Ready to upgrade from the Jolida JD1501

Don't get me wrong the Jolida sounds amazing with the KEFs. I just have that nagging feeling it could still be better. Maybe is just a case of upgraditis. It is fantastic as long as the music isn't doing anything too daring, but the moment the music gets too aggressive and there are more parts competing to be heard, it just looses something. The sound stage shrinks. There is less separation between instruments. I would even go as far as to say it starts to sound fatiguing. I used to have a pair of vandersteens and I had these same complaints, only they were ten times worse. The KEFs improved things immensely. Now, there is just a hint of those issues remaining.

Also, this amp is starting to make me a little nervous. I cant say for certain that it is the culprit but Im not entirely confident in its reliability. I once had a nuforce udac completely die on me the first time I plugged it in. I have a relatively new Headphone amp that blew a tube after only a short period of use. One of the inputs, if I have anything plugged into it, can be heard over all the other inputs. Most recently the led lights have started to go out. Im starting to question its "quality".

I would love to go all tube and have looked at the Jolida offerings many times but I have to be "somewhat" practical. I don't have the space to have more than one system so whatever I end up with will also have to do double duty with my TV for movies and video games. (not worried about surround sound. Strictly 2 channel.)

I used to own the 1501RC, and I was going to suggest some tube rolling till you mentioned the reliability issues. Forget that idea!

On the same subject, in the current "The Entry Level" in Stereophile, Stephen Meijas mentions some reliability issues with the Exposure 2010--an input not working, plus some problems with the matching Exposure CD player--after they'd been in storage for a while. I paid attention b/c I've considered buying the Exposure amp, too.

Of the amps you mention, the Parasound seems like a particularly good choice because of its high power--it would give you a lot of headroom to keep the music from getting congested at high levels as you describe. For that reason as well, a ~50 watt amp like the Exposure would seem like a bad choice.

Enjoy the KEFs! My first speakers were KEFs, and I still miss 'em!

Megido

For the most part it sounds fantastic but I've noticed that more complicated music, with lots of parts, seem to loose a bit of the magic. I feel like these speakers deserve an amp that is on the same level in order to really shine.

It may or may not be your Jolida. Here is a quote from another KEF LS50 thread on AudiogoN:

01-07-13: Bhobba

Yea heard them against some much more expensive and obviously better stuff along with a number of fellow audiophiles. Very clear, real and present especially in the midrange. Everyone that heard them liked them. The issue is feed them something complex and they go to pieces. If you like Dianna Krall, Sinatra etc - get a good valve amp and these speakers and you are in heaven - forget rock, heavy metal etc.

I still use a pair of KEF Q10s I bought new...a great nearfield recording monitor by the way...and I bet the LS50s are MUCH better in every way. Metal heads should use 'em with a subwoofer. Also, a buddy of mine has that Vincent 236 and it sounds great, although it's not as much fun as a pure tube amp.

@Finsup Maybe I am just hearing the speakers limitations. I suspected the amplifier because a common complaint or critique of the JD1501 is that its quite musical but not very revealing. After seeing that stated several places, I began to suspect it might be holding the speakers back a bit since being revealing is what they are really good at.

@ Wolf_garcia I'm actually very happy with the bass these things put out. I have a velodyne subwoofer I could plug in, but honestly, I've never even been tempted to.

Like I said, I would LOVE to go pure tube and have recently been tempted by the Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum but I don't think tubes would be very practical for things such as movies and games which the amp would also have to run. Please correct me if I am wrong. All I need is an excuse!