CES 2014

I found the combination of Jadis and Spendor totally magical. It certainly flattered a CD of a Rossini String Symphony with the warm and special sound that made former Stereophile editor turned publicist Jonathan Scull salivate over Jadis products when they first reached the US from France two decades ago, and impelled me to buy the DA-7 amplifier, a later incarnation of the Defy 7 amp that J10 reviewed.

At the system's core were three brand new products from Jadis: the PA100 amplifier ($15,900), which replaces the Defy 7/DA-7, and features a new circuit design, upgraded components, point-to-point wiring (with much better wire than in the old Jadis products), and a new design that runs six 12AX7 tubes rather than the former twelve KT-88s, yet outputs more power at 150 watts; the PRE1 ($11,990), a line stage with point-to-point wiring that replaces the JPL preamp, and that can be ordered in either single-ended or balanced configurations (I heard balanced, which is what Jay Rein of Bluebird Music distribution prefers); and the JS2 Mk.III DAC ($6700), which boasts an entirely new design. Jadis also debuted the new Thalie turntable ($59,900) that Mikey explored in Bluebird Music's adjacent Chord/Estelon room.