2. amps-preamps
  3. 1359163706

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
abucktwoeighty's avatar
abucktwoeighty OP
1,079 posts
 
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.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,577 posts
 
Abucktwoeighty There may be other ways to sort this out too. How are your power cords set up? Are they both running off of the same power strip?
abucktwoeighty's avatar
abucktwoeighty OP
1,079 posts
 
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.
unsound
7,311 posts
 
Am I the only one that thinks that the problem is with the Jolida?
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Unsound, note my earlier statement:
Basically, the very high input impedance of the DNA-1 may be bringing out a design issue in the preamp. The Marantz presumably has a much lower input impedance, perhaps 47K or less, which does not bring out the issue. The very extended low frequency bandwidth of the DNA-1 (specified as 0.5 Hz) is presumably also a factor that contributes to bringing out the issue, as explained in Ralph's (Atmasphere's) posts.
The problem is with the Jolida, but if there are means by which the Jolida and the DNA-1 can be made work together, and which produce results that 280 finds to be sonically satisfactory, there is no need to replace it.

Best regards,
-- Al
More to discover