Jolida JD100 stock v. modded

On the issue of stock vs. modded, I have listened a/b of a Denon 2900 stock (which I own) and an Exemplar mod. Also have demoed a Jolida 100 with an underwood level 2. For sure the 2900 mod added a great deal of performance. The Jolida sounded wonderful, but I did not have a comparison to a stock unit. I pondered the question if it makes more sense to spend a bit more for a better stock player (i.e. audio aero Prima, Arcam FMJ33, etc.) I like the idea of the Electrocompanient SE which is a factory upgrade (but much more expensive). FWIW, having heard the Exemplar 2900 and Underwood Jolida myself I am sure that there are sonic benefits. I have decided to stretch my budget a bit and go with a better player to begin with instead of a $1K machine with $1K or more of modifications. Of course, I could be wrong.

Hi,

I am really glad to see this thread ... On the weekend I did some comparison between Jolida JD 100 level-1 Mod and Arcam FMJ CD-23.

My System -

Jolida JD 100 (level -1 Mod Underwood with sylvania 5751 triple mica goldpins) --> Eichman Siver Bullets IC --> Odyssey tempest pre --> Grogenberg (?) IC --> Odyssey stratos 120K upgrade --> Zu Wax speaker cables --> Usher 6581.

I bought this Jolida around a year back .. at that time compared stock Jolida with Rega Planet/Jupiter, NAD silver series CD player and Arcan CD-72 and thought that Jolida was better and bought level -1 mod Jolida from underwood.
There is not a huge difference between Stock and Modified Jolida .. may be modified has better bass. Over the period I found out that more than any mods .. tubes makes lots of difference .. I tried 5-6 different brands and settled with sylvania .. may be I will try Mullards and new PC in future.

OK .. now on the weekend I swapped Jolida and Arcam FMJ CD-23 by keeping everything same (IC'c,and PC's) and yes there was a difference .. I was surprised to find out Jolida was better. Soundstage is wider and deeper in Jolida, Cymbals have this natural decay, images are better and vocals are great as compared to Arcam ... Arcam was better in terms of attack/speed .. bass was little boomy (I am not sure why but there may be some problem with this player). Now given the fact that I am the owner of Jolida its natural that I feels that Jolida is better .. but at the same time my wife was working in Kitchen and whenever I swapped the CD players she never knew which one was playing and everytime I get the answer Jolida is better .. its more open and vocals are better (Now as I tend to get lost in all these audiophile terms and components, I always ask my wife about her opinion and found out that most of the times its unbiased).

Anyway in short I will not say FMJ CD-23 is a better player than Jolida, On the other hand The Arcam Integrated A85 is a sweet little Int amp.

Its always better to listen in your system with you own ears, Good Luck.

Thanks,

Milind

CRWINDY HI.
In reference to your comments"The Jolida people had no problems with the mods done to their amp"
I say this 'Do the flowers have a problem with the honeybees buzzing around them'? It's rather beneficial for them ,don't you think so?
Best regards
George

They seemed to feel that mods done to their amps did not improved them while keeping their essence, while the modifications being done to the CD player changed the sound so that it was not consistent with their intentions for that player. Of course they are happy to have you buy their equipment no matter what. My player should be here in a day or two and I will let you know what I think about it (stock).

I'm glad I kept my JD-100 basically stock, outside of the following: JHS Gold Label Sylvania 5751WA triple mica black plates, Chris VenHaus cryoed Flavor 1 PC, Herbie's Hal-O 9 tube dampers, all resting on a 22 lb. granite slab supported by Vibrapods. Has a 12 lb. piece of marble on the top resting on coasters. The tube pins, IEC prongs, PC prongs, and RCA plugs are all treated with Walker SST.

My contact with Jolida in the US was about identical to Crwindy's comments: swap tubes, maybe dampening, upgrade PC/ICs. That's it.

Please take note of trying the Walker SST; it was the piece d'resistance for my Jolida, in my system (Milindks
- I run Odyssey Stratos and Tempest, plus Groneberg ICs and speaker cables). IMHO, I'd much rather spend $70 on the Walker SST than doing the $$$ high-priced mods that may very well remove the pleasurable and fundamental characteristics of the JD-100.

I have no financial affiliation with Walker, Odyssey, Jolida, Groneberg, Herbies, the A-Gon vendor who sold me the Sylvania tubes, or the shop in town that let me pick the granite and marble for free from their nicely appointed scrap heap!

Happy listening.