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I have been reading good things about Jolida in terms of an easy (and relatively inexpensive) introduction to tube amplification. Does anyone have any other brand suggestions? I am thinking of an amp, or would anyone recommend a tube pre-amp with my existing solid state?I have read of the merits of tubes over solid state. Does anyone care to elaborate from personal experience?
Thanks in advance.
Follow Ups:
I would say that you have made a good choice. Just make sure to do plenty of research and check review sites for info. Make sure that you take into account the type of music you listen to. what you want out of your system. I have a Jolida 302B now, which is ten times the solid state I replaced it with. I am running Soliloquy 5.0s with it and it sounds excellent. Just remember that the Jolida's don't have a preamp output, so you can't add a powered sub. If you plan on using the speakers you currently own, make sure that they are a good match for the amp you decide on. Good Luck! You won't be sorry making the switch.
> > Just remember that the Jolida's don't have a preamp output, so you can't add a powered sub. < <Many powered SWs have speaker level I/Ps in addition to the line level I/Ps. Blending between the main speakers and the SW can be better than with line level I/Ps using speaker level I/Ps, as the SW picks up the sonic signature of the main amp.
BTW, a resistive voltage divider can be used to drive a SW that does not have speaker level I/Ps with a speaker level signal.
Eli D.
t
...and it was a very good experience. I bought a new 502B that performed flawlessly for the 12 months that I had it. This is a good sounding integrated tube amp. I then moved to ASL Explorer DT monoblock SET's (with an Anthem Pre-2L preamp). This has been an excellent combination that I've used now for over a year with no problems. I've done the usual tube rolling to improve on the stock tubes of both units. Bought both units new for a total outlay of ~$3200 (maybe not cheap but not expensive either). The ASL's use the 805 tube and put out ~45 watts. They work very well with my Spendor SP-1/2's which have 89 dB sensitivity. No issue at all with loudness. In fact these 45 watts are just as powerful as my previous ss 105 watt amp and the SET topology sounds quite sweet. No going back to ss for me! Good luck on your quest.
You know why not get in as cheaply as possible and if it doesn't work for you no big deal.My suggestion is to look at the Antique Sound Labs models. They come with a 5 year warranty not 1 like Jolida and offer a nice colour scheme.
I would consider going with the AQ 2004 DT preamp which is $299.00 and two Wave 8 monoblocks(Nude) at $99.00 each. Total is $497.00. http://www.divertech.com/antiquesl.html#PRE
The picture of the 2004 is not a good one. It comes in black and looks like all the others(you can get the face in Gold or Silver...pretty small but cute and well built for the price. Ditto on the waves. Dirt cheap...and can run the 10K Tannoy Flagships.
I have the MG head from this company and have used it as a preamp with the flagship Arcam Integrated with good success(and the Head is not designed to be a preamp). Better yet it's a fantastic headphone amp...one of the most popular out there.
You could start with the preamp. See if you like it...if you do THEN look at Tube power amps. The preamps will offer more reliability than the power amps from what I've been told.
TW,Do you play the acoustic or electric guitar? YOu can pick up a fair all tube either new amp or a classic point-to-point Fender SET Silver Faced Champ fairly cheap.
Circuitry is simple, parts are available, and it takes not-so-exotic 12AX7 and 6V6GT tubes. But, you can get the tone of tubes from this amp. And it will play a miked acoustic. My Martin has a piezo pickup under the bridge---and I plug it into my tweed and pre-tweed Champs and it sounds pretty good.
Anyhow, this would be a cheaper introduction to the tube world. And you can easily compare the tone of an acoustic, unplugged---versus amplified through a tube amp. As well as get a feel for maintenance without spending a lot of dough experimenting with hi-end hi-fi equipment.
Don't know if Jolida is, but that's something you may want to look for. I'm new to tubes (4 months now) and that was one of the things that attacted me to Rogue.KP
I switched from Sony receiver and carousel cdp to a Zen amp by Decware about two years ago (with no previous tube experience) and have been very happy with it and glad I made switch. No, it's not very powerful, but I don't listen over about 90-95db peaks anyway. The difference in sound is incredible. The best part is it only cost me 500 bucks and it came with a 30 day no questions asked return policy. There's a lot more positive I could say, but will keep short. On the down side, the output tubes needed replaced and I think that was a whopping 8 dollars.So far my only negative experience with tubes (if could call it that) has been with an antique tuner. Sounds great but it cost me as much to have it checked out and tuned as initial purchase price.
I guess my point is that tubes don't have to be that difficult to try and MY maintenence costs have been minimal.
Happy Listening,
Jim
If you have any electronic knowledge about how to solder,
what resistors, caps do then go for a tube amp.
You can learn to to rebuild one or ones if you get mono blocks
and you will appreciate the system better because your hands are in it. Some things go good others don't. There is so much info our there these days with the internet as a massive library.
Tubes make CD's sound better, still not quite as good as LP's.
You have to learn to repair a tube system yourself.They are heavy
and it's a lot to be shipping it out for repair everytime there is a pop, hum or a hiss.
Go to the http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/index.html, triode site
and look around and read some of the service procedures and especially
from the front page"other triode pages".
Also if you decide to buy some old dynaco amps or preamps Joe curcio
http://www.curcioaudio.com has some great troubleshooting procedures.
The dynaco line of used tube equipment sounds great for the money
and there is so much info on rebuilding it. Probably the most upgraded
line of tube equipment ever made.
So overall if you want a system that you are willing to spend time and learn buy tubes, if you want to switch it on, drink beer and sit back then buy SS. I hope this has helped. Dan
Your final words ring true with me. My favorite thing to do is turn on my stuff, hit play and start downing some cold ones. And I agree with you...which is too bad...because now I am debating selling my recently acquired Jolida. Not because of what you said, but because I was thinking the same today...having encountered my first tube hissy-fit and not liking it one bit.The thing is, if I sell the Jolida, I don't know if my NAD C-340 will forgive me and take me back.
This may not be the kind of comment you are looking for, but here goes:I recently replaced my NAD C-340 with a Jolida SJ 502A that I bought on eBay. I did this with absolutely no knowledge of tubes. The reason I bought the Jolida is because I was looking to upgrade the 340, and every amp or integrated I was interested in had reviews about how "warm" the music was. I was looking at Rotel, Parasound, Cambridge Audio, Creek.....
Then I thought, why am I going to spend all this money on more SS stuff when I can buy something I know will provide warm sound: a tube integrated. So that very day I went on eBay and found the only Jolida going at that time...with the auction ending in less than an hour. To make a long story longer, I got the Jolida.
The sound:
Fun to listen to. Period. The sound difference didn't jump up and grab me, but it is there nonetheless. For instance, Don Henley's raspy voice, especially on songs like Desperado, is not so disturbing anymore. I have to force myself to get up and turn the darn thing off. If warmth is the reason you are looking to upgrade, then definitely forget SS and go tubes.
BUT, I recommend you learn a few things about tubes before you make that jump. I had a scary experience today with my Jolida, and I have no idea what happened. A tube popped rather loudly, resulting in a hummm from the left speaker. Fortunately, no damage to the tube, the amp or the speaker. But after the pop I was thinking to myself, why did I have to buy this thing. My NAD is okay.
I had about an hour's worth of buyer's remorse for buying used rather than new. So my ultimate advice is buy new so you get a warranty, or if you buy used, buy locally if at all possible.
I would take a Jolida over a NAD any day, but Jolida is know to have problems. Speaking from experience! If you spend a little more than Jolida you will find you can get some quality tube gear. Getting back to the tube poping, it is possible you have a tube going bad. If that is the case your better off replacing all four ( outputs ) at once.
post. (see link)KP
First, Bosh's post impressed me the first time I read it. Makes all the since in the world.
Just wanted to say that Jolida's quality control issues are gone. They did have some issues on some earlier models but Mike has seen to it that they were resolved. Even if there were to be an issues (possible with anything made in today's world), Jolida is very good about customer service. I have always thought Jolida is a great value in tube audio.Good luck and happy listening.
Bill
nt
KP
I may need to sell this tube stuff. But with regret... kinda like breaking up with the girl you always wanted to be with because you can't afford nor live up to the expectation of treating her to dinner every night, buying her flowers every week and talking about your day.
Good tubed gear doesn't break down that much. Bias every six months, replace output tubes every few years, no worse than changing a light bulb. Change filter caps every 10-15 years. Less maintenance than most cars, and I don't see a lot of people walking or riding the bus these days.SS doesn't need as much attention, but when it goes, it really goes. Replacement transistors and circuit chips may become unobtainable after a few years, because they evolve so rapidly. But many 60-year-old tube types are still in production or available as New Old Stock.
I was very reluctant to buy tubes; didn't want to deal with them. Well, the dealer said, "all you have to do is bias them every six months," and I liked the sound.I had no problem with my cj Premier 12 monoblocks, but tubes on the "upgrade" to premier 8 kept blowing. 2x'a blown tube took out a resistor, and the unit had to be returned.
Love the sound, which i'm listening to now. But if you buy tubes, be prepared for some more maintenance that, in my experience, I never had to deal with in solid state. Not sure I'd go back, but IMHO, tubes are more trouble.
It depends on what you consider inexpensive (what some consider inexpensive here, I would consider a reasonably priced used car!). I have a couple questions? do you like to tweak/solder? If you are like me (I like to solder and tweak things) and spending thousands on a preamp makes you cringe, I might suggest an AMC CVT1030s or CVT1030as. I bought mine on ebay for $350 (I have the as version, the "a" means a balanced cd input, the "s" signifies tube sockets installed). It is fairly well designed, and things are spaced fairly well on the board (read you are not too cramped in trying to solder). The downside is that they cut corners on electronic components in it, so to make it sound good you need to replace some of the capacitors, a few diodes and a couple opamps (It uses 2 opamps. One in the phono stage and one as a headphone amp). I use mine with a solid state amp and I love the way it sounds (I have replaced probably $60 worth of components in it).
link to the model I was referring to, in an ebay auction... looks like it comes with nice tubes, too...
link to the model I was referring to, in an ebay auction... looks like it comes with nice tubes, too...
I agree, if you want a sound system you can turn on and forget. One that needs very little maintenance, too much more than dusting. Get a conservative, well-built, proven solid state system.If you are looking for the Ultimate Tone---you probably will end up going down that expensive & high maintenance route to the world of SET amps.
But, then again, the finest females aren't exactly the "self-serve, I can fill my own gas tank" type. Is it worth it? Tell me the morning after---if you catch my drift.
the finest females aren't exactly the "self-serve, I can fill my own gas tank" typeI don't know - I'm really attracted to that type of woman.
Regards,
Metralla
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