JH Audio JH-3A

[warp08]

My wallet just did:
 
Order Confirmation JH Audio

Dear Suckerous Pontificus (DSP),
Thanks for shopping with us today!
The following are the details of your order.

Order Number: 1703
Date Ordered: Friday 04 June, 2010
 
 
Products

1 x

JH-3A DSP Amplifier + JH16Pro

$1,748.00

 
At this point I'm willing to take any unused food stamps to tie me over for the next few months.

 

[warp08]

BTW, since I just voted with my now empty wallet, allow me to offer my opinion.  Based on JHA's (probably Jerry's own) recent FB post describing the non-trivial process of rebuilding your existing customs, I feel now more strongly than ever that at least for me, having my beloved JH16s gutted and rebuilt from the ground up is not the way to go.  Not that it wouldn't be done expertly, but I wish to retain my own pair to be used with the RSA Protector as I love the sound signature and other amps as well.  The potential of this product is awesome and JHA has always come thru for me and a lot of other customers in the past, so a leap of faith is warranted in my case.
 
But if you do have an extra $1,100 lying around on top of what you already spent on your JH13/JH16s, not to mention cabling, I think an extra $500 or so will be money well spent to get an extra pair of brand new JH1x Pros built from the ground up for exclusive JH-3A use.  What if you like DSP for some genres but prefer a more "natural" tube-like signature for some recordings?
 
You may come to a different conclusion including not to buy into this for any reason and that's OK.  Just wanted to share my own thought process on the matter for what it's worth.
 
I just hope the "mandatory" Whiplash TWag recable of this baby doesn't double the overall cost...high-end XLR reference cables are extremely expensive.

 

[cooperpwc]

Hi Warp, you are the perfect person to ask this since you own both. What was your reasoning in choosing the JH16 to pair with the JH-3A? Thanks!

 

[manaox2]

Quote:

I just hope the "mandatory" Whiplash TWag recable of this baby doesn't double the overall cost...high-end XLR reference cables are extremely expensive.

 
Wouldn't changing the cable change the response possibly so that it is no longer tuned properly? Maybe the DSP auto tuning is that good that it won't matter.

 

[Sonic 748i]

That's it, I'm running far, far away from head-fi.

 

[warp08]

Quote:

Hi Warp, you are the perfect person to ask this since you own both. What was your reasoning in choosing the JH16 to pair with the JH-3A? Thanks!

My personal preference of sound signature characteristics.  I have found the 16s to be more enjoyable overall with a wider range of amps I have had the opportunity so far to listen to than the 13s.  The 13s to my ears are scary in how accurately they are able to render the music.  If my ears were replaced with a pair of freq. analyzers, I'd probably get an eargasm everytime I use them.  But I am drawn to a more analog sound signature, which to me is more natural even from solid state components than the analytical representation the 13s offer.  Especially when TWagged, however, to me the 13s sound amazing with my TTVJ Slim, but I simply cannot listen to them for long with the Protector, whereas the JH16s shine with it.
 
I have a Tube-modified (modwright) SACD player and the RSA Raptor tube-amp on the way for a bedside rig and I can't wait to hear both IEMs with a DSD source vs. the Redbook 16bit/44.1kHz limited material.  Based on the specs of the JH-3A, I really do believe that it will require either a vinyl or at least a SACD-quality reference recording to really show what these systems are capable of rendering.
 
I'm betting that the more sophisticated design and extra headroom the JH16s offer over the JH13s will have an even bigger impact when tuned to a discrete multi-amp design coupled with an active crossover circuitry, especially when separating the mid and bass driver clusters in a separate bore as the 16s do vs. the 13s, which are dual bore design, mixing mid and low freqs.
 
Whether the bet pays off or not, time will tell.  I'd love to see how the unmodded JH16/Raptor combo compares to the JH-3A/JH16 combo driven from the ModWright SONY 9100 SACD source.  In fact, I intend to write a review of my initial impressions, which won't happen until the end of Summer, when the JH-3A is scheduled to ship.
 

 

[warp08]

Quote:

 
Wouldn't changing the cable change the response possibly so that it is no longer tuned properly? Maybe the DSP auto tuning is that good that it won't matter.

A good question.  I would, of course, have to do an A/B comparison and if your suspicion were found to be true, ship the rig and the cable back to JHA to be retuned to take advantage of the TWag characteristics, if necessary.

 

[cooperpwc]

Much thanks for the explanation, Warp. I look forward greatly to hearing your impressions of the JH-3A.
 
Good luck also with the Raptor combo. My Earmax Pro (also OTL) sounds just obnoxious with IEMs but I believe that this is mostly attributable to its tiny power supply. It really shouldn't be used with anything under 60 ohms. (It's sweet at 600.) The Raptor has a huge power supply and hopefully will work well with the JH16s. I look forward to your impressions on this too.

 

[elnero]

Considering there's a digitally controlled bass output I wonder if the crossovers are tuned differently so the bass is closer to neutral initially then add in the desired boost manually?

 

[BaboonGuy]

I find it interesting that you won't be able to use an amp with this... so it must be as good as a JH-13 now plugged into a good desktop amp... which would be pretty great for something portable imo.

 

[GreenLeo]

Can't wait for Jude's impression.

 

[warp08]

Quote:

Much thanks for the explanation, Warp. I look forward greatly to hearing your impressions of the JH-3A.
 
Good luck also with the Raptor combo. My Earmax Pro (also OTL) sounds just obnoxious with IEMs but I believe that this is mostly attributable to its tiny power supply. It really shouldn't be used with anything under 60 ohms. (It's sweet at 600.) The Raptor has a huge power supply and hopefully will work well with the JH16s. I look forward to your impressions on this too.

Sure, but Jude's should be out first, no doubt.  But it is always useful, I think, to be able to benefit from multiple perspectives and different source equipment and reference material.  
 
Actually, the Raptor was an impulse purchase on my part, because at some point I may decide to purchase some kind of full-size can for home use.  At any rate, it should fit nicely with the modded SONY 9100ES.  Love to play with an Apache, but the 9100 is not a balanced source.  

 

[midoo1990]

warp,i have to say it man,you are obsessed. 3 freaking pair of custom iems from the same company????? you must be a millionaire..

 

[DTSyX]

I really hope, someone who goes to that convention will post his/her thoughts about the JH-3A here very soon. I can't wait much longer. For one, my impressions won't get any better by lying at my home and secondly the euro is falling like a stone...
 
My crystal ball tells me that Jerry will shrink the JH-3A within the next years and integrates it into the upcoming JH-18 which also has 12 drivers per side...

 

[xand]

Quote:

I really hope, someone who goes to that convention will post his/her thoughts about the JH-3A here very soon. I can't wait much longer. For one, my impressions won't get any better by lying at my home and secondly the euro is falling like a stone...
 
My crystal ball tells me that Jerry will shrink the JH-3A within the next years and integrates it into the upcoming JH-18 which also has 12 drivers per side...

My crystal ball predicts:
 
Dec 2010: JH-3A provides support for other triple crossover IEMs, official low profile versions of all IEMs, silver wire option for JH-3A  (+JH 20 (12 drivers) if UE launches a 12 driver model)
Jun 2011: JH 20 ( or JH-5A, more portable, with wireless support (mainly for musicians on stage), if JH20 already announced)