JT3 & JT7

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea, COS Engineering D1, Laiv Audio Harmony; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: 2 x Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps and source stack, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx + Dynaudio S18 sub; Cable loom: Exact Express Earth; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, Akiko Audio Corelli Corundum & Castello Solo; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
2nd headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 work station Win11/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC/headamp: iFi iDSD Pro Signature; Speakers: DMAX P61 Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: €$79 JT3, €129 JT7

What's more American than apple pie? China and jade. Though the Maori who called it pounamu or 'green stone' too fancied it, it's arguably most revered in China whose mines in the Kulun Mountains are depleting to have shifted the main supply on Canada's British Columbia. In China the hardness of nephrite and its cousin jadeite was seen as virtuous. So-called imperial jade features chromium content to be a pure vibrant emerald green. Spinach-green nephrite coloured by iron and the translucent white 'mutton fat' variety are also popular as is lavender. Confucius taught that jade represents kindness, wisdom, justice, civility, sincerity and truth, averts evil and bad luck whilst fostering health and good fortune. Against such folk wisdom it's no wonder that jade became the most treasured precious stone of the Middle Kingdom whose emperors used jade tablets to communicate with celestial beings. The saying "you can put a price on gold but jade is priceless" reflects it. We appreciate that by naming their sub brand Jadeaudio, China's FiiO have tapped into deep cultural significance and desirability.

Quoting from my review of FiiO's FT7, "since their 2007 launch as Guangzhou FiiO Electronics Technology Co. Ltd, the company now employs a staff of more than 300 and manages the trifecta of brands FiiO, Jadeaudio and Snowsky. "Our core team has nearly 30 years of R&D experience in audio product development including software, hardware, industrial design, structural and electro-acoustic engineering." Since 2022, FiiO operate out of an independent industrial park of 15'000m² which contains a 2'000m² R&D centre, matching 2'000m² marketing centre and 8'000m² for manufacture. Amongst their test gear is an ultra-expensive oscilloscope, B&K dummy head, two Audio Precision analysers, an over-the-air anechoic chamber and microwave shielding chamber with related kit worth a million RMB. "The new dust-free workshop and four two-way assembly production lines achieve an annual turnover of up to 2'000'000 units with expansion capacity to twice that." The firm's current headphone portfolio spans eight different series.

The planar driver's drum-skin principle executed with a membrane thinner than cellophane is clearly shown at left.

Having samples of FiiO's FT7 planar and FT13 sealed dynamic on hand, it made sense to accept their request to follow up with the JT3 and JT7 equivalents of the Jadeaudio subsidiary. Aiming specifically at a more youthful audience of more modest hifi budgets, we expect more plastic, less extreme specs, mobile focus, inline microphones even collapsible construction and easy shopping access with popular online portals. Just so the 3µm 95x86mm 92dB planar diaphragm of the JT7 above sports these expansion ridges perpendicular to its conductive traces to increase stretch potential. That idea is possibly similar to the corrugated tech of Bruce Thigpen of Eminent Technology licensed by Dan Clark Audio¹. After all, a planarmagnetic thin film acts like a drum skin. It's edge-clamped all around to lack a dynamic driver's suspension components which mimics pistonic excursion. Instead it must stretch without tearing. Higher elasticity across greater surface equals more air motion for potentially better lower bass and greater dynamic range. The folding JT7 weighs just 318g, very light indeed for a planar and slightly below the dynamic stablemate.
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¹ "Excerpted from Dan Clark Audio: "All of our Ether and Æon headphones utilize US patent 9'854'364 V-Planar™ technology. A conventional planar driver moves more as a bowed surface than flat plane. Because the surface movement is non-linear, maximum excursion occurs only at the centre of the diaphragm but V-Planar technology changes this. It deeply creases the diaphragm, allowing the flexibility required to fit larger motions so a larger percentage of the driver moves as a flat surface rather than parabola. The V-Planar driver allows expansion and contraction without stretching it too thin and has the additional benefit of reducing standing waves on the diaphragm."

The JT3's 50mm 80Ω 97dB angled dynamic driver below combines polyetherketone and polyurethane for a hard/soft composite hybrid with a brass damper ring to combat breakup. This hides behind a lightweight aluminium-magnesium alloy grille to weigh just 330g with its stainless steel and zinc-alloy bridge with ball-bearing sliders. N52 neodymium creates the magnetic flux in the voice-coil gap.

If all this talk of imperial jade had you anticipate the blue-blooded very long green never mind its spinach or emerald hue…

… the JT3 sells for €79 and…

… the JT7 for €129. Exactly what does that buy us; chop hooey or more serious sonic kung fu? And what if we replace 'serious' with 'fun' as really ought to be the focus when the younger target audience discovers the joys of playback beyond €29 earbuds? A planarmagnetic over-ear for €129 certainly seems a new low for the barrier of entry into this genre. It also suggests that this tech has reached a new level of maturity which now can execute more cost-effectively to probably imply greater mechanization for less hand labour. Sheer scale of operation figures as well. A small boutique making a few hundred units a year is a very different proposition than FiiO churning out 2'000'000 units annually across a deep catalogue.