Now that you've moved on to other cd players, what in hindsight were the negative charachters of the JD100? I've seen a lot of positive reviews but mostly from current owners. How does the JD 100 compare and contrast with your present player? Was the JD100 involving? How's the PRAT? Thanks so much in advance.
I felt my JD100s had great body and coherence, average detail, and not enough edge definition for dynamic snap and verve. It is a CD player that doesn't do anything very fast which is fine with many kinds of music but falls short with highly dynamic electronic and the like. For rock it was "nice" but when the music was supposed to be aggressive, the JD100 was not. I ended up liking a more neutral cd player and after trying 6 of them in my system, I settled on an Audio Aero Prima mk2 - and I love it. It has just the right balance of coherence and detail for my system and my tastes in music.
I second Arthurs assessment though I would point out that it depends on your system and how well it integrates with your other components so you have to take each opinion in context. R
I basically feel the same( as Arthur and Rushbattle)..I thought the JD was a very open player in my system (at the time)..I will also add that the player is very responsive to tube rolling. The Chinese tubes provide decent drive, but seem to be responsible for what I thought was a rather "splashy" top end, (at least in my set up) NOS types such as RCA, Raytheon,GE's 5751's with their lower gain seemed to limit the dynamics and made a more closed in soundstage IMO. I dont think any amount of tube rolling is going to drastically change the player into a top performer though.
Power cords too have a definate effect upon the player. I tried cords from VH Audio's Flav 4 to Electraglide's Epiphany ( some would concider overkill)..All changed the character of the sound as would be expected.
FWIW..a good audio buddy and I were able to compare my stock JD with a Level 2 (Parts Connection) player side by side..The jest of it was that while the modded player had the better bass and lower noise, as well as a more forward presentation......the stock player with EH 12AX7 provided the warmth and texture that makes this player as good as it is at its price point.(at least at its used going price)
I owned a Rega Apollo and then NAD 542 after the JD. While I felt the Rega to be a bit better than the JD in terms of noise floor and overall smoothness, It was more of a lateral move than a real sonic upgrade IMO.
Like Aball..I landed upon the new AA Prima and haven't looked back. It's more than 2X the price but truly is a leap in sonics above the JD in every regard.
If I still owned the JD...This is a tube I would try. I like them in my Jolida amp very much!
My favorite tubes were vintage Telefunken 12AX7 smoothplates however, new matched goldpin EH 12AX7s performed admirably, at one tenth the cost. (I tried around a dozen different tubes)
Since you ask specifically. PRAT may have been its only glaring short coming and maybe a bit of top end clarity. Not a lack of air, just the minutia contained herein.
I am glad I kept my Jolida. I also have a CJ DV2B (tube output) and a Meridian 508.24. Each player has it's own strengths/weakenesses, but the Jolida is a keeper, especially after replacing the tubes with ribbed plate Telefunken 12AX7s. This really opened up the mids and highs and the bass is much clearer and solid. Soundstaging is as good as the CJ but perhaps not as much dynamic oomph. The Meridian trumps the two tube players for that.
i owned the jolida for a while. i tried all variety of tubes--12ax7, 12au7, 5751 and 12at7. the sound barely changed. it has no tube warmth. it sounds like a very transparent, unforgiving cd player.
I bought a JD100 and returned it (Jolida offers a return option to its dealers, even if the dealer does not usually offer a return option). I A/B'd it with my Rotel RCD-02. The RCD-02 (see review at AA), is very clean sounding, with decent detail retrieval, good soundstaging, and very tight, somewhat extended bass. It's shortcomings are primarily digital artifacts, with too much glare in the upper-mid/lower treble range. It is not very forgiving of poorly mastered CDs. The Jolida sounded so similar to the Rotel that I could not justify the money spent, plus I would have given up HDCD decoding, which I value. At the time, I decided that my system lacked the ability to differentiate between CD players. At the time, my combo 2-channel/HT system was built around a Sherwood/Newcastle P965 pre-pro, which fed an Odyssey Audio HT3 amp, into Vandy 1C speakers and an older Def Tech sub. I decided I would have to upgrade the preamp. While keeping the Sherwood, I inserted a used C-J PV11 preamp for my 2-channel sources. The improvement was huge, but the Rotel CD player's shortcomings were still a problem. In any case, I won't be able to upgrade to a better CD player for a while. It is interesting that, IIRC, the RCD-02 and the JD-100 share the same Burr-Brown DAC. I know there are many differences between the players, but this DAC is a few years old. When I do upgrade, I will focus on CD players and DACs with newer chips, and chips from other chip-makers. Also, the concept that a well-designed discreet output stage trumps an output stage that uses op amps makes sense to me, so I will focus on gear that eschews op amps. Just MHO, YMMV!
I had the Jolida for over two years and loved it. But I replaced it with a TRL modified Sony DVD player. The Sony is more detailed w/o being in your face. It just has that realism that the Jolida couldn't manage. As much as I liked the Jolida, I wouldn't go back.
I had the JD100 and loved it as well. I noticed an improvement from tube rolling and from improved isolation. I didn't try different power cords. I have an all-tube system and I thought it had an analog-like tube sound to it. The only reason I sold it was because after I set up an Apple Airport Express, I found myself listening to my wireless music server more out of covenience, and finally, I decided to sell the JD100.
i owned the jolida for a while. i tried all variety of tubes--12ax7, 12au7, 5751 and 12at7. the sound barely changed. it has no tube warmth. it sounds like a very transparent, unforgiving cd player. Mrtennis (Threads | Answers)
Your ears must be terrible then. I found it quite easy to tell differences when I owned mine. A friend of mine bought my GE black plates and he is amazed at the difference.
LOL, you tell 'em Sam! I could easily tell Tube and Powercord changes with mine as well.
After reading my above post I realize I was not kind enough to the Jolida. I enjoyed it very much and can heartily recommend one.
Aball summoned up its weaknesses well (everything at this price point and well above will have them). I would add that this player has plenty of attributes as well. Not the least of which is a magical ability with female vocals.
ditto Sam's & Distortion's comments on the Jolida responding to tube rolling. I've had a have dozen different sets in mine and it wasn't hard to note differences. Yes, some were subtle differences, but others were hard to miss. Best tubes so far were a pair of Raytheon 5751's ..but..alas..one died a couple weeks back :-((. I went out looking for another pair and noticed Raytheon 5751's have gone up a bit in price...if you can find them...ouch. I've had the player for near two years & like the sound very much(listen to traditional jazz, vocals, acoustic..). I don't see it leaving my system anytime soon.
i accept the perceptions of all who who reported hearing differences. i didn't hear nay. there may be reasons for my situation which pertain to my stereo system, or i may have a higher threshold for acknowledging differences. there is another possibility. my jolida may have been different, sonically than others.
I've owned a JD-100 for a couple years and have no ticking / transport noise at all. Also, I've rolled a number of tubes in the unit, and finally settled on a pair of Sylvania Gold Label JHS 5751WA triple mica blackplates. In my system, and to my ears, the Jolida profited handsomely from the tube swap, a PC upgrade (VH Audio Flavor 1), modest and low cost dampening, and the careful application of Walker SST on the tube pins / PC & IEC prongs / RCA connectors. The Walker product, IMO, was wonderful in pulling in extra detail.
Would anyone out there can recommend either of this european 12ax7 tubes for jolida jd100 ? Which i prefer to used once the jd100 arrived. This what i heard from others audiophiles.
Telefunken 12ax7...More linear,pure and focused. or Mullard 12ax7 which more warmer,thick and texturally harmonic. I listened a lot of jazz with female vocalist and soft rock. Thanks.
I've been down the Mullard road & haven't liked them any any of three different pieces (CDP, preamp, & an integrated) they've been in. One of the pieces is a Jolida 100. Too soft, mushy, & slow...the tubes, that is.
One nice tube in the Jolida 100 is the Sylvania (JHS or JAN) 5751 NOS. Refined & clean on the top with good bass. I think tube depot has them at a fair price. Also give tube depots Tung Sol gold pins a look. I haven't tied them, but heard they are worth a look. I ran a pair of Raytheon 5751 3-mica black plates for a couple years & they are VERY nice. Clean on top with plenty of well defined bass on the bottom. When I bought them they were considered one of many 5751's worth a try (I liked them better than the GE or RCA 3 mica that was the rage then). I had one of the Raytheon's blow recently & went to look for another set....the world woke up & now the Raytheon is a HIGHLY sought after tube...and they are basically gone from most dealers. When you do find them they are pretty pricey. I ran a pair of cryo'd EI 12ax7's until the last few weeks. Very nice tube for a current production model. I'm now running a pair of Amperex 12ax7's (about 1967 vintage from Heeren) and like them the best over what I've mentioned here. They may not be as punchy in the bass as the Raytheon's but the mids & highs are extremely refined. A pleasure to listen to. The Sylvania 5751's are very close to the Amperex tubes, you'll have to really listen to tell them apart, on the top end at least. I'd expect Amperex bugle boys to be very similar. I have at least one more set of tubes I'd like to try..if they pan out I'll report back.
FWIW...keep your eyes open on the Telefunkens. From what I've been reading (and seeing) there are a ton of Teles being dumped on the market from eastern EU that are not the match of the older Teles that made their reputation initially.
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