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Jolida CDP question

I have owned a Jolida JD100 with a level 1 mod for about 8 months. I read many threads about the Jolida here on Agon before my purchase as well as after. In my system, it sounds rich and warm with good tonal balance, but lacks detail and emotion big time! I'd have to say kind or boring if you will.

Prior to buying the Jolida, I had a somewhat decent solid state upsampling dac and transport. The SS dac was definately on the bright side and had very little warmth. However, it had incredible detail, was unbelievably transparent, and was very exciting to listen to. Transparency seems virtually non-existent with the Jolida. The purchase of the Jolida was an attempt to capture some warmth, and it did! but, the sacrifices appear immense.

In my 8 months of ownership these are some of the things I have done to remedy the situation without success. I have bought to date about $1,200.00 in different matched tubes(one pair at a time). These include all of the recommended NOS tubes and many many more. I have also tried some different interconnects, and power cords. The best results were with Audience Au24 IC's, Guerrilla Audio Power cable, and a pair of tubes I bought here an Agon that are not in anyones list of tubes to try, but are the best on the planet.

I am driving Innersound Eros hybrid electrostats, which includs the bass amp for the low frequencies, and are using Monarchy Audio SE-100 deluxe SS monoblocks to drive the stators. I used this same combination of speakers and amps when I had my SS source gear.

So I'm not sure if anyone can help. Seems like the characteristics I'm experiencing with the Jolida are etched in stone. In any case, if anyone has any recommendations on fixes or different players, please let me know. Thanks..
sfrounds
kehut's avatar
kehut
668 posts
 
Chazz..Its all good! yeah, your probably right. Everyone has a different story to tell thats for sure. It does get old after awhile. We should just stay off the damn computer and enjoy our systems! But now Im looking for a SET integrated to try that wont cost an arm and 2 legs!

Be well,
Ken
goatwuss
877 posts
 
On the topic of Jolida CDPs (sorry to hijack the thread) - Does anyone have issues with the fast forward / rewind functions? The Jolida that I used had somewhat strange behaviour - the fast forward sometimes went slowly, othertimes very fast, with no consistency in slow/fast behaviour. Seemed kind of random. Has anyone seen this? If not, can you explain how the FF/rewind works on your Jolida?
dragon1952
181 posts
 
Boy, I don't know. I think the Jolida has incredible detail and very involving. If you've tried all sorts of tubes, PC's and interconnects maybe you should look at the rest of your system.
sfrounds OP
35 posts
 
A few people have emailed, and asked me about the tubes I mentioned in my intial post. They are Matsushita ECC803S, gold pins. However, the pins appear to be more brass looking. I believe these Matsushita's were made in conjunction with either Phillps, Mullard, or Amperex. But, even Telefunken has mention with ties to Matsushita. I have searched the web extensively for more information about them, but any information on them is scarce at best. I bought them here on Audiogon from a very reputable person in the Netherlands. I think, everyone who bought these were astonished, and their comments were later posted on the add for review. After I heard them, I immediately contacted the dealer and bought another pair, which I believe were his very last. I have auditioned a total of 19 pairs of tubes in my Jolida, and most of them were all NOS tubes that were recommended, and are typically being used by others. None of them could hold a candle to these Matsushita's. Why, who knows, not me! I wish some tube guru could shed some light for me on these tubes. Thanks, Steve
kck
184 posts
 
I would be inclined to agree with the thought that tubes and cdps are not an ideal match. I owned the Jolida twice (two units, about 1 year apart). Selling the first was dictated by finances, so I bought another when I had the chance as I missed that warm and er, fuzzy sound. But by then my ears had grown up a little and the rest of the system had become better too. It turned out to be a bit of a kid at a grownups' party.

Because I listen to a lot of large-scale classical, the player did not do it for me in the end. For someone listening to less complex music which does not demand resolution or transparency this player is a fine choice, as it is indeed very warm and melodious.

I moved on to the Consonance 2.2 which had resolution in spades but now have settled, hopefully for a while, on the Quad CDP99. While not as obviously resolving as the 2.2 I do not feel it misses any info either, and it flows the music quite well enough for me. As it also has a 6-input DAC and preamp built in that was icing on the cake for me.

Good luck.
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