So far, no comments on using Jade as a gain stage in a speaker system. No one else has tried this?

Thanks! i will check. The CCS with Alexis Corner LP om Vertigo sounds good - thank you. Even the C flute (that I play) is well recorded (e g on Satisfaction). I have good Mayall LPs from this period, but was not aware of this - although I have other well recorded Vertigo LPs - so thank you.

Thanks! And CCS means?

Dear @Joe Lau, @MDR30 (and others) Here is a question for you. Over the years, I have found that Jade can do a good job, in two roles. The first is the 'intended' role as headphone amp. The second is an 'additional' role as gain stage in small speaker systems. It can help in this role also. I...

Dear Joseph Lau - welcome back to the thread! MDR30 - I am very impressed! And very interested in the plusses and minuses of this new version, vs the original Jade. I see two output transformers. Is this no longer an OTL? Or a kind of hybrid? (sorry for my dumb amateur questions). A note: When...

Testing Audiotailor GK 1-J with balanced cable to Audioquest Nighthawk headphones (25 ohm). This small portable s-state amp sounds remarkably similar to Jade, with more deep bass (on low ohm headphones), although not quite as delicate as Jade (with good tubes) in the higher frequency spectrum...

Why I like Jade It has no AI It has no DAC It is not multipurpose It does not try to achieve a lot of things at once It has only one focus; the best possible gain stage, for analog sound It does this in a minimalist way - just two tubes, no output transformer It offers balanced (or similar to...

I can add that a balanced cable is well worth it, for example the low cost twisted silver plated cable to ca 40 euro from amazon (link below). To my surprise, this cable does not perform much worse than the stock Audioquest owl and hawk cables, instead, the sonics are quite even. And in...

I have posted a brief review of the Nightowl and Nighthawk with the Audiotailor GK 1-J headphone amp. In another thread at this forum. Dont know how to give a quick link to this, but look up review-audiotailor-“jade”-vacuum-tube-headphone-amplifier, post 976 - 977. The GK is a small, portable...

Audiotailor GK 1-J

GK 1-J revisited This is the small portable s-state version of the Jade. Not quite as refined as Jade, but better in some respects, especially bass on low impedance headphones, according to designer hz_joe. Some years since I tested it, with AKG 701 headphones (62 ohm). Now I am testing with...

Updated version - very interesting! I use RCA 6as7g coke bottle as output and Tele 12ax7 as driver tube. But new tubes are also ok. For me, a main thing is to remember to turn the Jade off, so as not to eat tube life.

I am listening to World Party; Arkeology. this is the type of sound where the owls/hawks come to the rescue. Less annoying hard treble and digital distortion. Easier to focus on the musical message.

yrstruly wrote "Very 3D staging and beautiful mids". Well said. The 3D staging is certainly enhanced with balanced cable. And the beautiful mids. Overall timbre and tonality improve. This goes for the Owls as much as the Hawks, although the Hawks get a little extra nod from me. Maybe my amp...

I agree. I am listening to Yes - the Steven Wilson remixes download, that I bought from Qobuz. Good value, better than the ordinary streaming version. Listening to the hawk with balanced cable from my Jade OTL preamp. Great sound. Nothing to complain about really.

I have mainly been listening to speakers, some of them very sharp, but tested the new cable again, yesterday. My first thought was, this is very soft and subdued. where is the treble. This was the main impression both with the owl and the hawk. But with more listening, I got - sort of - used to...

So, the first thing to check if you have volume imbalance from Jade (one channel strong, one weak) is the 6as7 tube. I wondered if the imbalance was related to the balanced cable, using both front ports on Jade. But no. I heard the same thing with single-ended cable. Very clearly. It was less...

I found the answer. I first changed the driver tube. No change. Problem still there. Then I changed the output tube. Problem gone. Beatles She loves you in mono (from Qobuz) sounds fully centred. RVG Nothing ever changes sounds great with nicely balanced stereo sound. So it wasn't the...

I enjoy the sound from Jade with my new balanced cable into Nighthawk and Nightowl. But now, one channel sounds stronger than the other. I had to change the output tube on Jade. Could that be the reason? When I switch the small plugs into the headphone, the stronger sounding channel switches...

Or, more precisely: DAC connected by USB to laptop -> DAC analog out (rca) -> Jade input (rca) -> Jade front output (jack) -> integrated amp input (rca).

Jade can be used to modify the sound of speakers. I use it in this role when not using headphones. Jade goes between the DAC output and the preamp or integrated amp, for example, the amp in active speakers. Although this extra gain stage is not required and has a bit of minus, the plus factor is...

Here is a picture of the new balanced cable with two large jacks into Jade, and the two headphones used for testing, Audioquest Nighthawk and Nightowl. Both sound better with the balanced cable. Although maybe it is due to other factors rather than balanced (e g using both outputs).

Here is Nighthawk, connected to Jade with the new cable, with Nightowl next in line. The cable was only ca 45 USD (bought from Amazon/Sweden), is flexible and easy to use, and the sound is quite good - not clearly poorer than the sound from the Audioquest cables that came with the headphones...

I can now recommend running the Nightowl and Nighthawk balanced, if you have a preamp that can do it. Today, I got a balanced cable that fits the owl and hawk, with two big jacks that plug into my headphone amp Audiotailor Jade, for balanced (or 'pseudo balanced') operation. No doubt about it -...

Can anyone suggest a good DAC for Jade? I use Jade both as headphone amp, and as preamp into my quite 'analytical' and pinpoint desktop system. I have used the Topping e30ii, but recently found out that the Teac NT-505 sounds much better. However the Teac is in use in my main system.