Tube pre, SS amp incompatibility, which amp 2 use?


I wanted to see how a tubed pre-amp would sound in my system so I purchased a Jolida Music Envoy pre-amp to mate with my McCormack DNA-1 amplifier. When I put the pre-amp in the system it would not work. After talking to Jolida, where Jerred helped me try various things, we came to the conclusion that they were just not compatible, since the Jolida works just fine with an old Marantz I have. The Jolida has in output impedance of 600 ohms. The McCormack has an input impedance of 100K ohms.

Next I emailed Steve McCormack asking his opinion, and he also gave various reasons for the failure, but after letting him know what was done in an attempt at making them work together, he also stated it may just be a compatibility issue.

Now I would like to get a different amp to try with the Jolida, but am a little weary of purchasing another just to find out that for one reason or another it will not work.

Since this is just to see if I would like what I hear, I don't want to put a lot of money into it. My speakers are 6 ohm Gershman Acoustics Sonograms and are 89db efficient, so I'm looking at an SS amp with good power for less than $1K.
Does anyone know of any amps I can look into that DO work with the Jolida, knowing for sure, that they will be compatible?
128x128abucktwoeighty

Showing 6 responses by abucktwoeighty

Yes, the pre-amp and the amp are plugged into a Monster HTS5000 Power Center. I found there is less noise when I have the amp plugged into it instead of directly into an outlet.
I'm very happy with the Jolida in the system. I'm waiting for a set of Rothwells to replace the passive volume control. I also bought some different 12ax7's to try out. The ones supplied with the pre-amp roll off the upper end. It's quite a difference having it in the system. Imaging is amazing and the soundstage has widened. Now I just need the correct flavor of tubes and I'll be set.
As far as the problem is concerned, I'm very happy with the current remedy.
Sorry about the double post. I posted this one last night and didn't see it so I figured it wasn't going to be. Anyways...

When the Jolida is connected, it will only extend the drivers out, like they're getting DC. Then there will be a "pop" and this will repeat. I put an old set of speakers from the basement in the system when trying this.

The pre-amp was sent to Jolida where they repaired the voltage regulator and was given a clean bill of health. It was returned to me and after I put it in the system, it did what I described above. I then contacted both Jolida and SM to discuss various remedies and found that what we were doing should have worked just fine. The amp works fine with my other pre-amp, so the amp is working correctly. The Jolida works fine with the old Marantz I have, so it, too, is working correctly, just not compatible with with each other.

As stated above, this all does seem odd.
I thank everybody for your input.

Almarg, I do have a CI Audio VPC-1 that I can insert between the units. I'll give that a try to see what happens. I don't believe the output caps are leaking as suggested by Johnsonwu since the pre-amp was just given a going over by Jolida.

I'll post results shortly.
Almarg, your diagnosis was spot-on. Inserting the passive volume control between the pre and the amp fixed the problem. You also saved me from spending money on an amplifier I didn't need, and for that I thank you so much.
I'll be sure to let Steve and Jerred know about this. I'm so pleased. Thanks again.
This is a follow-up. I received the Rothwell attenuators. I removed the passive volume control and placed the Rothwells in place. There was a one time driver excursion outwards along with a small popping sound. Then all was well. With the passive volume control there is no excursion. I am going to leave the passive volume control in place as this is doing a better job than the Rothwells.