WHICH TUBE AMP TO BUY


LOOKING TO PURCHASE THE MCINTOSH MC275/ JAS ARRAY 2.1/ OR THE JOLIDA MUSIC ENVOY MONO'S ROOM SIZE IS 25'X30' REALLY WANT TO FILL ENTIRE ROOM MAY NEED TO UP SIZE SPEAKERS TO HAVE THE BE-718'S W/ A REL STUDIO 3 SUB ANYONE HAVE ANY OF THESE TUBE AMPS THANKS
sjwholesale
Almost all Asian electronics (unless you're talking about WAVAC or Shindo or Kondo, or something in those price and performances ranges) are poorer quality copies of well-established western designs. Even the relatively decent stuff (like Cayin, Consonance, and Jolida) is often in violation of US patents and intellectual property rights! And although it might sound good at first, the internal components (resistors, caps, PCB's, chassis, and especially tubes and IC chips) are NEVER the quality you'll find in equivalent American products. So buy American whenever you can. Especially these days!! The following should be within most people's budget, especially used:

** If you like your sound so dry it makes your ears pucker, go with ARC. My experience with their integrateds has been the exact opposite of Efner's though.
** If you want full, natural, uncolored sound, McIntosh is the very best -- especially the MC275. And don't forget Manley (a lot of audiophiles do!)
** If you want/need a bit warmer-colored sound, Conrad Johnson (used ;--) and Rogue Audio are good choices.

These are all American, and in the high-moderate price range.

Other American-made products that are a bit (to a lot) more more expensive would be BAT, CAT (Convergent Audio Technology), Walcott, and the excellent new hybrids, Moscode and Aesthetix Atlas.

Do watch out for re-branded Chinese products -- like the Mark Levinson Red Rose products.

The JAS Array is an intriguing design, with no other equivalent, but it probably won't be powerful enough for your needs and difficult to get properly serviced.
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I may be biased, but with the 275 music sounds very natural. A very good value for the dollar IMHO. You may want to change out the stock tubes for the best sound.
Hold on a second...JoLida is based out of Maryland. They mft. in China and finish in the US (so far as I know) but that is a bit different than what was posted. FWIW - I went from a 502B to a JAS H-1 Hybrid. Very happy with the move - even after comparing the stock H-1 to the factory upgraded JoLida 502B.
As the former importer/distributor for one of the brands Nsgarch mentioned, let's just say that being up close and personal with them leaves a terrible taste in one's mouth.

A most interesting read on the way things are done in China was published in Forbes several years ago http://www.forbes.com/home/free_forbes/2005/0905/088.html Obviously, Jolida is a much better model because Michael Allen calls the shots. Imagine how things go when the Westerners don't.