JADIS DEFY7, can not get it to sing


Hi
I hope some of you old pros can help answer my,,well lets say help me figure out how to get my Jadis defy 7 to sing. I purchased the amp used (like new, as the seller had a  Jadis JA200 mono blocks laready and the Defy sat quiet, So I bought it in 2008. Months later i purchased a  MINGDA tube pre amp, sounded AWEFUL, Not even close to my jadis Orch reference, KT90's EI tubes, that intergrtaed was really all I needed, i made a  huge costly mistake selling and buying the  DEFY 7, I do believe that w/o a  powerful pre, to DRIVE the FQ's into the Defy, the Defy will not respo9nd. 
The sound is flat, lifeless, no dynamics, The Orch Refer had HUGE sound stage, bass, GORGEOUS life like mids, nice sweet highs. 
I wanted more and bought the Defy,. 
I just had the Defy cked in Baton Rouge, had the KT90's brand new EH tuibes biased . 
I have a  ONKYO preamp arriving next week and am about to buy a  Mitshibushi Pre amp, 
I have a  LITE LS9 , chinese tube preamp, and that pre sounds like the,,no worse than the heftier Ming Da. 
This Lite LS9 is suppose to be a copy of the Jadis 200 pre, It weighs only 7 lbs, the trans is light weight.
I get  the idea the jadis Defy needs a  great hefty powerful prem, which is what folks told me back when i bought it, I did not believe them. 

I am low on  cash and will list the Defy for $3500 and i will pay shipping. 
I will then wait fora  great used Jadis intergrated, say a  DA50.

But I 1st want to try the 2 solid state pres to see if i can get the Defy to wake up.
It I can get some better respose , i may keep it and look for a  good used Audio reserach or a  macnintosh.
I do not have $6K for a jadis pre used. 
My budget is $1K
any help is greatly appreacitaed.
I have the uncredibly  SEAS Thor MTM speakser along with the CAYIN tube cd player with upgraded opamps .
As I say I am very close to selling the hge, hardly used (Like New) amp, due to my doubts that I can get the amp to respond like its tiny brother , The Orch Reference. 
btw I am the one who coined the tag *shootout* wayyyy back in 2000, or 2001 
I stared a  thread of speaker shootouts,,,and based on that long thread, i bought the SEAS THor kits. 
I now see *shoot out* is now the common tag for speaker and stereo components comparison.
My old login was Bartokfan.
Look forward to any suggestions in my dilemma.
paul
new orleans
mozartfan

Showing 10 responses by stereo5

You are wasting your time with those cheap solid state preamps.  That Jadis amp was very expensive back in its day. at least 20 years ago.  You need a good tube preamp, and no cheap preamp will make your Jadis sound any better.  The Mitsubishi is cheap mid fi as is the Onkyo.  You set yourself up for failure the way you went about this.  
@mozartfan...……………...

There is a Jadis Orchestra Reference Integrated for sale on here from Brooks Berdan Audio.   They are listing it for $3749.00 and they are taking offers.  It's a brand new unit.
If I had received such a gift, I would have looked at new and used preamps in the 4K range and spend 1K on a power cord for it. 
Cheap Chinese knock off that will make your Jadis amp sound like crap. You need to spend at least a few grand on a preamp worthy of the Jadis. The Chinese crap you are looking at is just that, crap.
@clearthink...……………………….

First, think clearly.  The thread is about purchasing many cheap preamps, the one in question being around $500.00.  What do you think you are going to get for $500.00  from a Chinese company no one ever heard of that is trying to clone an expensive ARC preamp for a fraction of the price?    Why don't you buy one and if isn't a piece of crap, I'll buy it from you?

Second, I do not need to be schooled by you and I have nothing against Chinese goods.  My Golden Ear Triton Reference speakers and Triton One speakers are BOTH made in China (but they don't sound like crap).

"This is vile, hateful, prejudiced language, the wholesale, unconsidered association of Chinese manufactured equipment".  My post was neither vile or hateful or prejudiced, you are trying to make something that isn't there.  The preamp was a knockoff piece which is illegal everywhere except probably china.  Get off your high horse.

@mrdecibel ................

I put down the Chinese preamp because it is a cheap imitation, knock off which is probably illegal, nothing more and nothing less. If you can’t see that, then you are blind. Putting a 500.00 preamp with an amp that cost more than 5K when new is just plain silly and will not yield good sound. I purchased a cheap Chinese hybrid integrated back in 2006. It was a Yaquin. After using it for 4 days, it caught fire and the manufacturer refused to warranty it. It went out in the trash, hence “cheap Chinese junk”. I am willing to bet that more than 90% of us here would not do what the OP proposes.   Regarding my system, no worries you don’t like it.  Right now I am loving the sound of my McIntosh MR88 tuner playing through my McIntosh C2500 tube preamp, into my McIntosh MC302 300wpc  amp WITH autoformers and listening through my Golden Ear Triton References. Breathtaking sound to be sure.    

Why don’t you try this: purchase the Dartzeel clone that is selling for $1200.00. It must be a real bargain as the real amp goes for something like 17K. The real Dartzeel uses 4 caps larger than soda cans. The clone uses caps smaller than my finger. I am sure it will sound just as good (not).
Your love of Chinese knock offs are noted, but they are not for me. The Chinese repeatedly steal US technology by reverse engineering. If you are fine with it, good for you!   If you or your wife is happy with a knock off handbag, that’s great.  I prefer the real thing and won’t support that illegal industry.  What particularly bothers me is the knock off handbags using the exact same label  as the real one.  That is illegal and people who buy that stuff is stealing away sales from the legit manufacturers.  It is the same with counterfeit cables and other accessories. 
I have no problems with legit things made in China like the iPhones and iPads my wife and I both own.  However the clones and knock offs are an entirely different matter.  As long as you people with the clones and knock offs can sleep at night, I say kudos. 
Too late, I can't edit.  You and another individual keep saying I am angry.  Angry about what?    I don't know what I am angry about, so kindly let me know.  I do not like being schooled on audio.  I am old and retired and if you do not like my opinions, that's fine, but there is no anger, unless someone puts Justin Beiber on my stereo.....Then you will know what angry is.
I read through your entire post above and it sounds like you are upgrading everything you can on the amp and CD player.  So, what are you going to do for a preamp?
All those mods will most likely spoil the voiceing of the Jadis.  It will be unsaleable after the mods.  Too much silver is never good.