[chgolatin2]

Compared to other brand that fairly on the inexpensive side Cayin, etc how does Jolida rate?  I've been to several high end stores and when I mention Jolida brand they are usually kinda insulted.  Dont know why but I've had nothing but good luck and excellent sound with Jolida brand, I am no audiophile but I do like good sounding music.  One of the brands that I wont ever buy again is Shanling.  Primaluna is another killer brand that seem to always amaze me but I am already stuck with Jolida for a while until I get more funds to continue my audio project.

[bunky]

I have a Hot Rod Audio Mod Stage 3+  Jolida JD100A and it sounds much better than my Audio Aero Prima Mk2 24/192 CD player and has a much better reputation for reliabilty than the Prima too.thanks....WCW III

[DARTH AUDIO]

Are the dealers in the Chicago area? I own a pair of the JD3000 200 watt monoblocs and love them. I also have the JD100 CD player. I did have the CD player modified but not the design..

[MAC - SteveH]

I too have an HRAM Stage 3+ Jolida 100A. Its a real nice CDP. It replaced a heavily modded Njoe Tjoeb and is quite close to my modded Wadia 850.
Highly recommended.

[1000a]

name brand snobs, please we are not in HS anymore.  my guess is Jolida  (the more they hear the name) pisses off dealers cause its real damn good bang for the dollar stuff.

not being able to compete with an internet audio product $$ wise, I would think a pro might be better to approach possible clients with telling you what their products have as opposed to bullying the customers with snobbery.

that one gesture would keep me out of their store indefinitely, you probably went there for help not criticism- amazing how people are successful and behave like that, says alot about the average American consumer.  It implies to me many of their clients care about a name on a piece than what comes out of the speakers?   Many of their clientele like to be told what to buy, its cool its a Levinson or what ever its like the Jones up the street.  who gives a -------- what the Jone's have.

its just not good for long term business possibilities, sending potential customers away.   although I am sure in this day and time it gets harder and harder for the brick and mortar audio stores to survive?  maybe its just an emotional melt down after 5-6 yrs of heavy net sales in audio?

there are people who do desire that kind of validation when purchasing things, makes em feel important.   the really really rich people go to Art Dealers and buy the painting the dealer tells them to, then they hang it in their Manhattan pad and have a dinner party.., the guests say "isn't that a so and so?" the host says "why yes it is".  all the while both parties hating the piece.  worse still some of the very same people do not study art or go to the museums, What? 

I know one thing I do not spend my money in establishments that insult me.   thats what I love about AC here we all try to help each other by giving feed back on experiences and try not to overspend un-necessarily.
no one piece is the silver bullet its all about the sum of the parts. IMO

yours truly Cynic at large, 1000a

[1000a]

on a more positive note, if I had not gone to a Squeeze box I have had my eye on the Jolida100 for a while, and would have probably gotten that piece.

Mike Allen designs good gear and has a good ear, I did try and get his stuff into our local High end dealer- but they really had no interest in tubes to much hassel for their clients.  they had sold tube gear before.

I think my jolida 1000a (pd 1,150. used) is a good piece of gear especially if I address the entire sytem and put effort into it., (ie room treatments and so on).

if I do purchase another amp and I guess I will - I am just gonna skip right by the stuff just above mine -  the well know names - and go for a better, more advanced design - SET or a pure PP design with no feedback, say an a-la Lynn Olson type of design.  and if I can do it with a name nobody knows all the better.  that will leave me $$ for the other stuff.

[Scott F.]

I'll tell you what, I've got the little factory modified JoLida 102b (EL84) and it kicks some serious booty. I'm convinced, at $750 you won't find a better sounding integrated. These days it finds its way into all of my articles because it sounds so good. I love it so much that I don't listen to my old HH Scott 299 anymore.

Absolutely nothing wrong with the sound of the stock JoLida gear either. Mate it with the right speakers (read = slightly forward sounding) and it sounds great......it's all about balance.....

[bunky]

Are the dealers in the Chicago area? I own a pair of the JD3000 200 watt monoblocs and love them. I also have the JD100 CD player. I did have the CD player modified but not the design..

the circuitry in the HRAM Stage 3+ JD100A is not changed,but the Capacitors in the power supply are upgraded to Blackgates and the diodes are replaced with Fairchild ultrafast soft recovery diodes and the capacitors in the ouput stage are replaced with Relcaps. the player is reclocked using a Tent Labs XO2 Mastercock and Tent Labs discrete clock power supply. the stock tubes are replaced with Pearl Cryovalves.  the output is rewired using DH Labs silver wire with foamed teflon insulation and uses either Cardas Rhodium plated or WBT RCA at the output. it is dampened with special Copper clad sheeting to combat vibration and RFI. you cant touch these Players for the Money.thanks....WCW III

[chgolatin2]

I have a modified Jolida 100 level 2 by underwoodally I never heard a stock unit but my unit sounds quite good.  It has a Vinyl flavor to it if you asked me.  My 1000RC is stock though maybe in the future I will modded as well.  Jolida products are good maybe they are not considered the best but everything in audio gear is subjective.  What critics call good or best we can call average.  Too many audio magazine are out there telling people what to buy.  Most "Audiophiles" dont even listen to the unit prior to purchasing it since they go by the mag hearsay, sad but true.  I dont hear Jolida on Mags too much but I tend to hear about all of the "high end" gear that cost major bucks. 

Audiophile should be a hobby for sound quality and not about how much you spend on the piece of gear or better said, bragging rights.  Most stores that I have been to I have decided NEVER to visit or buy anything from them due to their silly attitudes towards tubes, brands and cost.  I tend to visit audio stores to see what they have available, how much does it cost and how good the gear sounds.  After i do my research and price research (used gear/audiogon) then I may consider making the purchase and saving me some major bucks for the same product at the store for almost 50% or less off the original store price.  It amazes me how people go into these store not knowing crap about music but they spend thousands on audiogear in which they dont even use it effectively.   But you cant blame the rich for having money and not knowing how to spend it on audiogear.  Sad but true!  Man I need to hit the lotto or something!   

[doorman]

I've had a number of more expensive CDP's. I've had a Jolida for about 2 yrs. I've heard no reason to change it, (but I refuse to spend big $$$'s for little "improvements") I buy more music instead!                                                                  Don

[djbnh]

I have heard more detailed cdps than the JD-100 for substantively more $$$$, yet the price / performance break has not influenced me to change cdps, especially after I've tuberolled and tweaked the Jolida. I flat out feel the Jolida is great value for $, an engaging and musical source

My Jolida JD-100 cdp responded positively to a number of user tweaks, including:
1) upgraded tubes (I use JHS Gold Label Sylvania 5751WA triple mica black plates combined with Herbie's Hal-O 9 tube dampers - tubes ran some $); 2) upgraded PC (Chris VenHaus cryoed Flavor 1 PC - about $90;, 3) improved dampening (I rest the unit on a 22 lb. granite slab supported by Vibrapods; also have a 12 lb. piece of marble on the top resting on coasters - cost = 0, already had Vibrapods, granite was free); 4) tube pins, RCAs and RCA connectors treated with Walker SST; 5) Herbie's "Black Hole" cd mat/Hubcap ($3.99); and 6) dedicated 20A circuit.

I note I haven't heard the dealer/aftermarket-modded units, although the Response Audio V-Cap mods attract my attention (have had a number of nice deals / interactions with Chris VH of VH Audio; Bill of Response Audio appears to be another asset to the audio community, from comments on AC and elsewhere.).YMMV. Happy listening!

[Housteau]

I find that even in its stock trim the Jolida CDP is quite good.  Now, that wasn't always so.  Right out of the box it ranked right up there as the absolute worst sounding piece of gear I had ever placed in my system.  After about 200Hrs things got much better, but the sound was still harsh to my ears.  I then replaced the Electro-Harmonix tubes with Tung-Sols.  That made a dramatic improvement smoothing out all the remaining harshness.  I lived with this arrangement for a while until the next big change in my system occured.

With the replacement of the Infinity RS1bs with the new RM-V60s from VMPS I found that the Tung-Sols still sounded wonderful and smooth, but realized it was an artificial euphoric sound.  The natural edge to the music was missing.  I had noticed that with the Infinities as well, but could not do much to introduce it back in due to the hardness of the sound that would result.

I placed the original Electro-Harmonix tubes back in allowing a good amount time to properly burn them in, and now the balance seems near perfect.  I have done some minor mods, such as using different anti-vibration controls, but that is about it.

I just wonder if some of those that go directly to modifications spend enough time allowing the components to burn in properly, so they actually get to know that component first?  You can take four different units of the same model and I doubt that they would sound identical.  At least that is what I have often experienced.  I think one really needs to take components as individuals and not just go along with what may have worked well for someone elses.  I have heard some mods on different gear that have sounded worse over time.

[lazydays]

I have a Hot Rod Audio Mod Stage 3+  Jolida JD100A and it sounds much better than my Audio Aero Prima Mk2 24/192 CD player and has a much better reputation for reliabilty than the Prima too.thanks....WCW III

I've had a CD100A since they first came out, and retubed it about a year ago with 5751 black plates. Still may favorite redbook player after all these years.
gary

[tdangelo]

I had the Jolida JD3000 power amps that were modded by Response Audio.  I loved the amps and the build quality was very nice too.  I has some Cayin 860(sold now) monos at the same time and thought the build quailty of the Cayin was quite a bit better than the Jolidas.  The Jolida's sounded much better though...  I was trying to replace the Jolida's with something cooler running but it wasn't worth it due to sound quality degradation....  I did replace the Jolida's with some Supratek Burgundy amps - they are another level better,  both build and sound quality.

ymmv

Tony

[JLM]

Yes, I'm too old to waste time on retailers that would rather argue than help.  Most of the "good" ones know little beyond what they sell.

Fortunately for vendors, consumers seem to always want the latest.  Overall I'd rather have the unusual rather than the mainstream and support the little guy rather than the mega-corporation.  More power to you if you like what you've got.  There's too much craziness for spending gobs of money in audio.

I've heard one of the hybrid integrateds a few years ago, and was not impressed, but the stock CDP is OK.  YMMV, need to account for the room, system synergy, etc.

[djbnh]

I just wonder if some of those that go directly to modifications spend enough time allowing the components to burn in properly, so they actually get to know that component first?  You can take four different units of the same model and I doubt that they would sound identical.  At least that is what I have often experienced.  I think one really needs to take components as individuals and not just go along with what may have worked well for someone elses.  I have heard some mods on different gear that have sounded worse over time.

Interesting post. I know that for all of my gear, not just the JD-100, first I fully burn in the stock unit. I subsequently usually make one change at a time, burn in the affected piece, and then reassess.

[markC]

IMO, if you do nothing else to the jd-100, change the coupling caps. Get the polyesters out and some decent polypropylene's in. Really brought the player to life for me.

[lonewolfny42]

  Primaluna is another killer brand that seem to always amaze me but I am already stuck with Jolida for a while until I get more funds to continue my audio project.

Look what they have come out with......Link......"the world’s first tube-based data clocking device: the SuperTubeClock."

[Scott F.]

Look what they have come out with......Link......"the world’s first tube-based data clocking device: the SuperTubeClock."

I've got the raw tube clock in house. I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to install it in my AH! Njoe Tjoeb. I'll probably get to it sometime early this fall. I'm really interested to hear its effects. Talking to Herman (of AH! and Primaluna), he's installed it in Levinson, Krell, Arcam and other high-end CD players and claims the results were stunning.

If nothing else, it should be fun to play with. .......who'd of thunk....a tube based word clock 

[lonewolfny42]

Scott...

I've got the raw tube clock in house.

Well....lets get "cooking" on that.....

(looking forward to your comments Scott.. )