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Jadis JA-80: Tubes and speakers.

I am sorry to have to raise old issues here but I am looking for some updated information. 
I just bought Jadis JA80 circa 2000. It came with the GE 6550 but I changed the tubes for KT-120 (authorized by Jadis).
The ECC83 and ECC82 are Telefunken.  
Still, I don't feel in audio heaven. (preamp is JPL). 
I was thinking of trying other tubes like JJ EL34L. I was wondering if anybody compared the El34 variety to the KT variety on the JA80. 
The speakers I have are ESP Bohdran (92 db) but I feel the match is not perfect. (I also have Luxman M900U which sounds much better with the ESP, although it lacks that 'tube magic').
The main complaint I have is in the mid-bass (too bloated), and not enough dynamics.  
So any suggestions for tubes and speakers for the JA-80? 
Thanks.  
taviran
6 responses Add your response
jond's avatar
jond
3,400 posts
 
Having not heard your amp specifically generally speaking going to an EL34 tube from a KT-120 will give you a richer warmer sound. However it won't, nor would any tube change, rid you of the bloated mid-bass or lack of dynamics.


A higher sensitivity speaker that's easier to drive might do the trick and there are quite a few threads on that subject in the archives. A few notable brands would be Audio Note, Devore, and various horn speakers, Klipsch, Charney, Volti, and various others.

There are definitely a few Jadis fanboys on here, hopefully someone will chime in with more specific advice.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
2,766 posts
 
Did you try your speakers on the different impedance taps on the amp?   The EL34 tubes will give a richer and thicker midrange.  I am not a fan of the KT120 tubes as I feel they impart a bit of grainyness into the sound.  I would go with the Gold Lion KT77 tubes. 
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
1,174 posts
 
Interesting that Jadis authorized the use of the KT120 in your amp, I would not have thought they would do that...
Nonetheless, I think the sound you are laying at the amps door is probably not the amps fault. As Jond stated above, it sounds like you have a classic mismatch of amp to speaker. So many folks just buy amps and plunk them down in front of their speakers without considering the all important synergy between the two. Unfortunately, this hobby doesn’t reward mismatches...and you are experiencing an amp/ speaker mismatch, imho. I guess you didn’t have the opportunity or desire to listen to this pairing before acquiring the Jadis.
rhljazz
1,117 posts
 
Change the preamp.  JPL is like chocolate syrup.
taviran OP
16 posts
 
Thanks for all the responses. rhljaz, I did try another preamp, the Luxman C900u. To my ears The JA80 sounded better with the JPL.
About speaker synergy, I also tried another modern speaker, the results were somewhat better but not what I was looking for. I will continue to experiment. 
Thanks. 
taviran OP
16 posts
 
One last note to put the record straight. it turns out the problem I had with the Jadis was just tube matching. After measuring the tubes (KT-120) and matching them properly, it now works perfectly: no problem of bloated bass or speakers matching. It just sounds marvellous. Again, thanks for all the responses.     
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