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Hello Tube Forum,I spoke with a dealer in No. Cal, and he insists there is no better tube pre-amp/amp unit(new) than a $600 Jolida. I just came across the Decware Zen amps online, and like them. Are they as good as a Jolida unit would be?? Jolida amps are also made in China, and I would like to avoid them for that reason. Anyone with opinions on either, please post a resonse here. I just bought some new KEF Q15.2 speakers which are 6 ohm, and 91db efficiency. Will these work well with any low-powered tube amp?? I currrently own an older Mac MA 6100 SS amp. I have been familiar with tube amps for decades but have never bought in before. Now that they are getting affordable, I want to line up the right one. Anyone with opinions on either, please post a response below this one. Thanks in advance for opinions!! -Ken
Follow Ups:
It depends on your equipment, roomsize, application and type of music you are listening to. I have owned Golden Tube amps, Jolida, ASL and I have a Zen. The Zen is sonically superior to a lot of amps ten times the money. Build / parts quality is superior to Jolida or ASL (I currently have a set of AV8s on another system).
All these companies have decent equipment, but if you think you want to enter the SET arena, maybe hook up some analog and listen to some Coltrane or Stan Getz - the Zen is a wonderful choice.Why not give Steve a call and discuss it with him - (309) 671 2428
Good Luck,
The Zen is a great amp but not nearly powerful enough for your KEFs (IMHO).Jolida sounds good but is fairly cheaply made. I favor ASL (Antique Sound Lab) over Jolida. ASL parts quality is amazing for the price. Buy an ASL, upgrade the tubes and you will be very happy.
My older brother, an audionut, has his Jolida JD 302B driving his B&W speakers with great result. Even at low volumn level I could hear every single bass note and treble on the combo.The best way is for you to audition each amp for yourself.
Trust your ears and don't care about what everyone else said!
Can't speak about the Zen, but bought a JoLida 302B a few months back and I'm pretty happy with the unit. Seems to strike a nice balance between detail and lushness, but I tend to prefer my sound on the mellower side. The least fatiguing amp I could afford for playing CDs. Upgrading the stock Chinese tubes to Svetlana EL-34s and Ei 12AX7s and AT7s (thanks to Ned at Triode Electronics) gave me a nice bump in the sonics (mostly smoother, less ringy treble) for a modest $75. The build quality was considerably better than the beat-up demo unit I borrowed from a local dealer. Nice sense of space and relaxed detail through my Vandy 1Cs.
Hi thereI've driven a pair of KEF Q15 with a Jolida 502a or a Fisher X-202B, and gotten excellent sound. But the KEFs sounded distorted with a low-power DIY amp based on a Shishido design (http://www.the-planet.org/Shishido.htm) using quality EICO transformers. So you may find your KEFs to be sensitive to the amp you choose.
Hi,
Dont neccesarily be scared by chinese made. I own a jolida cd player and while I can vouch that the chassis is not built like a tank the sonics are good. Another company to consider is asl, also chinese made but very favorable reviews and the designer joseph lau is a regular here, so there is a good deal of support. Just my .02
Brent
A Decware Zen is a great amp and should be sonically superior to a $600 Jolida. The catch is: output. The Zen output is rated at 1.8 watts into 6 ohms (good for you speakers). A lot depends on the size of your room and how loud you listen? The 30-day trial can help you with that. I've been pleased with my Zen and Klipsch RB-5's (91.7db).
The Zen may surprise you as to how much music you can get out of 2 wpc. There are several used ones for sale on Audiogon now. Note that you can bridge 2 of them in mono for about 2.5 times more power (extra 25% due to better impedance match.)
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