Review: Jade Audio Ultimate MoonTails Interconnect
Category: Cables
Jade Audio Ultimate MoonTails - Sending all cable developers back to the drawing board.
The standard MoonTails have been favourably reviewed by hi-fi reviewers all over the world. They all agreed that for a mere $550 they are extremely musical and affordable. Those rave reviews led JD, the big boss at Jade Audio, to develop the Ultimate MoonTails.
I am pleased to say that the first pair made were sent to me. While the standard MoonTails are equipped with Furutech RCA connectors, the Ultimate MoonTails are equipped with Bocchino Technologies Majestic RCA connectors. The Ultimate MoonTails are a bit thicker than their sibling and a lot heavier. The Bocchinos are no lightweight connectors and they do make the Ultimates look aesthetically appealing. Their price? A sensible $1200. But how do they sound?
Well, when I first heard them I was quite over the… err… moon. They sound astonishingly musical. A pair of interconnects of that price doesn’t have the right to sound like that. I just couldn’t believe my ears. They sounded quite good right from the start, a deep and tight bass, a glorious midrange, a very huge soundstage. The upper highs were a bit subdued. Give them about 48 hours or more to sound their best. Then just let them carry you away on a musical journey.
I started out with jazz and did the Ultimates deliver! On Melanie De Biasio’s CD “No Deal”, the portrayal of Melanie’s voice was uncanny. The track “With all my love” starts with a few a-cappella lines and there was this inky blackness in the background. The standard MoonTails are noisier, not much, but the Ultimates are quiet. Loreena McKennitt’s “The Wind That Shakes The Barley” fared very well too. “The Parting Glass” has so much air surrounding her voice and the instruments that when I closed my eyes I felt like I was experiencing a live concert. It was all there, the airiness and atmosphere. Fernando Saunders plays a mean bass guitar on his CD “Happiness” and those bass lines were very tight, certainly not boomy and could be felt as well as heard. Mind you, all this on my modest monitor loudspeakers!
Up to classical. The standard MoonTails had no shortcomings within their price class, but I found them a bit thin on classical music, especially after hearing the Ultimates. I love the sound of NOS tubes and had the Mullard EL34s installed. The church organ reached very deep, although not as deep as I had anticipated. The Stradivari of Arturo Delmoni on “Songs My Mother Taught Me” filled the air with a whimsical sound. By now I was very impressed.
Then another listening session followed. I had swapped the Mullards for NOS Gold Lion KT77 tubes. Tried the classical tracks again and this time the church organ went deep, very deep. My little loudspeakers produced all but the utmost lowest notes.
The Ultimate MoonTails have a way with voices. If the standard MoonTails placed the voices somewhere in the middle of the soundstage, the Ultimates pushed them forward, right in front of the microphone so to speak. Frances Bogart White’s “Whisper Rap” is my reference. Try a dozen different cables and they all have another sonic signature. On the “Midnite Wire Twister” that eerie feeling crept up on me, sent shivers up and down my spine. I don’t usually get that feeling, certainly not during such warm summer days.
I kept putting on CD after CD, the room temperature was rising and the sound got better and better. The Ultimate MoonTails are the best I have ever had in my system. They sound just right, they don’t add anything to the music nor do they leave anything out. Background voices can come from behind the loudspeakers, just pop up somewhere in the soundstage to quickly disappear again. The Ultimate MoonTails excel in that. These stellar performers were the only ones to produce the real sound of the trumpets on Ry Cooder’s “El Corrido De Jesse James” track on “Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down”. Jennifer Warnes’ interpretation of “Invitation To The Blues” just sounded breathtakingly beautiful. “The Well” is one of my favourite CDs and I always use it during listening sessions.
I could go on and on about this, but I think you get the picture by now that the Ultimate MoonTails are quite superb. Unlike any other interconnects I heard. At $1200 they are even more of a bargain than the standard MoonTails. The Ultimate MoonTails come very highly recommended and if you are looking for a pair of interconnect cables, look no further and give them a demo. I bet you fork out that $1200 without hesitation. They really are that good!
Associated gear
Quicksilver Audio tube amplification
Audio Synthesis Passion passive controller
Audio Synthesis Transcend Decade CD-transport
Audio Synthesis DAX-2 d/a converter
TDL Chiltern loudspeakers
MG Audio Planus loudspeaker cables
Audio Synthesis digital cable
Jade Audio Gold cable
Jade Audio Ultimate MoonTails interconnects
Jade Audio Ultimate MoonTails - Sending all cable developers back to the drawing board.
The standard MoonTails have been favourably reviewed by hi-fi reviewers all over the world. They all agreed that for a mere $550 they are extremely musical and affordable. Those rave reviews led JD, the big boss at Jade Audio, to develop the Ultimate MoonTails.
I am pleased to say that the first pair made were sent to me. While the standard MoonTails are equipped with Furutech RCA connectors, the Ultimate MoonTails are equipped with Bocchino Technologies Majestic RCA connectors. The Ultimate MoonTails are a bit thicker than their sibling and a lot heavier. The Bocchinos are no lightweight connectors and they do make the Ultimates look aesthetically appealing. Their price? A sensible $1200. But how do they sound?
Well, when I first heard them I was quite over the… err… moon. They sound astonishingly musical. A pair of interconnects of that price doesn’t have the right to sound like that. I just couldn’t believe my ears. They sounded quite good right from the start, a deep and tight bass, a glorious midrange, a very huge soundstage. The upper highs were a bit subdued. Give them about 48 hours or more to sound their best. Then just let them carry you away on a musical journey.
I started out with jazz and did the Ultimates deliver! On Melanie De Biasio’s CD “No Deal”, the portrayal of Melanie’s voice was uncanny. The track “With all my love” starts with a few a-cappella lines and there was this inky blackness in the background. The standard MoonTails are noisier, not much, but the Ultimates are quiet. Loreena McKennitt’s “The Wind That Shakes The Barley” fared very well too. “The Parting Glass” has so much air surrounding her voice and the instruments that when I closed my eyes I felt like I was experiencing a live concert. It was all there, the airiness and atmosphere. Fernando Saunders plays a mean bass guitar on his CD “Happiness” and those bass lines were very tight, certainly not boomy and could be felt as well as heard. Mind you, all this on my modest monitor loudspeakers!
Up to classical. The standard MoonTails had no shortcomings within their price class, but I found them a bit thin on classical music, especially after hearing the Ultimates. I love the sound of NOS tubes and had the Mullard EL34s installed. The church organ reached very deep, although not as deep as I had anticipated. The Stradivari of Arturo Delmoni on “Songs My Mother Taught Me” filled the air with a whimsical sound. By now I was very impressed.
Then another listening session followed. I had swapped the Mullards for NOS Gold Lion KT77 tubes. Tried the classical tracks again and this time the church organ went deep, very deep. My little loudspeakers produced all but the utmost lowest notes.
The Ultimate MoonTails have a way with voices. If the standard MoonTails placed the voices somewhere in the middle of the soundstage, the Ultimates pushed them forward, right in front of the microphone so to speak. Frances Bogart White’s “Whisper Rap” is my reference. Try a dozen different cables and they all have another sonic signature. On the “Midnite Wire Twister” that eerie feeling crept up on me, sent shivers up and down my spine. I don’t usually get that feeling, certainly not during such warm summer days.
I kept putting on CD after CD, the room temperature was rising and the sound got better and better. The Ultimate MoonTails are the best I have ever had in my system. They sound just right, they don’t add anything to the music nor do they leave anything out. Background voices can come from behind the loudspeakers, just pop up somewhere in the soundstage to quickly disappear again. The Ultimate MoonTails excel in that. These stellar performers were the only ones to produce the real sound of the trumpets on Ry Cooder’s “El Corrido De Jesse James” track on “Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down”. Jennifer Warnes’ interpretation of “Invitation To The Blues” just sounded breathtakingly beautiful. “The Well” is one of my favourite CDs and I always use it during listening sessions.
I could go on and on about this, but I think you get the picture by now that the Ultimate MoonTails are quite superb. Unlike any other interconnects I heard. At $1200 they are even more of a bargain than the standard MoonTails. The Ultimate MoonTails come very highly recommended and if you are looking for a pair of interconnect cables, look no further and give them a demo. I bet you fork out that $1200 without hesitation. They really are that good!
Associated gear
Quicksilver Audio tube amplification
Audio Synthesis Passion passive controller
Audio Synthesis Transcend Decade CD-transport
Audio Synthesis DAX-2 d/a converter
TDL Chiltern loudspeakers
MG Audio Planus loudspeaker cables
Audio Synthesis digital cable
Jade Audio Gold cable
Jade Audio Ultimate MoonTails interconnects
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