Sweet midrange liquid highs powerful tight bass

not one that I can think of

First of all, this amp is gorgeous. It exudes Old World Class that I have not seen in any other amp at any price - absolutely stunning. The build quality of this amp is fantastic - point to point wiring - industrial grade KT90 tubes - hand wound transformers with power handling capabilities far exceeding the needs of the amp. Integrated passive pre-amp - thus no need for one more interconnect. Passive tone controls that really work well with no degedation of sound when used. I have a degree in Music from Berklee in Boston and I actually know what live instruments and voices sound like - this amp does it better than any I have ever heard - period. I have had many amplifiers over the years - some very good - Van Alstine, Dynaco tube, Passion Tube, Antique Sound Lab, I even built one from scratch in the 60's right out of the RCA tube manual. Let me make this clear - this is the best amp I have ever heard at any price. The mid-range is so clear and sweet it will bring tears to your eyes. The bandwidth is so wide - the sound so "real" - that my cat (who never even noticed my stereos before) now keeps looking to see who is there. I listen to most types of music, but my preference is Jazz with some classical and Rock thrown in. Diana Krall and Patricia Barber will knock your socks off. With a well recorded Rock or Reggai cut this amp demonstrates great bass punch and slam with control. Unbelievable sound stage, clarity, depth, silky smooth highs, midrange to die for and tight bass that allows you to hear the rosin on the strings and the wood of the bass. No kidding I am running this amp through a pair of Spendor S8's - a terrific match. What ever is on the cd comes out. This amp puts out 55 watts of tube power which seems like 200 solid state watts. Both types of speakers, Snell E's and Spendor S8's, that I have used with this amp are 90 db efficient ( half volume on the amp is very very loud)I imagine it will drive most reasonably efficient speakers. At my usual listening level it sounds like it is in Class A most of the time. Frank Garbie at Northstar was very helpful - he may have some of these amps left - these are a bargain at list price ($3495) - a steal at anything less.

Similar Products Used:

see above

Nearly all as I mentioned above

At this price point none

I own Jadis Orchestra Reference and as an audio entusiast too many components came and gone from my home and this one stayed. I really enjoy to listen to this amp. First of all if you are a tube entusiast (or not also) you have to hear those; Jadis has the attack that usually many tube amps doesn't have, have solid bass control and little emphasise on mids and highs region; thats who could look at when purchasing a tube amp. This one has it all and at the performance that offers it's very modestly priced. Has too many good features like deteachable power cord, hand wired transformers, point to point internal wiring, tone controls (usually many audiophiles aware of that I don't know why), nice fancy looks, accepts nearly all types of tubes etc. etc. most of all it sounds fantastic. I similary compared head to head many amplifiers but this one is really special. I drives my Talon Ravens with autority. My associated equipments are: Theta Data BasicII Transport Theta GenV DAC Monster Sigma2 Speaker cables Illuminations Da60 digital cable Nordost Red Dawn interconnect Talon Raven Speakers

Similar Products Used:

Denon POA2200, Bryston ST3B, Krell Kav300i, Master Sound 845 parallel SE, Orchesta

Can't believe Jadis can price it so low. Incredible bass, huge soundstage and transparent sound.

Tricky bias(?).

This is a gem of a valve amp. Everything sounds good on it, although I can imagine piano and voices are even sweeter with SET. Will drive almost all real world speakers. Tone controls are nice when facing bad recordings.

Similar Products Used:

Arc cav 50, Unison Research S8, Jeff R Concentra, Krell kav300il

Strong reference of stringed instrument.
Clear vividness in wind instrument.

Slowness.

This is a reall good amp. One of the most lovely stringed and wind instrumental sound I've ever heard. I enjoy it with B&W and Arcam stuff. It may have trouble to move low sensitivity under 85db. It also take some time to drift in the air its really good sound This is the all tubes' problem. This is a great bargain for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Krell 300i, Unison Research 845, Anthem Integrated 2

Some History:
Over the past 4 years, I've had a series of upgrades to my music system. The key challenge for me was to put together a musically satisfying system at a reasonable cost...after all, I have a family to support and I don’t have a fat bank account :-)

System #1: The $3K solid-state combo.
The first ‘audiophile’ system I put together was a solid-state Acurus RL-11 pre-amp and the Acurus A250 (rated at 250wpc) driving a pair of B&W CDM1 monitor speakers. I would rate this system 3.5 stars - good with R&B and some jazz. However, I found this system fatiguing and bright in my room. I sold this system less than a year later.

System #2: Tubed! at $2.5K
My first tube amp (integrated) was the Jolida SJ302A paired with a NOS (New Old Stock) EPOS ES14. Clearly a notch higher in musicality over the Acurus. The EL34-based Jolida was a sweet sounding amp and great with jazz, vocals, and light classical. The EPOS speakers were very neutral and revealing and were a perfect match to the Jolida. This combo is clearly 4 stars -- I found the bass a bit soft and sounded a bit ‘confused’ on complex orchestral pieces. I had this system for 3 years until, I finally moved on to...

System #3: The Combo-2-Die-4! at $4.5K (August 1999)

The new Jadis Orchestra Reference (with the big KT90 tubes) paired with the Sonus faber Concerto.

The REVIEW:

Using the old Epos but replacing the Jolida with the Jadis Orchestra Reference easily revealed the weaknesses of the older amp. The Jadis was more dynamic, with tighter bass, it simply had better control on the music. It threw a wider and deeper soundstage and made it easy to isolate the instruments. Whether it was a CD or LP I was playing, I noticed more musical information being presented. It had the clarity I did not get with the previous system -- this made me quite uncomfortable with the sound. I realized the Jadis was simply presenting the music as it was recorded in the CD or LP with all its imperfections. I found the sound a bit analytical, and frankly was less engaging as the Jolida. I thought the Jadis-Epos combo was simply not a good match.

The Sonus faber came highly recommended by Net-friends and other audiophiles in various newsgroups. I loaned a Concerto for auditioning at home, and on day 3, with barely 50 hours of break-in, I decided it was not leaving my room. Simply, no way! This was a combination to die for – extremely musical, natural and engaging – a clear 5 stars. It easily beats any system I’ve heard at the same price point, perhaps even some costing twice as much.

On Jazz, the saxophone has a fuller, natural sound; and the piano sounds just so realistic. On well-recorded LPs, Jazz musicians just come alive in my room, it was easy to get ‘lost in the music’. On vocals, whether I play some Ella’s or Patricia Barber’s, the sound was very seductive, I could feel all the emotion in the music. Classical pieces are likewise very enjoyable, it just fills the room with so much music with all its grandeur, it could be intoxicating (!). The violins sound sooo sweet, liquid and distinct.

This is my third audio system in 4 years and probably my last for quite some time – perhaps another 4 more years? I’m glad I discovered this combo - extremely musical and engaging. I find myself spending more time listening and importantly enjoying the music! It has completely changed my listening habits: I now enjoy CDs more than ever (but my Analog system still beats Digital!) and I can stay on for 6 hours without feeling any fatigue!

The rest of my gear:
DIGITAL -- NAD CDP connected to a Margules Magenta ADE-24 (Analog/Digital Enhancer)
ANALOG – Michell Mycro turntable/RB300/Grado into a Lehmann Black Cube phono-preamp
CABLES – van den Hul interconnects; Tara Labs RSC speaker cables (bi-wire)
UPGRADES coming – MSB Link DAC, Grado Reference Platinum, REL Strata III
MUSIC – Jazz (Monk, Contrane, Miles, Ella, Rollins, Evans, etc.) LPs and CDs, female vocals, classical

Sound is clear, smooth and beautiful

No

Jadis Orchestra Reference
Tannoy Edinburgh
Harmonic Interconnect
Goertz (Alpha Core) Speaker Cables
Sony Super Audio CD (SCD)

The Mix is very good

Similar Products Used:

Jadis orchestra

Very quiet , smooth and details. Robust and beautifully built

A little lacking in bass tightness and speed

I bought this Orchestra ref to replace my AudioLAb 8000S workhorse . The impact was so obvious that even my wife can notice it . The soundstage is so much open up , fuller in details and it certainly sound like liquid honey when I played vocal disc ( Good recording like Chesky's Rebecca Pidgeon's Raven, though the bass for Spanish harlem is a little slow and less pronouce and FXCD 'Silje'). The background is dead quiet . I tried listening to the 8000S at the speaker with no disc and volume set at max , i hear some noise BUT with this Jadis , it is completely silent !

I listen mostly to vocal and classical and some easy listening titles. I am very impressed with the texture that this amp produce. It is very musical and sweet.

Beside the sound ,the looks is gorgeous ! The build quality is excellent with point-to-point solder ( only one small PCB ) the rest are all point topoint solder. The terminals are beautifully crafted though it does not provide additional binding posts for bi-wiring , but anyway I biwired them together.

I partner the amp with my Sonus Faber Minima Amator, this is really a match made in heaven, the Italian and French are equally romantic and they sing in great harmony !

In summary, I love this tube amp . It is one of the very affordable amp and surely it is worth the little extra . I would strongly recommend this amp for stand mount speaker in small listening room setting .

My system :
Marantz 63MKII-KI
MF X-10 D Line Buffer
Kimber Silver Streak I/C
Cable Talk Studio 2 I/C
Kimber 4TC Biwire
Audioprism quietline filter.

(Considering upgrade the front end and cable when I've more $$)

Glorious sound. Best bass and power of any tube integrated. Warm, natural timbre. Passive preamp section. Tone controls. Buying an integrated amp eliminates the need of costly interconnects(which must be at least as good as the products they are being used with), and the difficulty of matching preamp, interconnect, and power amplifier. Most beautiful integrated amplifier, period.

Finish is hard to keep looking new. Ei KT90 tube factory destroyed in NATO bombing in Yugoslavia(amp can use 6550/KT88 and even EL34/6CA7).

If you are at all in the market for an integrated tube amplifier at this price point or higher, BUY THIS PRODUCT!!!

BUILD: Extremely heavy and solidly built. MASSIVE transformers(bigger than anyone elses), the heart, soul, and where the $$$ is of any tube amplifier. In addition, the transformers are hand wound using OFC copper(see who else does that for less than $10k). Hard wired, providing much better sound than printed circuit boards. KT90 output tubes. The tubes everyone who uses 6550/KT88 are switching to. Awesome power and bass response, the largest non -triode output tube. Very high capacitance, which coupled with the transformers and KT90, provide incredible bass response. Passive preamp section, quiter than other tube preamp/preamp sections. Tone controls, included in this model to test the waters for interest. It's nice to see someone challenging what is portrayed as law. With the passive preamp, the tone controls do not degrade the sound whatsoever. Detachable power cord. Highest quality binding posts/input jacks. Most beautiful integrated amplifier of all the well known brands. You MUST see the picture(ad in The Absolute Sound). Stainless steel, 24K gold over brass, and real wood.

SOUND: Spectacular. The BEST tube integrated out there! I spent over a year and a half auditioning as many products as I could find. I came to the conclusion long ago that tube amplifiers sound better and more real to me than solid state. I auditioned ALL of the tube integrateds. The Jadis Orchestra Reference was the best sounding(from top to bottom), most powerful of the bunch. Absolutely without peer at its overall combination; ability to handle real world loudspeakers, power, bass response, silence, tonal balance, shading, etc. The presence of both human voice and instruments is astonishing. The realness of sound of single ended triode amps, combined with being the most powerful push pull pentode amp. Solid state amps? Just a completely different sound, better to my ears. More natural, warm, lush, non - fatiguing, REAL. More natural sounding than Quicksilver, VAC Avatar, and VTL IT-85. Power the C - J amps only wished for. A quantum league up in sound compared to Golden Tube, Jolida, and Rogue.

The sound, like any tube amp can be altered by a change in tube brand or type. The amp is not as warm as some(C-J), but can be easily made warmer by a switch in tube type. The amp will accept 6550/KT88, and also EL34/6CA7 tubes. So, the product can be easily altered to suit the owner's taste.

After 6 months of use, I installed a solid silver power cord. This addition wrested even greater performance from an amp that was the best in the first place.

There are no words that can take the place of an honest audition. I believe that anyone interest in a new amplifier at least go to listen to this. Better sound would be almost impossible to find.

This amplifier will drive most loudspeakers out there. While it will sound beautiful with many loudspeakers, mating it with a speaker on the level of this amp will do nothing but produce better sound.

Similar Products Used:

Tube integrated: Cary, Conrad - Johnson, Golden Tube, Jolida, VAC, VTL.
Tube: Cary, Quicksilver, Rogue, VAC, VTL
Solid State integrated: Audio Refinement by YBA, Bryston, Classe, Creek, Electrocompaniet, Krell, Mark Levinson.
Solid State: Bryston, Classe, Krell, Mark Levinson, Jeff Rowland Design Group, YBA