Jadis JA30 Mk2, how great???

Congrats on your jadis JA30 monos. If I did not have this Deft7, for sure the JA30's would be my 1st and only choice. I noted most images on google show the 150 tube,,,if that is what you have please consider biasing for the superior Svetlana 6550. Also agree with others suggesting  Tele's in the AU/AX pre socket. 
I have all Tele's in the pre. I noted a slightly superior nuance over all other NOS tubes.
The 88 is nearly identical to the 6550, but for me Svetlana has a  superior stability/construct vs other russian power tubes...Good thing with the JA30's you can very easily roll as it only takes a  pair each mono,, the Defy has a wopping 12 tubes.
Also note later on you may consider upgardes on the caps. Ck out my defy7 upgrades...
Also in the middle of having Richard Gray swap out all the stock Jadis Metal oxide resistors in the DLP to <<Takman Rey Metal>> and the results so far are stunning. 
Superior resolution.. Ricahrd's last suggestion in my tweaks is to swap out the 1st AX tube in the DPL fora   12AU7, gone was the slight murky mid/boominess.
We have ,,ohh another 15+ resistors to swap out. 
Not sure which res the new JA 30 use, but if they are the old stock Metal, I'd suggest trying some Takman Rey in the power supply circuit. Then go from there,,But most certainly the cap upgarde was a  nice neauance gain. Went with Mundorf Supreme EVO SGO, = nota  cheap upgrade @ $45 each x12 ,,but end result was worth it vs the lower cost EVO SGO. 
Here are some vids of my new upgrades. 
I will posta  vid after all res are swaped out...maybe 3 weeks, Richard is taking it section by section, a  pair here, there,,, this way I can note exactly how each res swap changed the sonics. So far = SUCCESS!
Mods can be seen at minute 6 and music starts about 11 minutes into vid.
This vid is with a  LS9 preamp <<Jadis clone with M caps> now sold.
Also I now havea  new Shanling 3000 cd player and beats out the Cayin CD17 in this vid + I have new xovers which are NOT in this vid.
I am nearing the end of all my upgrades,,,= another 4 weeks will be fully completed. Just waiting on Richard to finish installling the Takman's in the DPL and maybe we might go with Takman in the Defy,,I have takman Rey in the Defy's power suplly circuit,, the Takman Rex Carbon were too <,smooth>> = warm,,I prefer ide cold highly defined/separation. = more lifelike sound stage.
anyway here's 2 older vids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpVCbHX6jWU&t=1097s\

and the DPL with  Mundorv EVO SGO and some Takman,,and the AX in the 1st socket which is now a 12AU7 and sounds superior. 
btw the tube buffer cd out which has critics griping about,, I found to be superior vs the AUX out. 
music starts around 6:17,, this has the 12AX7 in the 1st socket which did not affect the Cayin's perf,,,but did make my new Shanling cd player sound,,,too <<wooly/bomy>> witha  12AU7 in that socket, made the Shanling clean more soundstage = which is why the Cayin will be up for sale in 1 week. I do not need 2 world class cd players,, Both are built like tanks = the Shanling will last forever with no repairs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7iPHN9r_SY
Jadis sings music like The Angels. and built to last forever with no worry about making  repairs. 

Richard Gray just insalled 4 430k Takman Rey resistors in the DPL, wow factor high, can now put more gain on vol, w/o risking any breakup, 
Not sure what res Jadis has in later models, all i can say is this pre 2000 DPL has metal oxide and the Takman Rey's easily out perform their stock resistors.
IMHO  all Jadis fans might want to consider swapping out a  few res in their pre/amps.
I have 12 plate Rey's in the Defy, after Richard installs another 10+ res in the DPL, I will ask if he will take on the Defy upgrade,,,not sure if he is willing, as Richard prefers working clean solders,,,= the board has to come off = alotttt of labor/time,, The other tech just snipped and soldered w/o taking board off, works just fine,,,I doubt if Richard will go alongw ith that style of <<shoddy work>>
See me vid on the snip/solder work on all the caps.
Sure can't resell like that, but i have no plans to sell the Defy anyway.
The result of swapping out the latest res  a quad of 430k, really opened up the DPL resulting is  nice gains in high fidelity. The Seas Thors never sounded so clean/natural. 
IMHO Takman Rey is the most musical res in current production,,, the Rex Carbon's were too smooth for my taste in the Defy's power supply. 
Possibly Rex are prefered for ss amplification,,sort of adds a  <<tube-like>> effect of smoothness.
For tube amplification, its Rey's all the way.
Just ordered  the other Rey's we will install. Richard likes to make 1 swap at a time, to see how  the circuit responds,,with each swap,, the sonics  made nice gains, this last swap was the biggest and best. 
have no idea where this is/can/will go. 
Its already <<high fidelity>> I mean once you are on Mt Everest peak,, where else is there to go?
I might hold off adding the Seas Bifrost project off. I mean its hard to pass up the Cresendo's incredible velvety power and lushness, but with the Millennium's responding as they are to the new Takmans''' do I really want to spend   $2200 on the Bifrost project??
Next year we will see.....
Jadis, power/authority with finesse <<but with a  lil help from our friends>> 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgaUQO4lvII&t=50s

Just spoke with Richard Gray, and posed the Q, <<do you think the JA30's will deliver more what i am looking for vs my tweaked out Defy7 is delivering??>>
Richard agrees , suggesting having dual monos will deliver a  more true separation of imaging vs the Defy's sharing of the main trans, + shaing the big Philips caps  on top of chassis. 
I had a  hunch after cking over the JA30 design, just a  pair of power  + separate power trans. 
I really do not need the extra power which the Defy offers, as i listen to low volume in my quaint sized listening room.
So now after spending big bucks in all the Mundorf cans, and new Svet's 88's, I realize the JA30 is really what will deliver my classical music is a superior sound stage/resolution, uppermids/upper highs.
I tried to tweak the Defy as high as possible, but seems the JA30 design has a  inherent subtle nuances which the Defy is not gojng to  ever match.
Live and learn I guess.
Eventually , my plan is to sell the Defy, <<<solderings are done by <<botched job>>, not clean soldering>> as Tech guy mentioned to remove board will cost another $200m to remove in order to get at solder board underneath,, WE decided to just snip the leads , as i figured I'd never sell the Defy,, thinking it will be my <<last amp>>
Seems I made a  mis calculation as to future possibilities.
Lesson to audiogones, spend the extra $ to have all mods/tweaks done correctly for future resale value.
The JA30 will beat out the Defy7 in all departments. 
My guess is the JA30 will even .might even beat out the new Jadis 100  which replaces the Defy7. 
True monos according to Richard Gray is the ideal configue vs a  single block amp.
Besides the Ja's weight in at 40 lb each, vs the Jadis100 at <<<125 lbs>>> Ridiculous. 

@mozartfan  Your journey does seem to be one of frustration. Just remember to tell the next owner of your Defy of all of the mods that you have done..they should be interested in that. ;0)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hey davey
Well Richard lent me his Allen Organ mono blocks, the big bys the Allen 90's. 
Right off with jazz ref cds I thought this might be another option for a  2nd amp experience,,,,i was seriously considering buy the pair off Ebay,,but Richard suggests 1st  lsiten at least 1 full hour to my ref cds, before making that decision... The JA30's pair over at another site, is  out my budget,,,After some testing, I found the Allen's  lacking some of the <<musical experience>>  during the Allan Pettersson sym 8, which  on the Defy offered some subtle musicality that is a  trademark of all jadis amps. 
Afterwards I revisted the 3  YT vids showing off the JA30 in operation,, although my speakers are superior to all  3 in the YT uploads, I could hunch the JA30 <<honestly>> did not <<wow me over>> 
I'm sure the 30 monos offer something <<other>> than  which <<might be>> lacking in the Defy, obviously YT compressed vids hardly tell the whole experience. ,,, Both amps I am sure voice beautifully, <,just slightly differently>> 6 of 1 /half dozen the other.

Its possible the 6 88's per channel is really the experience i prefer vs the dual tube/channel of the JA30's. 
Stock amps, yeah the JA30's seem to be the winner in all areas. 
But with the Defy *upgardes/mods* I think the Defy now matches the offerings in the stock JA30. 
Possibly the fture holds a  pair of JA30's making their way into my system, 1st have to recoup my losses from my failed tube flipping business.
If I add the 30's,, will make the same  *upgardes** as in the Defy, new Mundorf caps/Takman Rey resistors.
Right now Richard will be looking at what other res we will swap out in the Defy, But unlike the <other tech guy>>  he plans to pull the board,
Richard likes/ONLY does soldering the correct way = no snip N go thing.
WE just completed all new Takman Rey;s in the DPL, and will upload a  new vid on that upgrade. For my taste the takman Rey's are a  nice upgrade vs Jadis stock metal oxide.
Jadis employs metal oxide for its inherent <quietness> of that res. I found the Takman's to offer more musical tones, though some might find that sound a  bit <noisey>  I am expecting the same results as we figure out which res to swap out in the Defy. Its going to bea  1 time deal, there are lots of res in the Defy, hopefully its a  <WNNER>  decision.
Richard will be working on that upgarde over the next 2-3 weeks.
Will upload a  vid once completed.
For those who might have missed my Defy YT vid showing off upgrades, here it is once again
I highly recommend other Defy owners to make these very same upgrades. The Defy has really come to life with new caps, new res.
The Blue Philips caps voice so beautifully are<< worth their weight in gold>>, leave those alone.

Vid starts around 6:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpVCbHX6jWU&t=650s
.

Here's a  look inside at the upgrades.
fast forward to 6 mintes,, in this vid,  I still have the Millennium tweeter, Which I dumped earlir this year and went WBer set up as heard above.
The dual WBers completely annihilates the Seas in midrange fq's, 
And the chinese paper tweeter is superior to the Seas Millennium ($700!!) tweeter by virture of a  higher sens @ 91 db. vs Millennium's crappy 87db. 

The Mundorf SESGO .47's on each tube really gave  up a  nice punch in bass guitar/drum sets. 
Glad i canceled the order for the M EVO.47's and went  with the SESGO. 
The blue adis wires inside are now upgraded to navships 10 gague silvercopper wires.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpVCbHX6jWU

**not stable,,,flawed design,,** are the 2 comments i heard made by 2 dif local tech geeks.
I ain't buying. 


I think Jadis should have  only made the JA30 and JA80, a  few intergrated.
Whats the point in designing amps weighing over 80 lbs??

 Jadis JA30mk2 doesn’t even break a sweat handling the GH’s

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I bought the Defy7 wayyyy back in 2009, before I knew about the JA30 monos , Wish i had the monos, as they are more convenient to move around.
But alas,  stuck with the Defy til....
So i upgarde  most resistors to takman Rey/metal and most caps to Mundorf SESGO .47 (12 X$50) + some nice big F&T's as well. Left the big blue Philips alone, extremely musical cap there.
can't be improved on.
Replaced main cabels inside to navships silver wire.
Copper posts on rear.
anyway, the Center trans is always cold, never breaks evena  warmth. 2 output trans, barely warm to the touch. 
Of course not driving anything too dif.
But goes to show jadis put some cash into those trans.
Although the Defy did have a  few rumors surrounding the amp, decades ago, I think it was all bunk.
This Defy is built like a  tank and has ZERO performance issues. 
I have no idea who started those rumors, but they are all unfounded and a  bunch of baloney.

Here's the amp in action. All pre tubes are Teles, (Of course). 
a  few Svets ran out of juice, so I had some used chinese tubes sitting on my shelf, stuck those in the 3 slots and works flawless. 
Hum came around, so I swaped the 3 chinese around between the 3 slots and now no hum at all.
This amp is solid and I'm guessing is **self biasing**
Yet my tech has some neat bias pots  which we will install so it makes it much more easy to bias.
The Jadis pots , just a pinch of a screw turn and its either too cool/too hot. 
But again< i'm wondering if this amp is self biased, thus really no need to swap out the pots>.
anyone?
Tubes have over 4k hours, maybe 5k.

Music starts at 1:25


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcjYiZztHgM

Even the JA80's are too heavy, Jadis should have made
JA30, JA60 and say about 4 or 5 intergrated and thats it.

IMHO The JA30 is my fav Jadis amp.
Has that bass  solid /tight punch of the JA200.
Its quite a  special amplifer. 
I saw a pair for 4G's months ago, 
Would love to swap the Defy out for the 30;'s. but as i have upgrades in the Defy, not doable.
The KT150's sound great. 
But honestly I can't tell much dif from el34,kt88, kt120's, 
any hoot...
The speakers in the vid below has Sonus Faber Guarneri, my guess is the newer models with that incredible Sacan speaker neo dymium magnet.
Thats one very special midwoofer for sure.
But of course for such a  propriatary special made mid, SF wants gold for tha speaker.
Like $17G's. 
I can say its the only xover speaker that I like. 
Now I know why folks go SF. 
Its really the only low sens xover speaker i consider  in competition with my WBers.
My future WBer design will surpass SF's Guarneri's. 
So I heard this vid,,then went back heard same track on my Defy7.
I mean its like 6 of one, half dozen the other.
The Defy's 12 tubes **might* offer a  slightly superior soundstage as far as separation of instruments, *maybe*,
 SF is a 2 way,.
My WBer design system is 
Dual WBers +  dual Seas W18E001 + a  paper tweeter.
So  its not a  fair shootout. 
I think if we placed a  stock Defy Kt88 vs a stock JA30/KT120's. 
Who knows how it would go. My tech says he does not care for the KT150's, prefers the KT120's, Opinion is a opinion.
these KT150's sound  super.
Both running Kt88's, possibly the JA30 would take  the cigar.
So if i can't obtain the wonderous JA30. this means I must continue developing my WBer with assist speakers.
Which is already in the plans, just waiting on cash. 
Besides the KT150's in this vid may be new, whereas my KT88's have 4k++ hours on them, not sure if well used  tubes  lose some of the sheen.


This YT vid is no doubt the best sound I've heard on any system, 2nd to none.
Thats one very unique midwoofer , carbon Fiber cone + massive Neo Dymium magnet motor. Don't know much about the tweeter. maybe its special as well.
87 db, which is too low for my cup of tea.
Which  only goes to show the ultimate power of these **little baby* monos.  can drive a  low sens speaker with dynamic performance. 
I'd say the Defy has 100 watts, but the lower watts of the JA30 are cleaner with more slam. 
...but then The Seas Thors was dual midwoofers, \vs this single,, Perhaps the Defy driving a single mid, might perform as well..Its hard to say. 
I found  the xover type speakers at 87db  no competition with a  higher sens WBer.
Completely annihilated the Thors. Smoked em...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlOhiTpZCek

I know my manta lately is
**all tube amps pretty much sound same&&
I did say **pretty much***
IMHO
The Jadis JA30 is best bang in tight bass vs any other tube amp on the market ,, in its SIZE/Weight Class.

Now in price class, we can find other tube amps that will deliver same tight bass. 
= JA30 are over priced. 

WEll my tech geek always complains Jadis charges for the stainless steel chassis which costs a  small fortune.
The trans are very well made, a  good thing. But come on, all jadis products are wayyyy over priced.
Lets get real. 
Besides the older model would suit me fine.
Jadis are for Dubai Oil Sheiks. 
This idea that  brand X is so much better vs brand y and z is  snakeoil.
All these big power amps from Jadis is ridiculous. 
Jadis should have made 
JA30, JA60 and lets  say 5 or 6  intergrateds.
The future of high end audio is away from big heavy amps.
As WBers will be the speaker of the 21st C audiophile.
Speakers which really only require 1 watt SET amps. 
Caveat, we will need some watts to drive the assist woofers, so 1 watters wont be enough. Bigger SETs and low powered EL34 amps will become The Amps to own.
I'm speaking future, not current audiophile **Ideology cultists* still hung up on big amperage and  low sens speakers.
Jadis has a  hard road up ahead to stay afloat. 

Jadis has a hard road up ahead to stay afloat.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah well that might/might not be true
Ck out what Jadis is up to
See this is what sets Jadis apart from the rest of the **pack**.
No one builds  like Jadis.
So over priced??
Not really.

http://www.jadis-electronics.com/en/i70-57.php

OK 
WE all heard the magic of the JA30/Miles Dvaid Kind of Blue
Here's the Defy's take.
With Mundorf Caps, Takman Rey resistors, Teles in front, Svet's on power tubes.
OK  music starts 1:40 
What you hear in this vid, is pretty close to what you'll hear in my room.
Ok
enjoy.

DEfy Miles Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcjYiZztHgM&t=1s

JA30 Miles Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlOhiTpZCek&t=2s

Here's the same Miles  Davis track as the JA30, Rememer my WBer has highs ens in mids, so bass will be lowered SPL.But 1 to 1, the JA30 will have more kick in bass, although the Defy with Mundorf caps offers all the bass i need for a  10x12x8.5 room.
The Mundorr caps brings in more bass.
These are the SESGO caps.
Jadis ' newest intergrated
I-70 with
KT170 tubes
Now what.
 JA30's vs I-70
I think the new I-70 is going to set new standards for high fidelity tube amplification.
Not sure why Jadis does not install side handles for any of their amps over 60 lbs.
I-70 @ 80 lbs. 
My tech will install chrome  handles on the Defy.  @ 75 lbs.
w/o handles feels like over 100 lbs. 

Anyway, this vid gives a  hint at what the Defy is all about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRImqIdXRX4