P.S. The cables are Stealth Sakra V12 and Dream V14 with tuning rings. |
We are Jadis dealers in Chicago and have the JA30 mkii with kt150 on order. We will be glad to let you know when they arrive. |
$12500 with KT150 and $11700 with KT88/KT90/KT120/6550. |
gwalt, my apologies for misspelling your handle in the previous post.
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I will certainly let you know! Just took a delivery on i50, it already managed to warm my heart :).
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gwat, yes, they did change the transformers to accomodade kt150. Non kt150 amps come with the exact same new transformer. You can go back and forth between tubes via small modification. |
gwalt,the new generation is considerably more transparent and "modern" sounding without loosing any of the famous Jadis midrange magic. There is considerably more extension and air on the top and tha bass is as extended as it always was, except it is no longer overly ripe - it is tight and well defined. I have had various Jadis equipment throughout the years and always loved it. However, I never pulled the trigger to invest into the line due to those slight shortcomings stated above. After Bluebird Music became the distributor and after hearing the new generation, I immediately jumped into it. It was a no brainier, especially considering new lower pricing due to a strong dollar. As I write this post, I am listening to i50 driving 40k Vivid Gia G3 gloriously!! It only has 2 hours on it and it's already making me want to grab some single malt and fire up a cigar.........too early in the day... |
daveyf, 1) the warranty varies depending on the model. The output transformers are guaranteed for life. The problems you are referring to were mostly associated with manual bias defy 7 (often caused by bad tube rolling and improper biasing), and blown fuses on the old JA200. All other amps never had problems and the preamps have always been dead reliable. New stuff is literally bullet proof. I never had any problems whatsoever, even with accidentally shorted outputs or failed tubes.
2) JA30 do not give off much heat - as you know, there are only 2 output tubes per mono block.
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butler,
I have heard the amps in Europe just recently. I think MKIII was more of the North American designation and was short lived anyway. I will certainly let Bluebird know your wishes. I will also put the retail prices on my website as well - I will update you when I do, hopefully later today. In the meantime, if you have not done so already, please check out Jadis website - there is sufficient info on the JA30 MKII there. I should have them in the first half of February...... |
Gentlemen, I should have the amps by the end of this week. I will post the updates after the initial break-in. |
Butler, after living with the amps for a while now, I must state that they are better then any older Jadis amps I ever heard, regardless of the price or the power rating. As I mentioned before, they retain the usual Jadis seductivness in the midrange while adding staggering dynamics, top to bottom extention, incredible resolution and inner detail retrieval. I must say it is a new era of Jadis, thanks to Jean-Christophe Calmettes - the new ears of the company. |
Butler, you are welcome to visit any time.
Gwalt, I am using two preamps : CAT SL1 Legend and Jadis JP200.
Currently, I have the amps driving the 100K Marten Coltrane 3. They just came back from Michael Fremer for the upcoming Axpona. It is the only pair in the US at the moment. JA30 Mk ii control those dual 10 in woofers without any problem whatsoever!
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Gwalt, yes, my comments are are based on KT150.
Butler, absolutely! I listened to the whole Dark Side of the Moon (great Japanese pressing) and regardless of it being one of the most difficult records to reproduce correctly, the amps did a spectacular job conveying the sheer scale of the masterpiece.
Martens are 89db with nominal 6 ohm impedance dropping down to 3.7 ohm ( I suspect it is lower, since I had to change the taps of my old JA50 to 1 ohm setting in order for them to drive the speaker). Even though the speakers are rather sensitive, it is still not easy for the amp to control two 10 inch drivers at 3.7 ohm. |
butler, sorry for this very late reply. I was so busy with Axpona that I did not really check the thread. We had two rooms and our big room received top 5 from J. Valin and the best cost no object analog setup awards.
JA30 MKII have the bass that is better then most SS amps. By better I mean more natural, with more air and greater transparency. They was able to get more then adequate bass out of the two 10in ceramic drivers of Marten Coltrane 3. Several SS amps that I tried failed to do so. "Bloated" would be the last word that would come to my mind. Also, KT150 have the best bass of all tubes that I have ever heard which certainly helps.
George |
butler, thank you. Feel free to call me any time. I will at the Munich show Tuesday through Monday. |
butler, the usual lead time is 6-8 weeks since they are all built per order. They do come on a pallet.
I personally like KT150 so much that I would not even care to experiment. Especially after we had new CAT JL7 amps at AXPONA with the similar stunning results. As you probably know, Ken Stevens would not have bothered otherwise. I find them even better then the original Genalex KT88 that I used to have on several occasions. As far as balanced inputs, I would highly recommend pairing JA30 MKii with a Jadis pre or the CAT SL1- both single ended. The synergy is truly magical.
Let me know when you would like to visit, I would be happy to demo the amps for you. |
butler, certainly. I will have preamplifiers for you to hear. Let me know in advance when you are planning to visit so I can have everything ready. |
Daveyf, which CAT do you have? And yes, Of course I rolled tubes. I even convinced Ken that some of the NOS improve the sound:)
As great as Jadis integrateds are, you really need to hear the mono blocks to get a real taste. |
Butler, Audio research Ref 6 is $14000, if I am not mistaken. The compatible preamp in Jadis line would be JPS2 for $14900 which is basically a line stage version of the venerable JP80 with an extra CD input tube. CAT SL1 Renaissance line stage is $9990 and $11990 with phono that beats any Audio Research stand alone phono stage. Power supply of Audio Research does not hold a chance against massive outboard power supplies of Jadis and CAT. You might have to go to the Ref Anniversary and pay a fortune for it.
And then there is sound..........ARC has a totally different sound philosophy - I will have to hear it to have an opinion about the synergy with JA30.
PRE1 was designed for use with PA100 amp and is not in the level of JPS2 or CAT. I will have to find out about silver plates.
Charles, Jadis room was ours. I am glad you enjoyed it as much as we did! Music vs Hi Fi is a battle we fight all the time:)
George |
butler, all Jadis pieces get silent updates from time to time that improve upon the original design. That would apply to JP80/JPS2 as well. We have used those preamplifiers in variety of full range systems playing heavy rock material with terrific results. Having said that, you might prefer the CAT for rock - it would give you more slam and macro dynamics that you mention In fact, it beats 99% of solid state and ALL tube preamps in that department. It is also cheaper then JPS2 by a cool 5K in line stage only version.
When you come to visit, you will have the opportunity to compare several preamps and make your own conclusions. If you wish to talk about it more, please do not hesitate to call me. |
Matching /amp/preamp is always a good idea, I agree. Especially in case of Jadis. That is why I recommended JPS2 in the first place.
For gwalt's audition of the JA30 MKii we used top of the line 4 chassis JP200MC. |
Keithr, yes, there is a simple modification that would enable you to use any tube you wish - KT88, 6550, EL34 and others. Although, KT150 sound so good in i50 that I do not see any need for it.
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