Jolida Reliability


I am wondering how reliable these amps are. From what I understand it is mainly only the tubes that need replacing, and I see that more as maintenance than a reliability issue.
If there are any Jolida owners on here, how long have you had your Jolida and has anything gone wrong?
legion1capone
Kats -
To me, it seemed like the HiFi tuning fuse made a difference. I wasn't expecting to hear a difference but thought I did. I felt this was confirmed when a tube went and took the fuse. I had to use an inexpensive Radio Shack fuse until I got a new replacement HF fuse. Without the HF fuse, it seemed like the music lost a little "liveliness" (maybe some air and detail?). This was restored when the HiFi fuse was replaced. Placebo effect? Maybe. But for $30 bucks, and even if it is placebo, if the music sounds better or even if it just seems to, it's an inexpensive "tweak". Search the forums on HiFi Tuning Fuse (there are other upgrade fuse options, as well). There are definitely naysayers but I'm not the only advocate.

BTW - I switched from 6550 to various KT88s. Lastly running a quad of Winged C KT88s. I thought these were really great. Also, see if JoLida is still doing a factory mod/upgrade. That was ($200?) money well spent.

Finally - I've no commercial or business interests/connections with JoLida. They just made a great affordable product (my intro to tubes) that gave me a lot of enjoyment for a decade. I recently retired it in favor of some mono-blocks but have no intention of letting it go. I'll use it as back up if I need it.
I have been owning, and selling Jolida gear for years now. At least 10. Always been happy with the sound, build, service, and reliability. The gear sounds great. All of my customers have been very happy. No complaints from them, nor from me. Myself, I prefer the JD102 or JD202 amps- nice sound, and I do not want to deal with an amp weighing more than 50 pounds. If that is not a problem the new Fusion 3502S amp is the real deal. Nice, smooth, mellow sound.
A gent who sometimes services some of my more vintage gear sells Jolida out of his shop along with many other musical instruments as well. When I asked if the Jolida products were any good, first mentioning their overseas manufacture, he stated that it all depends on who engineered the products in the first place. If you spec it with cheap parts, they'll build it according to spec. If you spec it with good parts...
He is first and foremost a musician so I took him on his opinion and bought a preamp. Pretty good overall, no issues whatsoever although eventually I sold it to finance an ARCB amp.

I bought a JD202A amp years ago. It served me well. I loved the sound. After 8 years I had to replace a resistor. No problem. At the time a friend and I had been selling vintage gear. We decided to ask Jolida to let us be dealers since we both liked the JD202A amp so well. They agreed. Today we sell Jolida, Klipsch, and Music Hall gear. We have very few problems with Jolida, and customers often comment on how great the amps sound. Most people find their expectations are beat- better than what they expected. My own personal experience with their amps is the reason I am selling these today. You will not find better gear for the money- especially tubed gear. Well built, and sound great. And these do not cost $4000 + for an amp. Feel free to compare the Fusion 801 or Fusion 3502S amps to a CJ MV60, or Cary sli-80. You are likely to prefer the sound of the Jolida. And for a small price you can get the caps and diodes and resistors upgraded- you can even get Rike Audio s-caps if you like. Anything you buy can have a glitch. It happens. Does it happened often with Jolida- NO. Some people are really negative, mean, hateful people who are not objective. One bad experience to 500 goods ones does not make a bad product- that is very good. I remember a time when people were making fun of Japanese junk- back in the 60s. Then Pioneer, Sansui, and Technics kicked butte. Jolida shipping, service, warranties, QA - all done out of Maryland USA. The real Jolida company. It is not cheap junk, but great entry level- high end tube gear. It represents the entry to high end audio gear. It can easily be upgraded and modified. The transformers are very good. There is / was a distributor in Naples Florida selling cheap junk under name of Jolida- the old previously used factory claimed ownership of designs, made junk, and the dealer in Naples was passing it off. I think that has slowed down now as people became aware of what is going on. I am not asking anyone for their business. I write this as a member. For the usefulness to everyone interested in nice tube gear at an affordable price. There is only one real Jolida company and that is the one in Maryland. They do not sell their gear through the dealer in Naples, Fla. Hope this clears up some confusion. Hopefully you might pass some of this information around- so many threads and sites and forums. It may be a service to someone wanting a nice tube amp for less than $2500. There is no way that Cayin nor Prima Luna amps are better. You can spend 4k on a CD player but it is doubtful to best the old JD100A player (no longer available). Today though you can spend about $300 on a CD player and connect it to the FX DACIII ($499) and have sound that will compare favorably to any 2k player around. I cannot afford $5000 or more for a "name brand" amp. Why should I? One could do a lot of upgrades and repairs for that cost difference. Thanks. Hope this helps someone. Bob A.  boband212

BUYERS BEWARE...I’ve had a 502P for over four years and it’s been nothing but trouble…sapping me of time by compelling me to spend hours listening to it instead of doing something to help those less fortunate than myself (and some more fortunate than myself), and staring at the stupid tube glow…nobody needs this crap. I thought, "I’ll get a Jolida and go for the cheap factory upgrades and stop thinking about it" but no…tube rolling, endless posts about how cool the Jolida people are to talk to, how rare reviews are, basically zero advertising, how my 502P is too inexpensive for audio geek credibility, how "audio salon" owners make me listen to Rogers, VTL, and ARC stuff that doesn’t sound better…insane…it's not easy being a Jolida owner. Not easy at all. A recent post noted that an ARC tech said KT150s could kill a 6550 specific ARC amp’s transformer…over a year ago I stuck 150s in my stupid 502 (after 3 years of KT120s) and what happens? NOTHING…it just sounds better…no transformer heat issues, no hum, no problems at all…the 50 pound amp just sits there with the tubes glowing away like it just doesn’t care…at least with the ARC thing you can worry about something…nothing…man...