Jolida 502B upgrading to Accuphase E206

Here is a video I found on the Accuphase E206.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwZr7YUGC7g

I own a Jolida 502P amp but only have vintage Accuphase gear. An E202 Integrated to be exact which is a lot older than the E206 or the Jolida.

To me it is like apples and oranges in comparison sound wise. The age old Tubes vs SS question. I like the build quality of Jolida's recent amps but I love how a lot of Accuphase gear are just built like tanks.

If I was in your shoes I'd really just try to demo the E206 just to be sure. It is probably is going to be a lot more expensive than the Jolida. Depending on the price of what you could sell the 502B and the cost of the E206 I'd probably get the E206.

Wow the dynamic sound of that Accuphase is very good! Could be better in person.

The price of the Accuphase is US$100 more so its reachable amount.

How can you describe the sound of an Accuphase compared to a Jolida?

Hi Rattosecond

When I had the Jolida 502P and the Accuphase E-202 together in a system the Jolida had a tube complement of Penta Labs KT-88SC, Preferred 7025s and Penta 12AT7s. They were powering a pair of KEF Q300s. I would say the Accuphase E202 had a bit more of a forward sound and more bass vs the Jolida. The Jolida did better with the highs. Nice and clear and just enough detail to keep me happy. The Accuphase was not fatiguing at all with the highs but I did pick up a little more details on some songs with the Jolida. Again both sounded good to me just some differences. I have kept both and will not part with either amp. Sorry to not stating a clear winner. There wasn't one for me. Maybe other members who are more familiar with the Accuphase house sound can chime in.

Jedinite24

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.

I am having 2nd thoughts of selling my Jolida as it sound quite alright to me.

I hope someone with a E206 can share.

I am a tube o phile and currently run virtually no SS in my systems. I did like accuphase when I was a younger and bought an Accuphase pre-amp when as soon as I had a shot at it on Ebay. I loved it, but one channel on this very old first generation failed intermittantly so I sold it in a package trade. I regret it to this day and that was 7-8 years ago. I think their build quality is superb however and that they are reliable as a rule.
I think the Accuphase would be my chioce. Jolidas are frequently put up for sale so I wouldn't worry about finding one. The downside of the Acc.. was that it did not have the crystaline treble and may sound a bit warm and even muffled. If a richly toned lush sound is not your speed then forget the Accuphase.

Lush is good attraction to me.

I enjoy warm and relaxing sound

My speakers is Focus Audio 68SE 8ohms, 85sensitivity. Do you think it can be driven my the Accuphase?

Hi Rattosecond

I took another look at the Accuphase E206 and saw they kept a pretty cool feature from the E202. There is a switch in the back that allows you to use the E206 as is like an integrated or just as an amplifier only. I find that to be pretty handy. Also is the E206 the black or gold colored one? The reason I ask is that the gold colored one looks more prestigous and has a bit of a higher selling price than the black finished one when I looked on the net.

As for the Focus Audio speakers. I think the E206 will be able to push them just fine depending on the size of your room, loudness and where you sit. I put the E202 on a pair of Ohm Walsh 2s that I believe are 4 Ohm nominal with about 86 sensitivity and the E202 handled them with great ease. The room I had them in was a rectangular room that had 8ft high ceilings and I was over 12 ft away from them and the music was loud and clear.

Also I think Mechans is spot on. Jolida 502Bs do pop up from time to time so if you don't like the Accuphase you can pick one up quite easily. There are times when Accuphase gear is listed on A'gon and it disappears really fast.

Here is a PDF about the E206.

http://www.accuphase.com/cat/e-206en.pdf

Thanks Jedinite.

Unfortunately the guy selling the E206 is uncontactable.

Hence to cure the itch I just ugpraded the Jolida with new Obbligato and Mundorf caps and Kiwami resistors, replaced some parts with silver wires and a audiophile-grade fuse.

The 502B breadth a new life and here to stay.

I am still looking for an Accuphase but till the time come I am happy with this lovable Jolida amp.

Whew...my insecurities rear their little heads with the threat of losing a Jolida owner...bullet dodged!

Wow Rattosecond. That is a lot of mods to your Jolida 502B. Where did you get the idea to use such nice parts? Did you do the work yourself?

I found the idea here http://www.ellisaudio.com/jolidamods.pdf and done it myself.

Supercharged Jolida!

Wow just like to report.

After hanging the 2 output caps to Mundorf Evo Silver Gold Oil caps I noticed it opened up and the timbre of the instruments and vocals turned to be good. More pronounced midranged I may say and I like it very much.

However the Mundorf EVO caps is not the right voltage so the left channel lost volume.

Someone adviced me to use the Mundorf Supreme (because of higher voltage capacity) so I went to replace the Evo caps.

It turn out to be good as well though I missed the EVO midrange. Next step I will proceed to upgrade it toe Mundorf Supreme Silver Gold Oil so I can reclaim that great midrange.

Another amazing change that made a very positive change was to replace the cheap input copper cables to pure 24AWG silvers (from RCA connectors to the volume and balance knobs to the board). This really opened up the system, great improvement across the spectrum. This is one of the most surprising change that I did. Very positive and highly recommended!