Joule - Electra: Just How Hot??

The Harley metaphor is perfect.

I owned Grand Marquis 160's for a number of years. Loved them. Only sold them as I went to a high sensitivity speaker that required but a few watts. My amps never had a problem. Quality control superb. Reliability superb. I've been following Joule Electra for many years, talking to other owners and reading comments from other owners, their equipment has been more than very reliable. This is well built stuff.

Previous to the Joules, I owned another domestic OTL amp which had so many QC, build, and reliability problems that the best use for that amp would have been for landfill. My experience with the Joule Electras after this disastrous experience was like a breath of fresh air.

In some rooms when monoblocks are used a hum is evident due to a ground loop. The hum does not indicate a problem with the amp. There are tons of variables involved with ground loops including factors that pertain to the other equipment in a system. With but a little work a ground loop induced hum can be eliminated.

Back to Joules the company. I've dealt with lots of audio companies. Joules is one of the best to deal with not only before the sale but after the sale. It is after the sale where many other companies fall short. I would not hesitate to purchase any components from Joule Electra today or in the future.

Some people who responded to this thread expressed shock/surprise to hear of the few issues mentioned within the tread. To my knowledge there's no history outside of his thread of any problems with Joule Electra gear. Whereas many other amp vendors have track records over the years with some to numerous complaints. Joules Electra has a stellar track record and I would not let anything mentioned within this thread cause someone to hesitate exploring the acquisition of a Joule Electra amp or preamp.

Also keep in mind if buying used equipment that not every person takes care of their equipment in the manner that you do. Even a Rolex can have problems if a previous owner did who knows what.

Tubes108, I hope you are not implying from your post that the hum that I had with my Joule amps was a ground loop that was caused by the multiple systems and multiple residences that I inserted them into.

I have had ground loops in the past and I know how to fix them. My experience with my Joule amps was not a ground loop.

I'm glad you had great experiences with Joule-Electra. I, on the other hand, did not have a great experience. As much as an informed buyer / reader should value your opinion in this thread, I hope they also value mine.

Hello Rottenclam,

1 - Very interesting moniker ;--)

2 - I cannot see a big deal in one-time Variac problem. Sorry.

3 I take exception with hum problem. Its not easy to fix. Since you sent your amp to manufacturer who was not able to help you then ground loop originated OUTSIDE of the amp.

You are not alone. I had to sell my Plinius SA-102 amp because I also could not fix hum in it or with it nor Vincent, their distributor and I also sent to him and amp and even preamp.

5 In 2005 there some very, very, very tragic events started in Joule-Electra family which may or may not contribute to less attention you deserved or you believe you deserved - whatever, I am giving you benefit of the doubt. Its not my role to discuss these tragic events in this or any other public forum but I have to respond to some "rotten" (pun intended ;--) audiophile who does not understand that ground loop by definition is caused by difference in non-equal "ground" voltage in two different parts (but it has been excluded) or two different components - one of which is obviously not Joule-Electra!

4 - I see no problem at all in blowing fuses even two times(!). This why fuses for. To blow themselves and protect your equipment. Its pure whining

I never saw or spoke with Jud Barber (I dealt with Simon) and I have no personal financial benefit - however, listening to the magic, truly MAGIC sound his equipment re-produce I cannot think of him anything but great (industrial) artist. Speaking with Simon about his experience from inside with the equipment failures and reading this and other audio forums writings - I can see that as the rule J-E equipment is much more reliable then most.

My hat off to Jud Barber.

The End.

Michael,

All fair comments I suppose.

Fuses blowing are something totally normal. A burning variac is not normal, but I think it is something that would not have broken my spirit with the gear.

In regards to "ground loop" / hum that I am inferring you and Tubes108 are placing on me (and if my inference is incorrect, then I do apologize), I do disagree with that.

A few steps that I took to disprove the ground loop was my issue:

1. Over the course of 18 months of ownership I placed the amps on 5 different dedicated circuits across two residences.

2. Each time, the amps were either fed a signal from an LA-150 pre-amp, or they were shorted using the appropriate switch on the back to not receive a signal. I even went to extreme ends during a number of late evenings to turning off all other circuits of the house during very late hours in order to make sure that the circuit was not being contaminated at the breaker box. BTW, I did this at both residences that I resided in during that time.

3. There were over 6 source components tried in the system during this 18+ months period. At various points I had everything on one circuit (the Naim approach), and at various times I explored placing components on separate circuits.

4. True to form, the hum could be lessened by putting the amps on less sensitive speaker. It could also be neatly masked by holding down one of the bias buttons. However standing over a warm monoblock with your finger on a small button was not a scalable solution so whenever I listened to folk music or chamber music (that had many quiet points), I would jam a toothpick in the tiny space between the chassis top and one of the bias buttons so the bias button was held down. This was a trick that I learned from one of the other gentleman that I was corresponding with that bought amps from the same era.

My point in all this is to explain that I worked very hard, was very patient, and also very forgiving in trying to get very expensive amps to work the way that they should. In fact, I am the first to admit that my experience was not the norm. However, the experience was shared by other audiophiles, so my challenges were not unique.

So to the other Joule owners out there that are very happy, I say that I wish your experience was the kind that I had. To the prospective Joule buyer, I say that my experience was not a good one, but I hope that you enjoy your amps should you choose to purchase them.