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Review: Jade Audio Pure Solid Gold Interconnect

Category: Cables

Hi everyone. This is to tell you about a new line of interconnect cable built by J.D. MacRae of Jade Audio. And by the way, he is everything that a few other members have so eloquently articulated and then some. I have only had the pleasure of knowing JD for just a few months and without reservation say he is one of the nicest and kindest people on the face of this earth as well as a genius in building audio cable. Why ? First, he listens to you and what you have to say about his or any other cable. And second, he listens to his own cable with an ear that knows what sounds good and with an ear that is always looking for improvement. Which brings me to a time several months ago when I purchased a meter of JD's Hybrid interconnect. A very fine interconnect indeed and for those who already have a pair of these in your system and it is a good match with good synergy then take what I have to say with a grain of salt. If you already have good balance and synergy then you might already be "there".



Anyway, after 5-7 days of settling in (I don't think you can be totally objective in one day) I did not feel the Hybrid accomplished in my system what I was looking for. I needed more smoothness in the mid-range with even better timbrel accuracy that I had read that the Hybrid was famous for. So I called JD and he said he would see what he could cook up possibly in an all gold formulation. I told him to take his time as I did not want any undue pressure on him or time constraints in his experimenting as he is always battling a severe disability and needs a heart transplant. God bless him and I pray he gets one soon. Well, all I can say is the wait was worth it!



J.D. fabricated for me a new all gold cable (this one is different from the one previously reviewed years ago) that simply blows the socks off of any cable I have ever heard before. Now relax, I am not like some of you guys that have heard most of the other megabucks high-end cable out there. In fact, other than J.D.'s Hybrid the best interconnect cable I have ever tried doesn't retail for much more than $600. So please don't e-mail me asking if I have compared this cable with Purist, Kubala, Prana, ect. The answer is no. All I can say is compared to the Hybrid the all gold cable J.D. made me is everything the Hybrid was but better in every which way. For example better soundstaging and a smoother and richer tonal quality through every frequency range that came ever so close to my analog rig. I don't know how he did it but even with the all gold there was not one negative characteristic heard that is sometimes associated with this metal. Highs were there in spades but smooth as silk. Midrange was the richest, smoothest, and full of tonal color that I have ever heard in the digital realm. And bass, well, talk about tonal color it had the best and richest bass tones I have ever heard.



So, I really don't know what else to say about this great cable. As you can see I am not a professional reviewer. I just wanted to tell you guys J. D. is still producing new stuff and in the right system it's as good or maybe even better than his previous stuff. If you want the details about the construction or gauges of wire in this cable I'd rather you talk to J.D. himself at Jade Audio.



As for my system, I was running this wire from CD player (BAT VKD-5) to pre-amp (Sira Emotive Audio) connected to a pair of 300B monos with Cardas Golden Cross.

Associated gear
300B Monoblock Amplifiers
Emotive Audio pre-amp
BAT VKD-5
swinfrey

Showing 4 responses by jadem6

jadem6's avatar
jadem6
1,074 posts
 
The new all gold cable uses more gold in finer strands to achieve what I can say is as good a performing cable as I have ever heard. I can say with all sincerity, I believe it to be the most complete and balanced cable in the world. It is able to achieve a few things I did not know were possible. One particular surprise to me was the inner detail, texture and hues brought out in a simple bass note. What has always been the definition for me is a sharp leading edge, a bloom and scale and a gentle decay became a sharp leading edge, a bloom of energy, with inner texture and color that changes as the note decays. I discovered the string vibration does not just retain the exact same hue as the energy lessens, it reveals the actual textures.

I guess I am not sure how to phrase it. In Violins, the same textures are more detailed, as if it is almost a different recording. Brass is very sharp and biting, but not painful or biting. High frequencies open into an infinite effortless decay. All I can say is I was stunned, and I am not easily stunned, especially after all the cable development I have done. I simply do not believe there is a better cable available, not just in one aspect, but in every aspect. I know that is a bold statement, and I am sure I will regret thinking it, but…

This cable is available now, but will not officially be launched until after my heart transplant. I hope to introduce this and maybe a speaker cable that uses over seven ounces of 99.99% pure solid gold combined with gold plated silver wire this fall. I have some other designs in the works, we will see if they work out.

JD
Jade Audio, LLC
jadem6's avatar
jadem6
1,074 posts
 
Hi John,

Thanks for the great report; as usual you are articulate and thoughtful. More than any outcome regarding my cables, the friendship is priceless. Your system sounded so good I was amazed, and to think you kept my Lucinda disk, yea she is there not with me…

I came home with a much better understanding of what I had been doing after our tests, Funny that even I confused myself with the A (all 99.99% pure solid gold and platinum strands of wire in cotton dielectric using my patented design), B (all 99.99% pure solid gold), and C (all 99.99% pure solid gold and platinum) model, and forgot which one was which. Two additional experiments must now happen; again I would like to use Scott and you at your house. First I want to try the Bocchino B11 RCA connectors on the old Hybrid to see if that brings us close in clarity. It is possible we can save you and others a great deal of money. Secondly I spent the weekend testing the B (Reference Solid Gold) design with some different wire configurations, and think I surprised myself by adding an additional 26 gauge solid gold strand to the other six strands on the return. It will cost more, but I was impressed, the only question is how well it solved the high end extension issues.

This all makes me begin to wonder how much wire, if properly balanced between positive and return can be used before it is too much. I think it’s more an academic question than a functional one as cost will eventually out pace performance. To most folks, the cost of my solid gold and now platinum cables will indeed be beyond there pocketbooks, but if one is looking for the best possible…

Anyway, I think I am confident in the C cable design (to be names Reference Gold/Platinum Hybrid) and close to a final Reference Gold cable. The one decision I have made is Bocchino B11 will be the reference level connector, wait until you see the B2 RCA and the BAXLR, these are unbelievable. The B2 will be an option and the BAXLR the standard XLR connector.

My hope is to resolve the final small issues in the next 30 days and launch the new Jade Audio Reference Gold and Reference Gold/Platinum Hybrid interconnects along with the new Reference Hybrid speaker cable (with nearly seven ounces of pure solid gold plus gold plated silver wires) by mid September. If people are interested in ordering these ahead of time for a small discount, please contact me directly.

As for you John, thanks for your time, ears and above all friendship. You have been one of the big reasons I continue to wake up each day!

Jade MacRae
Jade Audio, LLC
jadem6's avatar
jadem6
1,074 posts
 
I just sent off a pair of Gold Reference with Bocchino B2 connectors. WOW are those amazing RCA's!!! They arrived today in the customers hands, I hope to hear from them soon, maybe they will write in to this review for insight.
jadem6's avatar
jadem6
1,074 posts
 
You got it, $1200 plus shipping from AUS, about $1300 when all is said and done. The dynamics, clarity and tonality are virtually perfect however. I will be using the B11 as my standard for my Reference line, which are $140 each, or $560 for a set of four, much more reasonable for nearly the same level of performance. Beyond this, they are fully screw set so they are great for DIY'er's.
http://www.bocchtech.com/bocchinoaudio/b11.htm
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