I do agree that it does not take much of a cash outlay to get good & even very good sound in the home environment. The sound with relatively inexpensive equipment is, in general, a bigger compromise than some well-designed hi-end gear but the compromises are quite livable. I've often seen people happier w/ smaller systems (what they call a down-grade) than they were w/ their prev hi-(sp)end gear. Is it possible that these people, who down-graded, are listening to music now rather than the sound of their 2-ch? They seem to forget about the electronics & the speakers & seem to be enjoying the music emanating from the system as a whole. This seems to be a major reason in my mind for a happier audio-enthusiast who "down-graded". Actually, in my mind, he/she "upgraded"!!
I have a JoLida 502A that is heavily modified so I can speak a bit about the JoLida sound I get from this amp. it just might be similar to the 302B. Yes, I know that the 502A uses 6550/KT88 while the 302B uses EL34s. So, I'm not comparing tube sounds.
Both the 502A & 302B use plenty (atleast in my mind!) of GLOBAL negative feedback! I've got the 502A sch & it's very easy to see this. The 502A measures very nicely on the bench but the global -ve feedback has an effect on the overall sound: dark & broody & closed-in. The soundstage is also closed-in/2-D. The sound is limited to the width of the speaker separation. Playing w/ the speaker position did not improve the sound by too much. After the mods were made, the sound opened up but nothing like it should be for an amp of such a well-known topology that could exist w/o any global feedback. One has to to hear another amp that does not have any global negative feedback to realize what I'm saying. To this effect I wish that you has retained the AES Sixpacs. They have a feedback on/off switch. Perhaps you played w/ this switch while you owned the Sixpacs? If you did, could you tell the difference in sound?
IMHO, getting rid of Sixpacs was a big mistake. It easily bests the 302B in every respect.
Anyway, I've lived w/ my JoLida since Jan 2005 & I gained this insight over a period of time. The JoLida amps are not the best implementation of this well-known amp topology. I also feel that paying so much for the mods to some 3rd party company is throwing good money after bad - it's a total waste knowing the way JoLida implemented the design. For this same amount of money (for a brand new amp) my gut feeling is that one can do better - getting a used Pathos or a used Viva or a new Primaluna or a Sugden or an Audio Refinement represents a much better choice. As a used unit, however, the JoLida is excellent.
FWIW. IMHO. YMMV.
