I've actually owned both of these players. I enjoyed the Jolida very much; a very involving, high quality tube output player. It is no match however, for the Eastsound. In terms of detail, resolution, refinement -- the Eastsound is truly hi-end to Jolida's hi-fi IMO.
Much has been said of the build quality of the Eastsound with good reason -- it is as if it were carved from a single, thick piece of aluminum. It uses a zinc-coated plate under the transport, which makes it run absolutely silent.If this player were manufactured here, it would easily sell for at least $3000.
Although I am a great fan of tubes, the background of the E5 is perfectly black in a way that is probably only possible in SS given the natural distortion that occurs with vacuum tubes.
The mids are quite warm and to my ear, virtually indistinguishable from tubes. You will not get the kind of tube-y bloom you hear with the Jolida. But that is a small trade off for a player that eats Jolida's lunch in bass extension, believable - not digital sounding - high frequency reproduction, layer upon layer of rich detail and depth of soundstage. Even if you're a hard-core tube head, you'll love this player.
An important note: the Eastsound requires a long break-in -at least 1000 hours of playtime - to truly reach its potential. Also, can't say enough positive things about the people at Cattylink Analog Research (cattylink.com) -- the company that sells this product direct from Hong Kong. My player cost $747 shipped to me in two days from Hong Kong. They threw in an excellent pair of interconnects which made me put my expensive, brand-name ICs up for sale.
The only downside (and it's not much of a downside) is the remote control -- which looks nice enough but doesn't function very well. You nearly break your fingers trying to press the buttons hard enough to make it work properly.
If it seems a little strange to buy a player direct from Hond Kong from a company you've never heard of, reassure yourself by looking at the thousands of raves about this product on head-fi or audio asylum. An absolutely remarkable piece of machinery. Cattylink does warranty the product for one year and will run a 120 hour quality assurance test before sending the player out.
Much has been said of the build quality of the Eastsound with good reason -- it is as if it were carved from a single, thick piece of aluminum. It uses a zinc-coated plate under the transport, which makes it run absolutely silent.If this player were manufactured here, it would easily sell for at least $3000.
Although I am a great fan of tubes, the background of the E5 is perfectly black in a way that is probably only possible in SS given the natural distortion that occurs with vacuum tubes.
The mids are quite warm and to my ear, virtually indistinguishable from tubes. You will not get the kind of tube-y bloom you hear with the Jolida. But that is a small trade off for a player that eats Jolida's lunch in bass extension, believable - not digital sounding - high frequency reproduction, layer upon layer of rich detail and depth of soundstage. Even if you're a hard-core tube head, you'll love this player.
An important note: the Eastsound requires a long break-in -at least 1000 hours of playtime - to truly reach its potential. Also, can't say enough positive things about the people at Cattylink Analog Research (cattylink.com) -- the company that sells this product direct from Hong Kong. My player cost $747 shipped to me in two days from Hong Kong. They threw in an excellent pair of interconnects which made me put my expensive, brand-name ICs up for sale.
The only downside (and it's not much of a downside) is the remote control -- which looks nice enough but doesn't function very well. You nearly break your fingers trying to press the buttons hard enough to make it work properly.
If it seems a little strange to buy a player direct from Hond Kong from a company you've never heard of, reassure yourself by looking at the thousands of raves about this product on head-fi or audio asylum. An absolutely remarkable piece of machinery. Cattylink does warranty the product for one year and will run a 120 hour quality assurance test before sending the player out.