JADIS I-70 Tubes Integrated Amplifier

JADIS’ André Calmettes‘ Lasting Passion.

André Calmettes started making tube amplifiers and received praises,…’unanimously considered superior quality as compared to the best amplifiers at that time, from the audiophile community before he even started the JADIS company in 1983.

One of the main key reason of his many praises and successes in designing and making tube amplifiers was his own recipe in making/ winding dedicated output transformer(s) for dedicated power tube(s),…insisted that they be wound by hand,…and then special resin be poured into each transformer,…’guaranteeing maximum soundproofing and thermal stability‘.

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Thus, he found his transformers to have amazing power and specifications: ‘the maximum acceptable power is 2500 W before saturation‘. ‘Being the only ones in the world which respect these specifications, the JADIS amplifiers give fantastic dynamics as much in the bass tones as in the higher trebles. They present a total lack of coloration, and most of them work in pure class-A.
For these reasons, it constitutes the ideal amplification system for all acoustic speakers, whatever the impedance curve, the type of functioning, or the efficiency may be’.

That still hold true to this day by his son, Jean-Christophe Calmettes whom heads the JADIS company, and behind each current model of JADIS.

(‘the above was taken from the website‘)

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Third Personal Encounter with JADIS.

Eversince my foot stepped into High End Audio at the very early ‘92, I have heard of the brand name, JADIS from France, and that they made (still make) huge size tube amplifiers. Unfortunately at that time, I did not get to experience them. I remembered my first [1st] pleasant encounter with JADIS products was with their JD1 DRIVE CD Transport (with separate power supply…discontinued), that a closed friend of mine bought it from REFERENCE AUDIO SINGAPORE.

Fast forwarded to 2020, REFERENCE AUDIO SINGAPORE‘s (YY SOUND SYSTEM [MALAYSIA] SDN BHD‘s) TK Han and Jean-Christophe Calmettes visited my audio den,…in hand with them, the JADIS JP500 SE Tube Linestage/ Preamplifier (review available at analoguefellowship.com),…it was an ear-opening experience, to say the least [2nd encounter]

Then came the JADIS I-70 Tube Integrated Amplifier into my audio system for review could be considered my third [3rd] personal encounter with their products.

KT 170 and all its glows.

KT170 New Tube on the Block.

The KT 170 was the latest modern power tube available. To utilised such tube, the amplifier in questioned required a redesigned output transformers (‘each particular design of output transformer is required to suit the characteristic of each type of power tube‘). JADIS being the ‘maker of their own transformers‘ could easily be up to that task. That they did and launched the JADIS I-70 (retail around €13,000), the first tube integrated amplifier that utilised four [4 x] KT 170 power tubes that able to output 50W in pure class A.

Throughout the review, I connected the MARANTZ KI PEARL LITE SA/CD Player as a source to the JADIS I-70 Tube Integrated Amplifier, and which in turn was connected to the GENESIS Series 7 Minuet loudspeakers (US$10,000 per pair, review available at analoguefellowship.com), with the SKOGRAND CABLES’ SILVERSPINE Flagship Speaker Cables (review in the work).

SKOGRAND CABLES SILVERSPINE in action!

Upon First Hearing, I Exclaimed,…

‘What Big Sound-scape! and Big Sound-stage! ‘,…from a 50 Watter tube integrated amplifier? That sound-scape and sound-stage covered the entire front wall, and all the spaces behind and above the Minuet loudspeakers ,…in other word, the JADIS I-70 just made the Minuet loudspeakers sounded like ‘Big Speakers‘ that disappeared into a Big Sound Presentation!

(Came to think about it) I was literally impressed especially compared to the fact that I just listened to the same Minuet loudspeakers powered by my VITUS AUDIO Masterpiece MPM-201 AF Mono Amplifier. Since I knew my amplifiers, I would not suspect any inadequeacy,…but (instead) am impressed with the JADIS I-70‘s delivery, power and/or the Minuet loudspeakers‘ provened ease to drive.

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The JADIS I-70 managed to present the delicateness and uniqueness of Ms.Anne-Sophie Mutter‘s rendition of the track, ‘Schindler’s List‘ (album ‘Across The Stars‘),…the slightest nuance of pressure applied to the strings, the nuances of each string’s vibration, and the control of each note’s tempo and duration.

In other word, the JADIS I-70 was transparent enough to present the slightest nuance of a note and the layers of a tone of an instrument.

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I have enjoyed and familiarised myself with Ms. Nah Youn Sun‘s voiceation for some times. I could easily recognised her voice and singing, whether be it digital or analogue,…whether through solid state or tube electronics. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the JADIS I-70 presentation of her voice and singing (album ‘Lento‘). I was used to her ‘slight authoritative voice to punctuate a word‘,…however, through the JADIS I-70, I found that slight authoritative voice to be ever so slightly ‘toned down‘, and in its stead, I was treated with a more ‘fleshed out’ lips expressions,…and she sounded more rounded and dimensional.

Here, the main question was never whether the JADIS I-70 presented her voice/ singing more accurately than through other electronics, but was whether the presentation more ‘likeable‘? In term of accuracy to the actual recording, I could never verify for obvious reason. However, through the JADIS I-70, I could hear and feel the intimacy, presence and detail of the artist and her singing/ performance,…therefore, I felt my answer to that question was ‘more than likeable‘,…my feeling/ heart to that should be ‘more enjoyable‘.

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Similarly, I could say that Ms.Elles Springs (album ‘Reveal‘) sounded more forward, a float and intimate. That allowed minute details of her voiceation to be more upfront, weighted and almost tangible. The imaging of the artist in question may not be on par with the very definition of delineation and articulation.

Instead, I could hear and sense a layer of airbehind and around‘ the image of the artist, as if there was a very subtle ambient cues,…the kind in unplugged performance.

Similarly, I did notice that the JADIS I-70 was transparent to the detail of an atmosphere and spaciousness of the ‘recording venue‘, thus allowed the listener to experience, to a certain extent of being involved in the ‘recording session‘.

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Here, or at any well recorded ‘orchestra‘ presentation, I noticed the JADIS I-70 was so capable of presenting the Big Sound-scape, and the Big Sound-stage that was suppossedly the (imagery) ‘scale’ of an orchestra. Within that Big Sound Presentation, there was separation, distance and air between the groups of performers, especially apparent at track 3, ‘Carmen Suite‘s La Garde Montante‘. In addition, the aboves sustained the grand illusion of the breath (width), height and depth of the philharmonic/ recording venue involved.

That grand illusion was also being sustained by enough dynamicslam at the mid to lower end of the audible bandwidth,…which to me, I did not feel being short-change,…as evident at the final ‘Overturetracks 16 and 17.

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Whenever I played ‘Tea For Two Cha Chas‘, my late mother would surely smile…(maybe) reminded her of her good times with my late father. How I wish they would be here to hear the tunes with me again…(of course) with the JADIS I-70 connected to the Minuet loudspeakers.

The JADIS I-70 was able to present the modern sound that was detail, quiet and fast (for a tube based amplifier), and yet has the alluring dimensional, plush and enveloping sound-scape and sound-stage that reminded me of the ‘vintage-hype‘.

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After playing track 16, ‘Golden Spear Steel Horse‘ (from the album ‘Dancing with Drums‘), all my reservations (if any) in regard to the JADIS I-70’s power and delivery would be laid to rest. It has the power to deliver those BIG KODO DRUMS with aplomb, scale, dimension, energy and (yet with) refinement. Even as the passage became more demanding, not an instance the JADIS I-70 lost control and order of the presentation.

JADIS I-70 powered the GENESIS S7 Minuet Loudspeakers.

HIGH END BARGAIN!

I found the JADIS I-70 Tube Integrated Amplifier to be the very definition of the followings:-

  1. Big Sound Presentation with big sound-scape and sound-stage,
  2. Power and Delivery,…maintain control and order even at ‘demanding passages’,
  3. Detail to the slightest nuance at note, tone, voice, air, atmosphere, space,
  4. Quiet and Fast (‘Modern Sound‘), and yet dimensional, plush and enveloping (‘Vintage-Hype’), and
  5. No short-change of Bass and Dynamic-Slam,

and when coupled with a pair of loudspeakers such as the GENESIS Series 7 Minuet loudspeakers and a simple source component, one should be enjoying the sound quality of true High-End Audio!…

…thus a HIGH END BARGAIN!