Jolida JD-100A vs. Ah Njoe Tjoeb 4000

Using vacuum tubes as buffers did not impress me at all. For instance, I prefer the Heart CDP or the Jolida CDP over Ah! or any decent CDPs followed by an external tube beffer stage (e.g. a Musical Fidelity X10v3). To me, opamp and tube combination reveal their weaknesses more, but not compensating each other well enough. With the tube buffer, IMHO, the sound gets more 3d volume but the texture is blurred, the image of sound is less focused, and the boundary of sound stage is not well defined. I own Jolida 100 and Sony CDP. There are certain CDs which are better on my Sony but overall I prefer my Jolida. With the Jolida JD100 you may want to try different tubes. My tatse ? I like GE JG5751 best, more than the very expensive Sylvanias.

I agree with you Plinko: buy which ever one sounds better! It's hard to audition some of these units and I bought the Tjoeb unheard. Theoretically, the tubes have better harmonics (even vs odd?). But, its your ears that make the difference. Have fun!

I've had the AH! for a month and am 20 hours into the process of breaking in the upsampler. The Njoe Tjoeb was brilliant before the upsampler and after 20 hours, I hear a distinct difference for the better. I love it! With respect to tube buffers/tube outputs, what are the real world differences in sound? I always read tube output is better. In fact, my friend told me to get the Jolida because "it has a tube output" even though he had never heard either player. It seems to me the big picture would be to just get the player with the better sound buffers/outputs be darned.

I see a similar post about these players. Again, I love my Tjoeb 4000 with the upsampler. The sound is rich and detailed and without any softening or other "tube" effects. the harmonics are rich and pleasing. Good luck!

I don't think you can go wrong with either of those players at the price point. And as you mention, you can upgrade either until the cows come home. Also, they sell so often on the used market that, if finances permit, you could by both used and sell the one you like less, in true crazed audiophile fashion.

I still have not picked one yet. Plus, I am now looking at the Eastern Electric MiniMax. The Heart and Jolida have different sounds if you read the previously mention tnt review in this thread. Sorry I cant help more - Dan

What did u do im stuck between the
1.supertroeb plus upsampler
2 Joulida 100
3. Heart
4. Arcam Solo
Help

I have a Heart. Not bad considering I paid $450. I chose the Heart over the Ah because the AH uses opamps for voltage gain (the tubes are only a buffer). The Heart uses a true tube output, no opamps.

The Heart CDP's are supposed to be pretty good. I haven't heard one but I am interested. This link compares the Heart to the Jolida.

check this out

I have the Jolida and I just love it! My local dealer says that you can change the sound quite a bit with different tubes - something he says isn't always true. I am getting some Sylvania 5751 today to try but even with the stock tubes, it is the best player I have heard in my system (and I have tried Arcams, various Sony ES, Marantz, and CAL). By the way, there is no "100A" - there is only one model and it is officially the 100. I have not heard the Ah! but I can say the Jolida has an awesome build with the nicest metal remote I have ever seen. It is very impressive in all aspects for the price. Arthur

I can't compare the two but I can say that my Njoe Tjoeb does not sound too "Tubey" in an all tube system. I am very happy with my CDP.
System - ARC SP9, ARC VT-60, Vandersteen 2ce sigs.

I would like to see comparisons also. Since the AH! is only distributed from Upscale Audio, it seems as if its a tough piece of equipment to compare and this probably lends to why I also haven't found that many comparisons. I am particularly wondering if either of these cdps will make the sound too "tubey" when paired with a tube amp. Sorry, I didn't answer your question.