fresco

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $500.00 from local pre-owned shop

Summary:
This is my 1st tube amplifier. It has a smooth and liquid sound. The sound is natural and detailed. I listened to Patricia barber songs, Norah jones, Andrea bocelli and it is so detailed and clear.

I used the el34 JJ blue tube but I think the original jolida tube which I believe is the same as the shuguang chinese tube sound a lot better than the blue JJ tube. The JJ tube has more bass but has a dull sound. The shuguang tube is just clearer and more detail. Some people said that shuguang is a bit dry, but not for me.

If you are looking at an affordable inexpensive tube amp, I would strongly recommend this jolida 202. I think it would be best if you use it on small 2 way speakers (speakers with 4" woofer).

However this amp is only rated 40 watts and you cant drive speakers very loud. But for me, it is loud enough. This piece is small and not bulky and it is excellent for a small living room or small bedroom.

I used it together with Totem arro and 1072 rotel hdcd player and the sound is very addictive and soothing at medium volume.

Strengths:
Small and simple. Inexpensive and has a natural detailed sound.

Weaknesses:
only rated 40 watts but thats enough for me.

skipper320

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
After a short foray into solid state amplification, I decided it was time to return to tubes. I found a nice deal on the Jolida 202a. I bought it and I could not be more pleased. I was very surprised at how nice this amplifier sounds. Ample bass for a 40w integrated. Beautiful midrange and crisp, clear highs. Soundstaging is very strong. This amplifier excels with jazz and classical music. Vocals are nicely rendered. Build quality seems excellent. I have not tried any different tubes as of yet, but I plan to in the future. I will follow up on that. I had hesitated to try a tube integrated and am sorry I waited as long as I did. Paired with a rather sensitive
(90db) or betterspeaker, it produces plenty of punch and more than enough volume. For the price, it is definitely worth a listen.

Strengths:
Strong with vocal and jazz music.
Pinpoint soundstaging with my monitor speakers.
Bass is adequate in smaller listening environments.
Highs are clear and crisp with no harshness
Build quality and price/performance ratio

Weaknesses:
None for the price

Similar Products Used:
Nad c340
Bedini BA-801
classe 70
rogue 88 magnum
sonic frontiers power 2
anthem amp1

MJAB

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.75 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $900.00 from Audip Pro

Summary:
I still does not understand why there are two separated groups of reviews on the Jolida 202. This is really a follow up, as I already wrote about the Jolida 202 and I am so marveled about it. First: It passed about 2 years and until now the amp never failed. Second, here is something interesting: There is a french online magazine (thr.france) that reviewed the Jolida and said it is just great, but they did the test with JJ brand (prior Tesla) output tubes instead of the stock Jolida tubes, so I made the same change and the results where very notorious: the treble went more defined and the bass more round and full, while the midrange (already marvelous) were intact. Another simple think I did (based on the Steven Rochlin review article) was the use of Vibrapods under the stock feet, resulting in a slightly more open highs and mids and somewhat more headroom and less congestion at louder passages (i.e. Previn's Messiaen Turangalila Symphony, Antal Dorati's Grofe Grand Canyon Suite), while chamber orchestra and jazz got better soundstage. I also changed the 12AX7 Jolida tubes for Electro Harmonix, but here I didn't note a substancial difference. My point is, at this price, you will not get a better and more upgradedable amp than this. Speakers? I am now using the famous Triangle Cometes ES (prior I was using the Wharfedale 8.2), and until now it is the better sounding amp/speakers combo I have ever heard for less than two thousand dollars (believe me, I have heard many solid state and tube amps as many kind of speakers).

Strengths:
Again everything. It deserves to be called a legendary product.

Weaknesses:
For the price? Well, perhaps the absence of pre-outs or main-in connections, but I prefer go simple.

Similar Products Used:
Marantz MA6100 monoblock power amplifiers, NAD T743 AV receiver, Yamaha P2500 professional power amplifier, Parasound HCA1000A power amplifier, Quad 405 power amp.

slowrain

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $750.00 from Hawthorne Stereo

Summary:
I love this amp. I used to have a Dynaco tube amp, and in 1980 when I traded it in on a fancier, more powerful Philips solid state, I felt like something was missing somehow. Later, when I blew out an input channel and replaced the Philips with a JVC, the resulting sound from my old Advent One's was even thinner. Always wanted to try tubes again, but I couldn't afford a MacIntosh. The salesmen at Hawthorne seem to prefer solid state and were recommending NAD or Cambridge Audio integrated amps. When I asked them about their Jolida tube amps, they offered to let me take a Jolida and a Cambridge Audio home to try in my system. The Jolida won immediately- while the Cambridge sounds fine, the Jolida has a sense of life to it, like the musicians are there in front of you. You've heard the cliches of 'warm midrange and silky highs'- it's got 'em. I use a Rega Planet and a P2 through it into a pair of Wharfedale EVO 40's, and it sounds great. Yeah, it's only 40 watts, and the sound starts to fall apart if I really crank it (the 40's are the largest floorstanders in the EVO series), but we're talking unreasonably loud there. At normal and reasonably loud levels, it sounds beautiful. A bit of tube-rolling and I've found a combination of tubes I really like. If you can spend $1000, I hear the 302 has bigger transformers, more power and better bass control, but for under $1000 the 202 is a great-sounding amp.

Strengths:
'warm..., silky...' solidly built highly modifiable if you're into that, but you can also shape the sound trying different tubes.

Weaknesses:
cheap gold plastic feet. why, people, why?

Similar Products Used:
Dynaco, Philips, JVC, NAD, Luxman

MJAB

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $900.00 from Audio Pro

Summary:
Where are the other 41 reviews on this amp? Those reviews appear when you reach this page through Ecoustic.com/Audioreview.com. Follow up: This little amp is a killer! Sounds much more mellow than my Parasound HCA1000A/P-LD1100 combo. It is NOT an amp for those who wants to get deaf.

Strengths:
Everything

Weaknesses:
Nothing that deserves attention

Similar Products Used:
It is connected to a pair of NHT Super Zero , an Energy S10 subwoofer, a Marantz DR6000 CD recorder and a NAD 521i CD player.