Does this amp have a problem or is it OK to buy?


I'm considering a Jolida 302B. Having seen reports of humming trannies, I asked the seller about it. His response is below. I don't know if this is a problem or normal. Even if slightly wrong, I'd rather not buy. What do you think?
"With the speakers connected to the 302B, I can hear a very faint hum from the speakers, but you have to put your ear right against the speaker grill to hear the hum. Turning the volume knob on the 302B has no effect on the amount of hum - the sound level remains constant regardless of the volume setting. Again, I must stress that the volume of hum is so slight, I doubt if anyone in a silent room will notice it, even when standing close to it. You really have to put your ear against the speaker to hear the very faint hum. I believe this kind of hum is generated by all amplifiers - try listening to your current amp. When listening to music, I doubt if one can hear the effects of it even in quiet passages.

Now, with a CD player hooked up to the Jolida, the hum level increases as you increase the volume on 302B. When the volume dial is turned down to minimum, the level of hum is very faint (same level as if cd player was not connected). When the volume is turned to MAXIMUM, the hum becomes noticeable as you approach the speaker (about 3 feet away). In addition, when the CD player is on, and the input selector on the 302B is set to other than CD (such as AUX), turning the volume knob has no bearing on the hum level - it stays constant at the barely audible level. I believe what this indicates is that by itself, the 302B is very quiet (just a barely audible hum), and when you hook up a CD player or phono stage, the inherent noise (hum) from those external sources are magnified as you increase the volume. "

Thanks....
river251
Of course, cos the hum is not from the input jack or internal wire, its from the filament supply.

Most modern power amps or integrated amps with reasonably high gain have DC filaments (read: no hum)

Regardless of AC or DC filament, the textbook treatment if you have a totem pole (SRPP or stacked triodes the call) configured first stage the filament MUST be raised to preserve tube life.

Those who throw NOS tubes at these Chinese amps you are flushing money down the toilet.

properly modded this amp is wonderful. tranny is overbuilt, lots of space to put in oversized components.

However, most modders simply put in new caps and new diodes and completely ignore this serious flaw of filament supply.
If " barely audible" is something acceptable when the input is shorted with nothing, no CD connected, then go for it and fix the CD player, likely a ground loop or a bad RCA cable.

If "barely audible" is a buzz reagrdless of volume and it annoys you, then its the filament supply that really should be fixed.
Well I guess if the OP would find himself putting his ear up close to the speaker grill obsessively then he should pass on this amp.....

I must say I have never listened to a Jolida integrated amp and know beans about them.

I will say reading the email of the seller I believe he was being honest as possible.
I would also bet the seller does not have shorting plugs plugged into the unused inputs on the amp. That alone can add noise....

What did this amp sell for new? Under a $1000 bucks?

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/jolida_jd302b.htm
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All, can't thank you enough. The seller has most graciously let me back out. Amazingly honorable person.

Shipping to the nearest tech would be prohibitive, living with it would not work for this overly particular buyer, and spending the time to learn and fix it myself isn't an option. I need to get my hifi set, so I can return to studying jazz guitar, or I'll never be able to play a tune.

Thanks again. This place is amazing.
I have no personal experience with Jolida, but their reputation for reliability has been less than stellar.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS412US415&q=jolida+problems