just not the best that I've heard. Obviously personal tastes and system synergy have a lot to do with this.

I found it less confrontational to just leave the GG thread. I've found the same with the VD threads. If my comment on their cables is not 100% roses, I am booed and jeered. Some cables elicit more passion, like the GG and VD. You don't find that kind of passion on other cable companies threads. Passion can be a good thing though, so don't take this as another assault.

If this thread bothers you, maybe you will find more peace by ignoring it. Just a thought.

Cheers,
John

BTW, I did make the same comment to Rick Schultz of VD when auditioning a pair of his Revelation speaker cables. They were used cables, but he offered me a 30 day money back guarantee. As the 30 day deadline approached, I was at about 125 hours, and though I did like some of their traits, I decided that overall, I had heard better, and wanted to return them. Rick told me that they may require more burn in, maybe 250-350 hours. I asked him if he would extend the trial period, but he would not. He said he normally doesn't offer trial periods with used cables. So I thanked him for the opportunity to listen, and shipped the cables back. Maybe that has something to do with my jaded (sic) behaviour towards exorbitant burn in times. Well that and the fact that the cables I do decide to keep do not change much after the first 100 hours.

I'll stay out of this thread in the future as there is certainly some disdain here for some reason
Bobf

Now you know why I no longer visit the GG threads Bob....

No disdain as long as you can play nice. I think the main thing is that folks understand that system synergy and tastes are different. No problem at all if you like GG cables, but after so many told me that GG cables need more burn in on the GG thread, we don't really need to hear it all again here on a Jade thread. If I feel like being told how wrong I was for not liking GG cables, I'd just go back to the GG threads. :)

I mean really....that "you need to let them burn in another 300 hours" excuse is really old. I understand that Jade cables are not for everyone, why don't others seem to understand this?
If you don't like Jade, fine, I don't care. I won't tell you that you need to listen to them for another month to "get them".
From my experiences GG and VD fans are the most fanatical cable fans out there. Passion can be a good thing, but c'mon, let's not become stalkers, lurking in any thread that might say something not glowing about our favorite cable. Sheesh....

Cheers,
John

Well, as my lawyer tells me, it seems as if I need to make a point of clarification. It seems that a GG disciple misconstrued one of my earlier posts and went whining to Steve at GG. Steve sent me a PM and we had a chat. It seems, I can't really say how, but the claim is when taken out of context, some may have intepreted that I claimed that Steve would not offer me a refund after 30 days.

First of all, I never said, nor did I mean to imply this. As Steve said in his e-mail to me, he has no formal 30 day trial period. I ordered a custom pair of GG Revelations speaker cables with full knowledge that there would be no trial period. I tried them for a month or so and decided, for sonic reasons, to go back to my PAD Dominus cables for reasons that my lawyer advises me not to speak of.

I never asked Steve for a refund because he made it clear up front that there would be no trial period on a custom made pair of cables. I have since sold the GG Revelation speaker cables in question to a gent in Venezuela. I have also moved on from the PAD Dominus speaker cables. Steve did recommend 100-150 hours of break in when I bought the cables, which they received. Steve never recommended the 300+ extended hour audition, that number came from the GG fanatics.

I did not point out GG as an example, my comment was:

"The one problem I have with cable manufacturers in general is that many tend to keep increasing the 'break-in' period, but they don't seem to be increasing the money back guarantee trial period."

My lawyer has advised me to point out in this statement the 'cable manufacturers in general' phrase for those that have trouble understanding English 101. The GG disciples would have you believe that GG is one of the companies that recommends a longer break in period. Steve would only say that some have found this to be so. It's not a formal reco from GG.

So I was wrong about GG, they are not one of the manufacturers who are extending recommended break in time. The 300-400 hour number seems to have just been made up on these boards from GG owners, not from the manufacturer.

Hopefully this fully satisfies all GG owners, who can now head back to their GG threads and dance happily ever after.

NEXT QUESTION.