Reynaud Bliss Jubile vs Cantabile Jubile

Unfortunately Bob knows more about Reynaud speakers than anyone in North America and other than he and maybe a couple of dealers it is unlikely that anyone has listened to both speakers side by side. I have owned Reynaud speakers since 2002 and am currently on my fifth and six pair which are Bliss Jubilee’s and Abscisse Jubilee’s. The Bliss Jubilee is a great speaker and my favorite all time small monitor and I have owned a bunch of them including two previous Reynaud’s from the same family tree as the Bliss Jubilee. There is obviously no doubt just from looking at the two of them that the Cantabile is the superior speaker on several fronts. The larger cabinet and extra driver will give close to another octave of bass information just like my Abscisse’s do over the Bliss. Also the separated tweeter module is an improvement over the baffle mounted one and may in fact may be an upgraded driver. While Bob may in fact may be a dealer I have always found him to be honest and not try to upsell over what is appropriate with your system and room. I had a friend talk to him several months ago and he in fact attempted to talk him down a model due to his room, gear and stated preferences. Give him a call and see what he has to say. You can’t go wrong with either model but if you want or need the extra bass information you may find you need a pair of subs with the Bliss Jubilee though they need not be big expensive ones. I found a great pairing with the Bliss Jubilee’s and a pair of RSL Speedwoofers.

Other than the obvious difference in bass from the multiple drivers and longer transmission line the AMT tweeter in the Abscisse is definitely more detailed and extended but whether or not that is a good thing is personal.  In my experience and to my preference amps for the Abscisse need to be on the warm side of neutral.  The Bliss on the other hand is a more "forgiving" speaker that just gets out of the way and makes music so that you forget about the gear.  I owned four earlier Reynaud's designed by the current owners father and they were a different voicing than the son, who is a recording engineer, tends to use.  According to Bob and what I hear in the Bliss it and the Cantabile beckon back to the earlier days of Jean Marie Reynaud.  If you told me I could only keep one it would surprisingly to most people be the Bliss Jubilee.  If the Cantabile is more of the same you can't go wrong either way and the Cantabile appears that it would actually take up less room than the Bliss' and the Magic stands.   In a room that size the Bliss Jubilee might be the appropriate starting point but this is where a phone conversation with Bob could come in handy.

@analogj 

Congrats on the Cantabile Jubilee's I think you will be pleased.

@analogj 

Do keep us posted on your impressions

Be patient as I didn't find the "recommended" break-in time to be nearly enough with either the Abscisse or Bliss Jubiile"s.  If you said earlier I don't remember, but what is the rest of your gear and cables.  

@analogj 

The Eden's are a stand mount speaker with the tweeter below the bass driver and the Cantabile is a floor stander with the tweeter at the top of the cabinet.  How have you set up the Reynaud's in relation to the set up of the Eden's in relation to positioning in the room and to your listening position?  Also you need to take into account your seating height difference for the two speakers as it will be vastly different.  You may need to adjust the rake angle of the Reyanud's either forward or backwards to get you in line with the driver positioning difference.  If you have an adjustable height office chair somewhere in the house try it to determine the correct seating height.  

More break-in could certainly help but I have never noticed this with any Reynaud speaker utilizing their dome tweeters.  Simple thing to try it to raise the spikes on the fronts and then the backs of the speaker and see if a slight tilt up or down might eliminate what you're hearing as a "shouty" quality.  You are used to having the tweeter below your ears so in effect tilting the speaker so that they are either below or above might help and worth a try.  Other obvious thing is to try sitting on a pillow and see what effect that has by raising you up.  Don't know how far you had the Eden's from the back wall but with the Cantabile's front port you could try backing them up a little at a time and see what effect changing the angle this way has. 

Depending on the vintage the Sylvania 6 volt tubes can be pretty forward and could have much more affect than  changing out speaker cables.  Mullard's would of course tone it down but expensive.  An alternative to them are Matsushita for less. Andy at Vintage Tube Services has them in stock. One speaker cable that will help tone the top end down for not a lot of money is the Dueland 12 gauge dual cable from Parts Connexion.  Add the connectors of your choice or as they recommend use bare wire. It's what I use with the Abscisse Jubile after trying four others.  Glad you found out that tilting them worked. 

Yeah they might have been a bit much for Reynaud's from the Twins and Trente era but do just fine with the Abscisse and Bliss Jubilee.  

RCA's too a good suggestion but not the Clear Tops as they are a different bred to my ears from the Black Plates which are a bit more. 

Try the other direction, higher in the back with the fronts all the way in.