Hi all, I’d appreciate your opinions and ideas as I try to
choose my next (maybe forever) integrated amp or amp/preamp combo. About a year
and a half ago I fell in love with the tube sound and bought a used Jolida SJ-302a
integrated amp – I believe it’s rated at 50 wpc rms. While I love the sound, I
want to upgrade for several reasons – its overall age (made in the mid 90s);
lack of a remote control (getting a little lazy, I guess), but most of all, I
sensed that I needed more power for certain types of music. Probably 75% of my listening is jazz,
including a lot of jazz vocalists, but I also listen to all kinds of classical
and some R&B and pop. The Jolida
seems to work great for the softer things like intimate jazz and chamber music,
but when it comes to opera, large orchestral or choral/orchestral works, and cranking
Earth, Wind, & Fire and the like, it lacks authority and feels like it’s “working
too hard.”
I have an overall plan over the next few years to upgrade
my turntable, phono stage, and amplification, but plan to start with the
latter.
I have a great local retail shop I frequent, and the owner recently
let me borrow a used Rogue Audio Stereo 90 and 99 Magnum amp/preamp combo to
audition at home for a few days. They both had upgraded tubes and the
integrated tube phono stage was a nice bonus because I’d be meeting two of my
upgrade goals in one move. I’m not afraid of buying used, and of course, that
was another benefit, since the pair was a lot less expensive than new gear with
similar specs.
As much as I wanted to love this equipment, I didn’t. I was reminded of a recent excellent post by @mahgister
who pointed out that we love certain performers and composers, but only admire
others. I admired this amp and preamp, but didn’t love the overall sound. I did
love the power – I felt like my Chapman speakers were saying, “Finally, you’re
feeding us some real meat!” Pop and R&B came alive, and an opera passage that
had sounded anemic with my Jolida a few days ago was easily at true performance
volume level. In addition, I loved the increased clarity – I noticed tiny things
in familiar songs that I hadn’t noticed before. Bass notes came through with
real authority, and my family members in other parts of the house said it
sounded like someone was playing a live drum set in my listening room. All that
being said, I didn’t love what the amp did for a lot of the other music I
listened to. It seemed to me that the midrange was scooped out. I would
increase the volume and by the time the vocals, strings, or mid-range wind
instruments were at the volume I wanted, the bass and treble were too loud. I will be the first to admit that it may be
that the sound I was getting was more accurate than what I’m used to, and I
just had a preference for the familiar, but I found this amp/preamp combo to be
fatiguing. Maybe my ears want more of the
“midrange bloom” I’ve heard people write about – all I know is that I couldn’t
really relax while listening – I repeatedly found myself with clenched facial
muscles and was constantly changing the volume, trying to find the sweet spot.
Anyway, I hope this little story gives you a decent idea of what I’m looking
for in a new amp/preamp. I have a slight preference for an integrated unit
rather than separates (just easier to fit in my space), and I would love to own
something made in America, but neither of these are deal breakers. My budget is around $4500, used or new, but would
be very happy to spend less. Here’s my
current system:
Jolida SJ-302a integrated amp
Chapman T7 speakers
Pro-ject Debut Carbon turntable with Ortofon MC3 turbo cartridge
Bellari VP 530 phono stage
Theta Digital Compli universal player/transport
Audioquest type 6 hyperlitz speaker cables
DH Labs silver sonic Phantom RCA interconnects
Thanks for any suggestions. I’m fortunate to be in a metro
area with several great audio shops where I can hear gear, but am also open to
boutique manufacturers that may only sell direct.
