Shanling, Jolida, Cary, Tube, SS can anyone compar

I distrust "upgrades." Putting together electronics to make a well hued sound is something of an art form, consisting of careful balancing of electronics. Mark Allen told me of how when they finished the JD 100 prorotype, it sounded too bright to their ears. After fiddling with some "upgrades" he, on a whim, flipped a resistor, and what do you know? It solved the brightness. How can I trust a five hundred dollar "upgrade" to get the sound right, especially when the sound is already right?

Muralman:
Thanks once again. I tried to email the guy with the used Jolida but it came back undeliverable. May try to call him.
Anyway, have a new question for you. I just got my Cary PH301 and am wondering about the tubes in it. It has three 12AU7 and two 12AX7's. The AX's also say Ei Yugoslavia. The AU's have no other writing, just 12AU7, written vertically in red ink. One actually has no writing at all but looks identical to the AU's. All are silver topped. Anyway, I'm sure you know what these are and if they are any good. I have to say that everything about this preamp, looks brand new. Will let you know how it sounds.
Bill

Muralman:
One guy selling new Jolida's claims that they use the Burr Brown DAC. What's up with that?
Bill

About the Burr Brown vs. Phillips: There is nothing in my manual that says one way or the other. Mark Allen told me he uses Phillips and not Burr Brown. Here is a portion of a Jolida 100 review:

"The JD-100A is a departure from most high end machines: it shuns the expected Burr-Brown D/A converters in favor of Philips chips. This is totally intentional. JoLida's design goal with the JD-100A was to build a CD player that was very linear, thus very listenable. This is the main difference, in my opinion, between digital and analog music reproduction. Analog, to my ears, is very linear. Many CD players tend to be bright and analytical. These players reproduce all of the detail, but they tend to be very fatiguing, especially during extended listening sessions. Listening to music should be enjoyable, not fatiguing."

So there you have it. The seller probably thought by making his claim the unit would be more attractive to a buyer. You are rapidly becoming a knowledgeable buyer.

About the tubes. Just listen and don't worry.

Has anyone actually heard the Xindak ? This player has interested me for a couple of months now but all I have heard is some hype from the distributor and a dealer. For something that the distributor claims that he sells out of in a hurry there sure seems to be a lack of actual end user feedback.