Jolida jd-502p

Jedinite24 makes a good point about Jolida in general...other amps I've looked at (and some I've actually listened to) are from VTL (85), Conrad Johnson, Cary, Rogue, and even a Tim de Paravicini EAR thing...all sell for multiples of the Jolida cost, and are they better? I'm not so sure...heresy yes, but really...the 502P sounds amazing.

Everyone likes what they like and if the Jolida makes you really happy why fight it. I say this because I imagine you have heard other makes of audio gear and are not naive. My own thoughts are that there are many better sounding pieces around including the EAR.
I use Chinese amps that are truly giant Killers. I honestly think their sound is about as good as it gets (in my system). They will never garner the respect of the mainstream audiophile community but I don't care and for the price paid they are simply ridiculously great.

I hardly "fight it" (the low cost excellence of the 502P)...I think I celebrate it! (ad nauseum maybe, but I prefer enthusiasm to cool). I use a Chinese Kavent S-33 (before going out of production it was built alongside Vincent stuff) that is a Giant Killer so I'm hip to great things from our Chinese brothers, without whom I'd have paid several times over what my rig cost.

Wilson - I'm a JoLida fan. I used Ei Elite 12AX7s and NOS Mullard 12AT7s with Winged C KT88s in mine. Never tried 5751s. You might want to check out Tube Monger if you haven't already. They have interesting stock and possibly some suggestions for you.

Thanks for the tip Ghosthouse. I hadn't heard of tubemonger. I checked out the site and they have quite a bit of NOS tubes that are a bit different than what I saw on other sites. I shot them an e-mail about my JoLida 502P and the power tubes I'm going to use with it and to my surprise I got an e-mail reply back with suggestions a couple of hours later. Here is the suggestions I received:

12AT7 tube suggestions:

Siemens & Halske E81CC - 1966 MINT NOS 3-MICA 6201 Munich W. German Prem. ECC81 12AT7 (neutral and very musical)

BRIMAR CV4033 - MINT NOS 1960-62 Military Black Plate Prem. Grade Long Life ECC81/CV4024/12AT7 Halo Getter STC Prod ENGLAND Factory Tested (more British sound with emphasis on midrange)

12AX7 tube suggestions:

MULLARD CV4035 M8214 - MINT NOS NIB 1961 Military Box Plate Prem Grade Long Life M8137 ECC83 CV4004 12AX7 Wrinkle Glass Halo Getter Whyteleafe Prod. Dual Logo Old Shield and CV - Gt. Britain (rich midrange)

BRIMAR CV4035 - MINT NOS NIB 1961 Military Box Plate Prem. Grade Long Life ECC83/CV492/CV4004/6057/12AX7 Halo Getter STC Prod. ENGLAND (neutral and very musical)

Tungsram ECC83 12AX7 - MINT NOS NIB OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1970 - Hungary (great tube at midprice)

Between Brent Jessee's recommendations and tubemonger's recommendations NOS tubes for my JoLida are going to run me over $250 easily for pairs of 12AX7s and 12AT7s.