So my first few listens of Jade II where positive! It was snappy, detailed, super quick, open and spacious with a lush mid-range and sparkly top end. However… the more I listened with Jade II the less impressive it became and more problematic it sounded.
For listening purpose I used my RME ADI 2 Dac with XLR Into the Stock Jade II amp, track list is as followed;
- Beck - Guess I’m Doing Fine
- Best of Chesky Jazz - Dynamic Test
- Goat Rodeo - No One But You
The overall tonality of Jade II was mostly uneven at the top and bottom ends with a rushed presentation or envelope to my ears. There’s a obvious forwardness to the upper mid range with a rolled off Low Bass response. I wasn’t a fan of it’s lack of a certain decisive weight or force on the leading edge of sounds and an overall poor ultra low level resolve. To my ears that lack of resolve manifested in that the trailing edge of sounds were often cut short or faded into silence to quickly.
Jade II presents an open and spacious stage with good precision and layering, tho at times it’s a bit incoherent so it sounded fake or a bit forced.
Technically it’s not terrible but the problems with it’s frequency response and presentation make it difficult to appreciate the detail and resolve that is present. An given the price I don’t see any reason to recommend it when there’s options that cost less and simply outperform it without departing from it’s rich light weight and quick presentation.
