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Jolida and B&W Nautilus 805

Has any one had any experience with Jolida tube amps driving B&W Nautilus 805s? I've tried to read up on this in the forums and find two facts:

1. The Nautilus series likes high-powered solid-state amps.
2. Using a single-ended design is not recommended.

Jolida amps are not single-ended, but push-pull designs. My question is, would one of these amps (e.g. JD 202A w/ 40W output) be enough to drive this speaker pair nicely? Or do I need a higher powered model? How much power would be enough? Finally, do you recommend any other tube integrated amplifiers (or solid state) for this speaker pair instead? My budget for amplification (including pre) is $2000.

Thanks for any help!
lennychen
trelja
3,223 posts
 
I think your Classe is just what kind of amplifier the N805 needs, Glai. I would still need to see how the marriage of the 502B with KT88 goes with the N805, but I cannot dismiss it out of hand.

Class and Rowland would be ideal candidates.

Maybe it's just me, but B&W doesn't seem to be the loudspeaker most easy to mate with a tube amplifier. In my experience, solid state is preferable for their product. Of course, your Audio Research should do find with 100+ tube watts.
editmm
3 posts
 
I'm in the same boat!
I was looking at the Jolida 502b to drive my new N805s
I'm looking for a dealer in my area with both products for a test run. Anyone know of a dealer in the New York City Area?
Trelja, let me know what your opinion of the combo is if you hear it first.
lennychen OP
28 posts
 
Thanks for all the great advice...but I'm starting to doubt I will carry out this massive (expensive) project...

I think it's going to be budget stuff for me...maybe a Jolida matched with cheaper speakers... :P
trelja
3,223 posts
 
Lennychen, please don't feel as if you are "settling".

If you are going with the Jolida, you'll find better speakers that mate with it than the B&W, for a lot less money. Please give the Totem Arros ($1000 new!) a listen. The combination is almost as good as things get in this hobby.
gthirteen
349 posts
 
Hey Joe!

I have to disagree with Trelja, but with a Caveat:

I owned the 805 for quite a while, and drove them well with 30 push-pull triode watts from a Rogue Tempest, and a Cary SLI-80 sig, I had great results, but with 6550 or kt-88 tubes.

The el-34, while having a beautiful midrange, just wimps out on the bass.

I'd rather have a fuller bottom end, and use line-level tubes to get the midrange sound (or as close as you can).

I know Trelja loves the el34, and perhaps the reportedly excellent bass response of most all totems is probably a good match.

IF you are going to try to drive the 805s with el-34s, you're probably not going to get the bass that you want.

IF you try some 6550/kt88 tubes, at the expense of some of the midrange magic, you might get a fuller sound, plus a little more juice.
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