Not sure how great it might be, but after hearing the Jadis I-50 integrated with KT150 output tubes I’d be interested in finding out. Appears that Jadis is updating many of their amps to accommodate these tubes, and the JA30 MkII is the latest to do so.
If these lower powered amps can handle my stat hybrids I would be very interested in auditioning them, seems to me that the KT150’s (and updated transformers) have moved Jadis to a more universal sound while retaining the organic goodness they are known for. My only other concern would be, although I listen to a lot of jazz and acoustic based music, is whether this new breed of Jadis can really do justice to blues/rock.
I have not heard this amp. I have been told from a few friends who have, that it is incredibly good. As to MSRP, I don't know what it is. Would like to get an idea also. Jadis seems to be minimally represented here in the US...at least on the West coast. I have no idea if they even have a dealer on the West coast??
Butler, please do post as to what you find out about the price. Keith, next time i'm up at Brooks Berdan, I will try and take a listen. I'm a little concerned, as I may be selling a lot of gear to help finance the Jadis after hearing it...
Sorry it has taken so long to post this, but I did check with the folks at Brooks Berdan audio as to price and availability for the MkII version, and it turns out to be a bit complicated. They do not have a unit in-store for audition, nor do they show it on their price sheet. What they do show is a MkIII edition which is specific to KT120 output tubes priced at $11,700. This is the version that also appears on the US distributor website (Blue Bird Music).
When I asked about the MkII amp, which should be the latest iteration according to the Jadis website (updated specifically to handle the new KT150 tube, but can also take EL34, 6CA7, KT88, KT90, KT120 & 6550 though a modification is required inside the amp when switching between different tube types), they said it could be special ordered, probably for a similar price to the MKIII. They have no plans at present to order one for the store. They did suggest that since Jadis is a boutique brand the development and advertising for different iterations can be confusing, and that certainly is the case here.
Davey, if your friends do have this amp, I wonder if they auditioned it somewhere prior to buying in the US?
Hi Butler, I don't know anybody who actually owns these amps. I do have a couple of a'phile friends who have heard them, and have raved about them, hence my OP. Both of these guys have auditioned them in Europe.
Hi Egoben, thanks for offering input on your JA30. Can you tell us how old it is and what type of output tubes you are using? And if possible, how efficient your speakers are and how well the amp drives them, especially in the bass frequencies? Also what type of music you listen to and how it is handled, particularly if that includes rock/blues. Finally, has it been reliable and does it float your musical boat, so to speak?
I also have an older JA30 driving Living Voice OBX-RW speakers rated at 94DB which may be an optimistic rating. Never the less these monoblocks are very special and a tube rollers paradise or nightmare depending on your budget. This combination of speaker/amp. interface is musically fascinating. I have not rolled many tubes just yet but have listened to Ei KT90 NOS, Psvane KT88mkll, and have settled so far on 6l6GC Winged C NOS......using telefunken input/drivers and or Raytheon NOS. I cannot help with the new mkll version but I am sure it is killer good with correct matching of the speakers. You may see them under system moniker GWALT.
Hi GWALT, thanks for the input on your JA30! You have some really nice equipment and a great-looking room…….appears to be quite a large space as well, does the Jadis have any issues energizing it? Also, I didn’t see what those red power cords are in your system details? Could you also share what type of music you listen to?
My situation is a bit different; smallish medium size room, driving 87db electrostat hybrids (Janszen) currently with a Rowland amp. Some folks have reported finding bliss with these speakers and lower powered tube amps, and I was quite impressed with the Jadis I50 integrated amp equipped with KT150 tubes at the most recent Newport show. Just trying to get some idea as to whether the JA30 MK II with KT150’s would be sufficient in my room, though will likely not be able to audition these mono amps in the USA unless one of the few dealers imports one which, as far as I know, has not happened (yet). As you indicated, correct matching of speakers & amp is critical.
Hi Butler, my amps are probably from the early 90's and I use Ei 6CA7 power tubes (similar to EL34 but with better bass they say). I have tried 6550, KT90 and KT88 as well but I like the ones I use now. Besides, big tubes doesn't really fit. It's very tight between the tube sockets and the transformers. Jadis must have changed the layout of the amps a bit to be able to use KT150 tubes.
I have tried many different speakers and no matter what speakers I use some factors are the same. I have NOT tried speakers with very high sensitivity, that remains to try some day. Only from 84-89 db which can be very challenging for these tube amps I admit! I listen mostly to jazz and rock (blues based rock too) in a small apartment living room. There's no question about it that these amps are much better with smaller settings, 3-6 piece jazz groups, singer songwriters, soul vocalists, small ensemble classical music and well recorded rock, blues and country bands and albums preferably released before the "loudness war" era, if that makes sense? (Some modern records sounds really awful no matter what amps you use.) These amps are great and can sound really magical, the sound gets very very emotional and real if the parameters are right, trumpets, guitars, vocals etc. That's what Jadis is about I think.
The amps have worked very good with most speakers I've tried but the higher sensitivity and easy load the better, vintage speakers are great for instance. If you hear about speakers that are hard to drive they probably aren't a good match for these Jadis amps. Right now I'm using old small Tannoy Eaton's, it works lovely. I don't know if they work with electrostats. Are yours active in the bass? The bass is good on the Jadis JA30's if the music isn't too complex and if the speakers are not too "slow" in the bass from the beginning, but of course the amps can't be compared with high power solid state amps, it's just not possible and not really fare. The KT150 tubes are probably making the bass a lot better though, I'd love to hear that some day. If you are worried about if these amps are enough you might be better off with the Jadis JA80 power amps, the regular old version can probably be found much cheaper than new JA30 mkII's. I would look for those personally if I where you and worried about the power reserves, but I can't know for sure of course.
My amps have been working pretty much flawless so far during the years I've had them. And I love the looks, the feel, the sound, pride of ownership etc etc. Very cool amps. I also own an integrated Jadis Orchestra amp and it is lovely as well, I like the brand very much, definitely floats my musical boat. :-)
Appreciate your response to the questions I threw at you Egoben, very descriptive! I do think to an extent it might be an apples to oranges comparison as the newer Jadis has likely moved to a bit more universal sound & possibly improved drive capabilities at least where the KT150 equipped amps are concerned, but also may have given up some of that magic you described in the process. But we shall see, that magic is what I am looking for too. Wish there were more dealers here in the states, with a full arsenal of the different models to be able to make comparisons.
Your advice to consider a used JA80 is a good one, and something I will consider moving forward, even though I’m anxious to see what the KT150-based amps would bring to my setup as well. I’ll be in S. California in March where I will get to the Jadis dealer there, Brooks Berdan Ltd - hopefully they will have a few KT150 as well as some of the legacy amps in-house for a nice audition. If you or the others in this thread expressing interest (or anyone else for that matter) is interested I will report back here. Thanks again for all the input.
My amp. was made in 2005 and the largest tube it will accept is the KT120 which I have not tried yet but I plan to. Generally so far the 6L6GC Winged C is my favorite. My Border Patrol 300B is one of best but the 8 WPC is wasting the capability of the Living Voice thus my purchase of the musical 30 WPC.
I purchased the amp. from a gentleman who used 86DB speakers in a large room with KT88's. He said the amp. would clip with high volume Dead Can Dance drive but that was it. He said he wished he had not sold it FYI.
If you use the new amp. with KT150's you would be fine IMO unless you play for the neighborhood. I have heard that the JA80 does not make the music magic of the JA30's simpler design. More tubes in parallel and this happens. The JA30 could be the music sweet spot of the group.
I suspect the new amp. has a reworked transformer tapped for a high voltage set. No idea what they sound like with that tube but the sound could be to die for. These amps. are overbuilt to last longer than us and could be family tokens.
PS: The RED cords are ELROD GOLD STATEMENTS which sound smitten on anything.
I think the new versions of the Jadis JA30 mk2 amps with the KT150’s are probably very different from the older models. The main reason that I posted the OP was because an a’phile friend told me that these new amps are not only the sweet spot of the current Jadis line, but also significantly better than any other Jadis amp that he has heard! I would very much like to hear anyone’s opinion of these new amps once someone has had a chance to listen to them.
Hey Gwalt, appreciate the additional input, sounds like you have that `pride of Jadis ownership’ thing going similar to what Egoben mentioned. I agree that the Jadis transformers are among the best out there from what I’ve seen/heard, and they did indeed modify them to handle the KT150’s. I’m getting to be an old geezer so don’t rock out like the old days (i.e., 60’s, 70's 80’s & 90’s) so these amps would likely work fine for my purposes as you suggest. I’ve also seen some great reviews on that Elrod power cord you have, I may have to try it……
Glad that Daveyf started this thread, hope that someone does chime in who might have heard/own this amp.
So is the non-KT150 changed drastically from the old models? I realize they did a new transformer or what are the actual changes from the old models? As a dealer could you define that as there could be some interested buyers on this forum.
Kyomi Audio, yes please post when you receive the amps. I may need to take a road trip up to hear them unless you would be kind enough to ship them down to Florida to allow me an audition in my system.........(smiley face emoji here)
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...
Kyomi audio, thanks for bringing us up to speed. Couple of questions...1) what is the warranty on the Jadis amps...as you may remember, they were not the paragon of reliability in the old days.:0)..and 2) Any idea as to how much heat the new Jadis JA30Mk2 gives off? Thanks.
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.
Agree with Kyomi. They run class A but the transformers are so overbuilt they barely get warm to the touch on this model. The KT150 tube might put off a little heat but nothing exciting with only two tubes. I am anxious to hear more about the sound compared to the older models.
Hi Kyomi, from all the information you have provided, it sounds like you have actually heard/seen the MkII amps even though you don't have in stock yet? If so, was that at Blue Bird Music, the US distributor? We've all had a lot of questions, I think in part because info is hard to come by for Jadis.....it would be nice if Blue Bird would update their site to include this amp; as I mentioned above, the only reference to the JA30 is a MkIII version which must be older since it is only spec'd for KT120 output tubes. Prices would be nice also. Thanks, hope you get the MkII amps soon......
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......
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.
Kyomi, thanks, while vacationing in California I've had a chance to listen to the JA120.....what lovely beasts these are, dynamic, great tone and organic. If you are suggesting that the JA30's (with KT150's) are even 'better' than what I listened too (which were equipped with KT88 output tubes), then I need to hear them. Too bad I don't have a layover in Chicago on the way home......
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!
Nice! My curiosity is on alert. I live in Ne. and to do it right once I get ready I would just pack a 3 day weekend to come your way for a listen and bring my pair of older versions.
Are your comments based on KT150 tubes only? If so have you tried others?
Kyomi, please also let us know how it performs with rock/blues (does it do justice to guitar/drums/bass based bombast). Also could you specify how hard the Marten's are to drive......thanks.
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.
Hey Gwalt, please keep us posted if you get to Chicago for an audition. I think it would be fascinating if you are able to compare your JA30 with the new edition….perhaps be able to verify if the magic is still there along with improved power handling (I believe 45 or so watts with the KT150’s) and presumably better abilities in the frequency extremes. I plan to get up there too but it may take a few months.
Kyomi, I have, through the years, heard a wide spectrum of adjectives used to describe the bass response of various Jadis amps, from `propulsive’, to `detailed but bloated’, to `light’. I’ve been a bass guy ever since attending my 1st concert back in `67 (Vanilla Fudge, for those who remember) and love a detailed, punchy foundation - music does not sound right to me without those solid low frequencies (and I don’t mean overly `tight’ necessarily, as I don’t hear that in a live setting…..but not bloated either). Can you provide some insight as to how the new JA30 does in this regard?
Yes I would like to make that comparison in person and take my amps. with my tubes to check on both the new and old amp. I am not as particular to the sound of the KT150 on the new amp. as I am relative to some lesser powerful tubes but more pristine sound. I have a had great luck with the Winged C NOS 6L6GC and the new Psvanne WE Replica EL34's using Telefunken NOS as drivers. My speakers for driving are Living Voice 94DB OBX-RW's and therefore the KT150 is not necessary but it would be fun to hear what it does on that amp. compared to mine with less powerful tubes. I will let you know what I find out as this is the only way to really know.
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