Anyone have honest opinion of Jolida amps?

I have a jolida jd1501. I’ve owned it for years. Paired with Signet sl260 speakers! No issues with the integrated amp from jolida. 100 watts into 8 ohms 175ish into 4ohms. Sounds awesome!

I have sold Jolida gear for 15 years now. This is a reply to an old thread, but now we can  see there are very few used Jolida amps for sale. 15 year old amps are selling for what these sold for new. You will never find a hybrid JD1701 amp for sale- Sounds much better than any SS amp at $1000 or less. The JD102 amp is very sweet with efficient speakers. You will rarely finds a hybrid 1501 for sale. People tend to keep their Jolida amps. Also, I would truly rely on  audioreview. Bob Anderson, Anderson Audio Gallery. 

Thanks Wolf. I have and will talk to the Jolida people prior to having anything done. They have 4 packages for this pre I believe. IT has been my experience that they are good to deal with.

Mine was upgraded to whatever was offered 4 and a half years ago (only one package of upgrades was offered so the choice was easy) so It’s hard to say what’s appropriate now for your amp. Seriously, call the guys at Jolida as they’re likely to actually talk to you about it.

Wolf, you are likely knowledgable regarding the Jolida factory upgrades. I was thinking of having my Fision pre upgraded. Not sure which upgrade offers best return/$$ spent. Any thoughts?  

I've also done in house comparisons of my 502p (factory upgraded) to other tube amps and it has won every shoot-out against some far more expensive stuff (all relative of course, and by "won" I mean it sounded as good or better to me)…it has been an amazingly great sounding thing over the 4 plus years I’ve used it. Tube rolling fun, reliable, quiet humlessness (is that a word?), and the newer version looks cool and is maybe 1400 bucks. Great stuff. After using KT120s and 150s I returned to KT88s (matched Gold Lions from thetubestore) this year and the amp really takes to those tubes.

I have compared Jolida 502P and 801BRC with Conrad Johnson ( classic sixty and ET3SE)  over hours and hours. I can tell you the difference is not all that much. Jolida had KT88.  In my opinion , it is excellent value for money.

Owned a 2003 302B powering Meadowlark Kesrel 2s for about a year, then Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures. Then traded up to a Rogue Cronus, than to a CJ CAV50. The Jolida was OK as a entry point into tubes but if I could do it all over again I would have gone straight to CJ for the simple reason that the dynamics witht he Jolida were way too soft and laid back for my tastes. I mean tubes are somewhat polite, but the 302B was way too polite, my sense is that there was some incoherence that was the cause.

No problem Sloane and I have to agree with your assessment on higher end gear for the most part. A lot of the differences in audio is the design. You can build something with decent parts and if its implemented correctly it will sound very good . Just because it costs an arm and leg doesn't mean it will sound fantastic. A Jolida amp with better tubes does improve it quite a bit. I do have to say I had a Jolida JD-100 CDP an d for the price it sounded very good and better with NOS tubes. I replaced it with a Cary 303 CDP and liked the Cary much better. The Cary was a few hundred dollars more but Cary's are designed very well. Its also how it fits in your system and personal tastes.

I've owned a 302b for a while now. I bought it used from another Agoner. I replaced tubes right off the bat and that made a noticeable difference. Last year I sent it to jolida to have some work done and had the recommended upgrades done. When I got it back I was very happy. I'd say for the money you get a pretty good product. I also have had many positive interactions with the staff at jolida MD. I'd recommend jolida to my friends.

@Samzx12

Sam, my apologies, this should be a friendly forum, I never said you are naive', I doubt you are. What does my opinion matter anyway, I think the more expensive is better is 'wrong' which is a better way to say it. I'll give you a for instance. Someone was selling a $4,000 Kenwood power and preamp on craigslist for $400. I dont think he got his money's worth with the $4,000 :)I wouldn't touch it for $400.

Getting into more respected equipment: My dealer (it's an addiction I guess) alternates usually between Cary and McCormack seperates, which run $5,000. That's $15,000 for the amp and cd player. His name is John L Vandersteen, in Chicago, he was an audio engineer for some big companies, he designs and sells his own speakers now, and he explained to me the difference in cost between the components used in high end vs. extremely high end, which was not that much and ultra high end which is costly. He explained that the name plate accounts for a huge percentage of 'markup' and 'market price'. He's a respected sound engineer as best I can tell, a high end audio dealer, someone who build gear and knows costs, and has let me hear expensive stuff for many hours.

So the Cary and McCormack gear that I've heard for many hours doesn't sound 'better" to me than Musical Fidelity or Jolida gear which costs LESS THAN 1/3rd the price, it sounds different. A Cary name tag will add a certain cache', like a Rolex. More expensive usually means better, but my understanding is that the costs of the making these components is not nearly as great as the price, so a lot goes into paying for the name. If it were the R&D you are paying for, I imagine B&W (as big as they are) could never be beat based on their budget...and I bet Kenwood has a high budget too. And I think they still make crap at whatever price.

I have the 1801a and generally like it very much for almost all types of music. It is a pretty robust tube amp. What I don't like about this particular model is that one must turn the amp upside down in order to bias the tubes. Very odd.

Sloane I am not saying Jolida is crap at all. If you think I made a naive statement then so be it..LOL. I meant more expensive gear usually IS better but not always. Jolida is a great value I do agree as I have owned 3 pieces of Jolida. I liked them all but found other gear more pleasing and it was more expensive used but not by a wide margin.

Sloane27 said:
@Samzx12: I think that's the most naive' thing I've read on agon, "you get what you pay for".

I would be interested in hearing about the cheaper products you listened to that bested products that were considerably more expensive.

I've had a JD302CRC integrated amp since last spring and couldn't be more satisfied with my purchase. I've been collecting vinyl for 40 years and feel I'm hearing the music as it was meant to be heard for the very first time. (Rega p3-24 thru Klipsch Heresy 1's) Great build quality, good looks and flawless performance- comparable to equipment costing thousands of dollars more. U.S. models out of Jolida in Maryland do NOT come with cheap Chinese tubes. No mods necessary, why fix something that isn't broken? Two friends bought Jolida within a few days of hearing mine and now share my enthusiasm. That's my honest opinion of Jolida amps.

@Samzx12: I think that's the most naive' thing I've read on agon, "you get what you pay for".

To me, the best thing about audiophile gear (beside the sound) is finding gear affordable components that sound better than those costing thousands more. Stereo equipment is one of the few great items that you can buy where you can get a lot more than you pay for, if you try. Just because something has a Cary name on it's faceplate, doesn't automatically make it $5,000 'better' than less expensive gear...Thank God!

If it were that easy, there would be no discussions. Everyone would know exactly how 'good' everything is by just comparing prices. It aint that easy.

In my opinion, Jolida is probably the best value in HI FI audio today. And just so everyone who thinks that's absurd has more 'ammunition', I think MF is pretty close. They're both giant killers based on my direct comparisons with new Cary and McCormacks, which cost $5,000 for seperates. And I love B&W too. I've owned Conrad Johnson and Classe' gear, so I have had a well rounded sampling of 'accepted' gear that noone disputes as being HI-FI.

I have a Jolida tube cd player and it was so much better than the MF NU-VISTA side by side at my house, that my friend sold his NU-VISTA the next day and bought a Jolida cd player. Of course you have to get rid of the cheap $3 tubes. I've tried Mullards (vintage) and Telefunkens and that cd player really lit up, I prefer 1960s Mullards.

That told me that different companies each may do a certain thing well. MFs several thousand dollar cd player sucked next to Jolida's $900 model. But MF makes amazing power amps. I hear Krell does too. I had a BK 2020 which was great, but I hate their preamp I bought (and got rid of).

I still don't know why Jolida's 3000 Fusion preamp isn't talked about more. It's only $1,000, has balanced XLRs, and sounds noticably better than their Envoy, but it lacks a phono input. When I bought the Fusion and broke it in, I thought (and still think) I found the Holy Grail. I use it with a MF A3cr (I prefer a tube pre and SS power amp). So I can't comment on Jolida's power amps or integrateds. But I do know they make hybrids (tube pre, ss power), and based on their incredible cd player and preamp...I would have to at least listen to Jolida before buying anything else.

I am a systems engineer. I work on my own stuff.
I have an oscilloscope, j202 schematic, and my sons claim I have "mad soldering skills".. I bought this as a decent platform to build upon and tweek. I was amazed that all I really needed to do was upgrade the preamp section to get the sound I wanted.

I owned a Jolida 202 years ago and enjoyed it, but that was before the controversy over the "Chinese" Jolida vs. the "Maryland" Jolida. I read the article that described the difference in the nameplates and what was a "real" Jolida and what was not. How do you know what you are buying and who supports it if it breaks?

Uhm.. the guy that said jolida = trash .. you obviously only used the cheap $3.00 stock tubes. I upgraded with JJECC8003s gold tubes for the preamp. USA JAN Phillips 12AT7WC for the drivers and let the stock EL34 B output tubes age a little. It sounds kick ass now!
The bass hits hard and deep, mids are crisp, highs are crisp and clear now. And the sound stage is awesome.

I tested with Mozart's Requiem last night. Unfreaking believable! The Chorus shook the house!
If you take the time to research tubes then this is a good amp to get and modify, results will blow you a way. If you just wanna unpack it and use it as a stock amp.. then it's not for you. It doesn't suck. I just think Jolida doesn't want to price the amp with high quality tubes because they would have to sell it for $1,700 or more.
I picked up mine new for $599.99 shipped. turned it on and though my miniwatt N3 sounded better. Now after I upgraded my preamp stage with new tubes and adjusted the bias for the ouput stage... I am really loving this amp.
My Miniwatt can't even come close to it now.

I play sax and blues harp. Now when I crank up a tune to jam with it sounds really good.

I've got 4 ohm Energy cb-20 speakers attached to it right now.

I own a Jolida 202s connected to a pair of energy cb20 speakers. To be honest my Miniwatt n3 sounds richer and fuller when connected to the same speakers. I am running a sweet set of nos tubes in the n3.
maybe the Chinese tubes take a long time to burn in. I ordered nos tubes for the front-end and eh 6ca7 fat boys for the output. I ordered GE 5751 nos tubes to replace the driver tubes. They have less gain than the Chinese 12at7. I hope to hear a deeper soundstage, better frequency response and more headroom'll of what the holiday amps lack with the stock tubes. If the stock tubes take 100hrs to burn in to sound good, then holiday should burn in the tubes since these tubes are just gonna eend up as spares

In December 2005 I posted about Jolida and at the time was dickering over a like-new, used 302B. I bought the unit and it has been wonderful; it is not modified, save for a Jolida mod., the subwoofer output. I am using NOS Svetlana EL34 power tubes, 1962 Sylvania 12AX7A organ pre-amp tubes and CV4024 (12AT7) military Mullard tubes as drivers. The sound is wonderful. I sold the Klipsch speakers and bought a pair of Spica TC-50i's and I am back to where I came from. Now I am looking for a subwoofer to try that out. Jolida is not easy to beat for the money. If I modified the unit it would probably surprise me, but I am curious about the new 302B that has no balance control. LED biasing and remote. That might sound even better than the current model.

lol :)

Launche says
"So what exactly am I getting if I buy a $4000 mid low fi Cayin or Jolida product?"

Hopefully your money's worth.

fwiw, i listen to modified 502b with rolled tubes thru my kestral 2's and the guy that says the sound is mid or low fi is off his rocker... i am not an expert in tubes per se but i can tell the difference between very good musical sound reproduction and mid fi! many tube amp owners say modifying makes a big difference and maybe this is the case here as well. nonetheless, paying $2K more for so called high end quality with half the watts sounds like money down the rathole unless you have extremely efficient speakers and or a big ego and 24K golden ears! seems to me a lot of pseudo-audiophiles think price and quality define musical sound reproduction. i'd rather ride in an older caddy than a new bmw on a cross country road trip!

Had the Cayin A50 T (months) and the A88T (about 20hrs on A88) and
like the Jolida 302B better than both. FWIW.
Love my Cayin CDT- A17 cdp though. All depends on your system!

>>>Cayin versus Jolida? I don't think so. They are both low-mid fi imported products.

You get what you pay for is correct.<<<<<

So what exactly am I getting if I buy a $4000 mid low fi Cayin or Jolida product?

Thanks

SAm XZ:"but for the money Jolida is hard to beat"
Ever heard of Cayin? A few bucks more and much more the quality. But then again you can get used Jolida real cheap used on audiogon, so if its a tight budget you have then go ahead.
But you get what you pay for.
Bartokfan

I guess it is a matter of preference. Like I said in an earlier post. Krell vs Levinson kind of thing.

>>A few bucks more and much more the quality<<

Cayin versus Jolida? I don't think so. They are both low-mid fi imported products.

You get what you pay for is correct.

Still miss my 302b after I sold it a year ago. Jolida doesn't have the ulitmate top notch build quality like higher end tube co's, but I tell you it's definetly one musical amp and a very good deal esp. if you buy it used.

Though I didn't have reliability issues, one thing I question is who/where Jolidas are really made/designed by. I've seen a good few Jolida models claimed to be grey market units by Jolida USA. But internet retailers both in US and overseas have consistently over the years offered seemingly upgraded amps/CD players not shown in Jolida US website and sold in Asia/Europe.

SAm XZ:"but for the money Jolida is hard to beat"
Ever heard of Cayin? A few bucks more and much more the quality. But then again you can get used Jolida real cheap used on audiogon, so if its a tight budget you have then go ahead.
But you get what you pay for.

Unreliable, ok sounding.
Phd

Here we go again. Exactly what I am talking about :(

Unreliable, ok sounding.

I have had the JD1000 Integrated, JD100 CDP, and currently own the Music Envoy preamp. Never had a problem and all sound very nice. Like one poster said, change the tubes and it will take it to another level.

Personally I feel anyone who bashes Jolida has a beef with them. It is like Krell versus Levinson reviews on Audioreview.com. Sure there is better, but for the money Jolida is hard to beat.

I have a Jolida 302A, along with a Rega Mira older black version, as well as an older Harmon Kardon 330B. I like them all. They all have a separate place, one in my room, one in the living room, and the other at the cabin, and they each seem to fit a particular need of mine, and all of which have been purchased on a working man's budget.

I have found that matching speakers to the amp is essential to truly appreciating amplifier quality. I was about ready to trash the Jolida until I matched it with old Klipsch Heresy speakers. I read somewhere where horns like tubes and in this case it could not be truer. For the buck I think the Jolida is just fine.

I began climbing the Jolida early this year with a used Jolida 102B integrated. Unfortunately it was not a good match for my Spica TC-50 speakers so I began looking for speakers to match. The sound was wonderful, though. I learned more about tubes as I looked around to upgrade them. I thought the 102B was an excellent little amplifier. After using the 102B for a few months I bought a used Jolida 202B and I like it a lot. I use 1950's NOS preamp & driver tubes and Electro Harmonix EL-34's. The amp drives my Klipsch RB-5 II speakers real well. I have become accustommed to the sound of the Klipsches as opposed to the Spicas. I think in the back of my mind that I could find a pair of TC-60's; they are ported and would probably perform better than the 50's I had. Had it not been for Jolida and the availability of decently priced lightly used units, I may not have gone into tubes at all. Now I am tempted to move up another rung on the Jolida ladder with a nice used 302B . . .

i own a JoLida 502A that is heavily modified (see my bedroom system for details) - hardly anything in there is original. Without modification the 502A is a dark amp, has wooly bass (could be an effect of the used winged-C 6550 tubes) & slightly rolled off highs. Pretty damn good midrange. Post modifications it is a much better amp: tighter bass which seems to have much better definition. The biggest improvement is that it's much less dark. The high freq extension is much improved. So, after the mods, I realized that, tho' the used winged-C tubes could have been the culprit, the parts quality was a definite culprit. No doubt in my mind. The transparency of the amp is much improved such that it very easily shows the inadequacy of CDP (damn!). Alternately, when I feed the signal to it thru my CAT preamp in my main system, it sounds really very good! I had a hard time taking it out.
I personally feel that JoLida is a much better buy if bought used & modified. FWIW. IMHO. YMMV.

Don't even try and decide how good your Jolida is until you've sent it too Bill Baker at Response Audio and had him upgade it. The changes are dramatic. Bill's also a nice person to deal with and has helped me in many other ways with my audio hobby.

Those of you who like Jolida (& those who are curious) should try to search out a dealer that carries their JD3000 mono-block amps.

Not cheap @ $5500. pr. (ESPECIALLY for a "Jolida") but I gotta tell ya, I heard 'em powering a pair of Vandersteen 5a's a cpl. years back, and was FLOORED by how awesome the system sounded.

I didn't even know they were Jolida amps working this sonic-magic, as at the time, I had no experience with Jolida and wasn't aware they even MADE amps of this calibur and $$$, and just saw a pair of cool looking BIG-bottle amps sitting quietly on the floor -- which again, I assumed were some $20k something-or-others making things come to life.

I'm still surprised and puzzled as to why there hasn't been a review and/or more posts on these amps???

Could be one of the best kept "secrets" in tube audio...

I owned the fully modded underwood 202A and loved that amp as it got me into this thing.I Now own the 707A unmodded amp which i picked up used and i love this amp.Talk about midrange.If you want more midrange maxxc you owe it to yourself to hear this amp.Since i have high efficiency horn drivers i am now persueing a real SET amp from Wright to see how far this darn sonic horse can go.The 707a is suppose to emulate a SET amp and it is really quite nice.Picked mine up $700 used and i wouldn't go back to the 202A after owning this one in my set up.In fact i swapped back and forth a few times before selling it but the 707A was the clear winner in my system.I am even hesitant about getting it modified as i don't want that to mess anything up.The stock Jolida 6P3P tubes actually sound nice in this amp where as those EL34 Jolidas in the 202A had to go immediately.I find it really takes away nothing that the 202A had and adds more sweet mids to the sound.The impact is still way there as the power ratings are identical or close.Larger possibly nicer transformers possibly has something to do with this.
Anyway i find this amp to be anything but junk sonicly.I was using an old Sansuii Au717 SS amp that i bought new in the day and the 202A was my next amp.These jolidas are quite a nice step forward from that that is for sure.Next stop REAL SET and i can't wait.

I know this threads over 4 years old. But just so theres no misinformation about Jolida thought I'd post.

Bob I'm not sure what Jolida did 10 years ago and if thats what was going on then, I can certainly understand why you were turned off to Jolida. Rebadging with massive markups is definitly common although I'm not sure Jolida ever did this.

Jolida does have their equipment assembled in China. Thats never been a secret. However it is not assembled by another Chinese Manufacturer. They have their own factory and of course have them assembled there to save costs.

The design/engineering is done in Maryland.

In the last 2 years I've owned 4 amps. A Jolida 202A and Jolida 1501A being among those. I also own a Cambridge Audio A500 amp.

Although the Cambridge Audio is considered among the best budget amps I would take either Jolida over it no questions asked. Midrange is so much better, especially on the 202A, in that aspect the're not even comparable.

For a mass producted, product they are very tough to equal or better in their given price range.

approximately 10 years ago i went to the jolida "factory" near columbia,MD in search of EL-34 tubes for my guitar amp and found jolida to be a place that unpacked asian, no-name integrated amplifiers in straw cushioned cheap boxes and did some tricky labeling. i was given a tour of the whole works and after seeing the entire deal was told i could purchase a system for what i would calculate to being %500 markup.

i don't know who engineered the electronics but it doesn't take much to get a good sound out of a tube stereo amp versus solid state. i am an electronics tech.

One of my first exposures to tube power amps was a basic 1703 integrated amp with only one input!. But, for a mere $750.00 it is a rare find!. And it actually utilizes an alps potentiometer(volume control). It weighs about 37lbs and has a massive power supply!. However, the revelation and the soundstage depth and width were nothing short of exhilirating! To describe its engaging qualities would not be enough , no matter how many adjectives one used. A true bargain, no matter how you look at it. Rolls Royce build at wholesale bargain asking prices!..Bravo Jolida!!

BULLSEYE!!!

I always know that I have made my point whenever the free speech Red Herring swims by in a post. I had actually though that I was exercising my freedom of speech to push back on those prefer to raising their vituperation to actual experience index as high as possible rather than be helpful to other Audiogoners.

At least we now have your entry on the circa $600 price point for integrated amps. I spent some time poking around Audio Asylums 200 recent posts on Jolida. Many of the positive posts are from folks who have had extensive personal experience, as do I, with multi kilo-buck amps. In “FACT” most of those posts were positives although there does seem to be two confirmed cases of units that went up in flames (In those cases always adjust the bias for the lightest color of smoke as my old engineering prof used to say).

From Audio Asylum I garnered the recommendation of Acoustic Zen. So know I’m going to get one of those and find a Kora Explorer, and although out of the price range a Rogue. I’ll report back on my ACTUAL experience against the 302 and 502 in a month or two.

It does seem from your most recent post that you are a little more flexible that the earlier posts might indicate. Two data points, because there are so many Jolida units available from people who did tube rolling it is possible to get a used unit with very decent tubes. Second data point, a tube amp without tubes is not worthless. If you own a tube amp that you like, sooner or later you will have to retube. At this point your amp is hardly worthless.

Mg just curious how much were the Svetlana the Tungsram the Westinghouse? i've heard good on all 3 So looks like Marakanetz had the right word here, get good tubes. BUT how much are they? You may have hit on something here. In order to get these high quality tubes in a amp you may have to spend alot more. In other words get the Jolida then get good tubes and there you have it a good sounding amp at a great price. But then you are in Kora and others price range which becomes a matter of : does the better tubes in your unit overtake the better electronics in the others. If that makes any sense.???

I haven't heard the hybrids, but my JoLida 502B with Svetlana KT88s, Tungsram 12AX7s, and Westinghouse 12AT7s sounds pretty damn good through my Kestrel Hot Rods. By the way, I used to be a solid state fan...no more.

Hey Pls1 you miss my point. Since both Mr. Gthrushl and Mr. Ezmerald are US citizens so are allowed to give their honest thoughts,(they seem to speak from gut feeling) you can take it or leave it. Let Mr. Dakajoba go listen for himself. If you refer to the Dec. issue of sterophile you'll see one of the VERY few reviews i like by a "professional" reviewer. Fremer gives the prize to the Cosmos($6K) over the AR 200($11K). Now to me that is very interesting. No ads ,nobody mentions Kora in their threads So i go over to their web and see their intergrated called Explorer. I figure "must be expensive" I go to a web dealer and bingo Kora Explorer $750!!!! And get this. Its a Hybred, you get the best of both worlds. I bet you that little 60watt!!! amp holds its own 2x's price. Jolida may be better than NAD and Rotel but that ain't saying much.

Tweakerman I’m sure we all have our idea of what BUDGET means but I’m going to try this one more time.

Many of my friends are music loving students, musicians and dancers for whom spending $600 on an integrated amp is a heart stopping decision. In your last post, you mention the Kora mono’s at ONLY $6K. $6K is more than the value of all their earthy possessions. Your other recommendation of a Capitole or Mephisto (which I presume is your comparison to the Accuphase) is more than the cost of their total system and recordings collections.

Whether I wasted high five figures on my main system configuration is not the point of this thread.

For $600 I got a 302 with decent NOS/Svetlana tubes and a decent aftermarket power cord.

So what integrated amp should I buy for my friends for $600?

I’m still waiting for Ezmerald’s answer.

What’s yours??

If you tell me I’ll get one to listen to and if it is better than Jolida, I’ll buy that unit for my friends instead of the Jolida.

Hey Glreno sez Marak. "chinese tubes worthless...basically you are buying a amp. w/o tubes" now that is hilarious. sez Potsey "build quality NOT the best" even more hilarious. sez Ezmerald "NOT worth the money" Let me add 2 more labs that have produced products not worth the money. Rotel's CDP and NAD's amps. Both reproduce horrible sound lets say "unlifelike" sez it best. Fact: Audio Aero and Audio Meca makes CDP almost as good as the Accuphase $12K unit. Fremer's review of the Kora mono's ($6K) in the sterophile dec. issue sez that the Koro pretty much blew away the $11K Audio Research VTM200. Point: you can sometimes spend more and get less and strangely you can spend the least and actually get nothing.(nothing = the hassles of repairs) Will rescind point of view if your rebuttal justifies. As you know there are pitfalls along the way that we all fall into.(wish we never had bought it) I read these threads with a very open mind to try to find out whats best for the money, not least for the money.

To Glenreno:

I'm not so sure about feedback. I've been involved around 40 transactions on audigon and only have three feedbacks to show.
The number of feedbacks isn't a reliable proxy for the number of pieces of equipment you are familiar with.