Anyone have honest opinion of Jolida amps?


Want to join ranks of tube/hybred owners but with a modest budget. I need advice. Wondering if the Jolida integrateds are any good. Seem to be a lot for sale. Also seems many reviews at Audio Review website may have been written by dealers (pity if its true). Looking for honest opinions and suggetions for this audio novice. THANKS.
dakajoba

Showing 2 responses by rivieraranch

I began climbing the Jolida early this year with a used Jolida 102B integrated. Unfortunately it was not a good match for my Spica TC-50 speakers so I began looking for speakers to match. The sound was wonderful, though. I learned more about tubes as I looked around to upgrade them. I thought the 102B was an excellent little amplifier. After using the 102B for a few months I bought a used Jolida 202B and I like it a lot. I use 1950's NOS preamp & driver tubes and Electro Harmonix EL-34's. The amp drives my Klipsch RB-5 II speakers real well. I have become accustommed to the sound of the Klipsches as opposed to the Spicas. I think in the back of my mind that I could find a pair of TC-60's; they are ported and would probably perform better than the 50's I had. Had it not been for Jolida and the availability of decently priced lightly used units, I may not have gone into tubes at all. Now I am tempted to move up another rung on the Jolida ladder with a nice used 302B . . .
In December 2005 I posted about Jolida and at the time was dickering over a like-new, used 302B. I bought the unit and it has been wonderful; it is not modified, save for a Jolida mod., the subwoofer output. I am using NOS Svetlana EL34 power tubes, 1962 Sylvania 12AX7A organ pre-amp tubes and CV4024 (12AT7) military Mullard tubes as drivers. The sound is wonderful. I sold the Klipsch speakers and bought a pair of Spica TC-50i's and I am back to where I came from. Now I am looking for a subwoofer to try that out. Jolida is not easy to beat for the money. If I modified the unit it would probably surprise me, but I am curious about the new 302B that has no balance control. LED biasing and remote. That might sound even better than the current model.