det.redwings

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Unlike the last reviewer, I have had very good luck with my Jolida products. I owned the JD-100A when I
was living in the U.S. and had no problems in the 4 years I owned it. I am now working and living in China and I bought the Shenda/Jolida JD-502S. Shenda is the factory in Shanghai that makes the Jolida products.

I bought the JD-1501S here in China and lived with it happily for a little more than 3 years without any issues. So my desire to go for the all tube design steered my to the JD-502S. I must point out there are a couple of differences with the amp. One it has the soft start circuitry which I like. It also has microprocessor controlled input selection for determining the input. " I don't like " I like the standard Jolida approach better. It also does not have a balance control. "another plus" in MYOP. It also places the 4 output tube sockets on the main PCB. Instead of mounted to the chassis as on the 502B. I must point out if I was still back in the U.S. I would not buy this unit, because Jolida makes it very clear they will not service these products. But I live in China and have a good technical background in electronics. Also I bought the unit brand new for just a little over $500.

As for the sound! From the beginning I was impressed with the sound from this unit. The sound stage was pretty wide and imaging was good. I took a couple months to become acquainted with the unit and then my meddling nature took over and I started making some changes. I changed the power cord and that was a nice improvement. I then changed the stock 12ax7's for the re-issue Tungsol. They cleared up things more. Then I changed the 12at7 to Mullard 4024. Nice! recommended. I then starting doing some reading and came across an article by Dave Ellis a speaker builder and Bill Baker from Response audio contributed a great deal to the forum. So started my search for parts. I used taobao here in China. Chinese ebay of sorts and ordered the rest of the parts from DIY Hifi supply in Hong Kong.

I would like to contribute the changes that I did because the difference was amazing from the stock unit. I replaced the rectifier diodes in the power supply to ultra-fast soft recovery diodes and 1n4007 to a telefunken/vishay. I did this in isolation and the impact was immediate and very positive. Bass improved the most, but I also felt a better attack. Sorry but I can't think of a better word. Instruments cleaned up nicely and if someone doesn't want to change the character of his amp but get a nice improvement this is an upgrade I would suggest.

I then received my parts from Hong Kong. Obligato premium capactiors for the .22uf coupling caps and .47uf for the ground bypass and 3 additional .47uf for the power supply to bypass the electrolytic in the B+, B+1 and B+2. I received the Takman 1/2 resistors to replace several signal resistors and I also bought some DALE 5 watt to replace the cathode resistors. I replaced all the parts minus the power supply caps first. My first impression was Wow. Everything was cleaner and wider. Stringed instruments sounded amazing as well as vocals. "Especially female". After a couple weeks of listening everything sounded great. I'm not sure if everything broke in or I just became accustomed to the new sound. Anyway I went ahead and added the power supply bypass caps. This opened thing up even more. Probably due to less variations in the DC of the power supply.

I'm not sure if all readers are willing to make the modifications that I did? I can say that if you pick up one of these units, you won't regret your purchase. Especially if you look on the used market. The stock unit is nice and many people could live with it just like it is. Well new power cord and tubes may be required! But if you are the ambitious type you won't regret your effort. I can only imagine using sonic cap platinum's or another boutique high price cap could only make it better. For my total investment of about $700 including new tubes and parts for modification, I couldn't be happier.

ggolub

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I bought this amp due to favorable reviews and my interest in tube equipment. At that time i was and still using simaudio i-5 solid amp. It was really bad decision to buy Jolida. Underworld Audio sold it for $1200.
Sound was really sweet, warm, not so much detailed as one coming from solid amp. But it goes naturaly from lamp amp and did not annoy me so at all. To be accurate: I would love this amp if it worked.
Problems started soon - 1 month after. Volume control start producing cracking sounds and one or two channels would start loosing amplification. You would have to move it and catch position when it's working. Than 1 channel went down completely. I was also complained about power supply working pretty loud.
Sent to manufacturer. It was there for 3 month, came back just to see the problem with channels again.
I sent again. 3 month later received it. It got broaken again. Power supply got burned off too. I found myself begging Jolida to repair my unit sooner than 2 - 3 month.
Overall, it happened 4 times. At the end I hated this unit, sold it for less than $50 within the first year of service. I am not sure if i have used for more than 2 month overall.
Jolida's service is really bad, their products are so unreliable that I was complaining to attorney general of 2 states because it seemed to me they sell hoax. Finaly I gave up and decided to incure loss but sell it for any cost.
Don't make misstake - they use chip chinese manufacturing, russian bulbs which depending on 'wheather conditions' :) can be ok or really bad too.
I bought another lamp unit - VTL. Service is excellent, price is 2.5 times of Jolida. But some of the issues are still there: lamps are highly unreliable, power supply sound adds to sound canvas.
Warm tembre has a high premium which I am not sure compensates tube advantages.
Jolida product is not recommended by me for any price.

marcus001

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $850.00 from online

Summary:
This is a review for the Jolida 502b integrated amp; 2 weeks of break in and I'm completely blown away.

I have gone through 2 Carver and 2 Yamaha solid state amps and I'm happy to say that I finally found the detail, imaging and immersive experience I was looking for inside a glass tube.

I read that tubes were more musical, more fluid, more lifelike..but until you spend some time with one in your space, with your music you don't really get it. I am now a believer and I doubt I'll ever go back to solid state.

This amp presents music with depth, texture, and presence that makes the best $1200 soliid state amp I've heard sound flat and 2 dimensional. I've now abandoned the "accuracy" sentiment--accurate and lifeless has no place in my living room.

Its possible that a VERY expensive solid state amp could give you this kind of detail, but why would you bother spending the extra money. This is admittedly an entry level amp but at 60W per channel it pushes my 86db sensitivity strata mini's very very well. Huge and deep soundstage, amazing layering of highly produced music and sweet presentation of analog recordings. Dynamic, realistic, and captivating. It is in a completely different league than any solid state I've heard .

This is one great amp!

EH 6550s
Westinghouse (german) 12AT7
Sovtek 12Ax7wb

Strengths:
Harmonic detail nuance in acoustic instruments
Soundstage depth
resolution of space and instument placement
lifelike mids--especially human voice

Weaknesses:
Bass could be a bit more thunderous...but this is NOT a legitimate weakness only a relative one in light of the incredible strengths

Similar Products Used:
Carver TFM series
Yamaha rxv-740, 1200

aroostookme

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I recently impulse bought a Jolida 502B, I placed an eBay bid that was so low it was silly and no one else bid.

I had a great ST-70 and PAS Dynaco set-up and decided not to take vintage equipment into retirement with me and looked for something newer. Several things I have found about this amp that are commendable.

First, it is beautiful to look at in a lit room or in the dark. Well made. Back-breaking heavy.

Sonically it walks all over the Dyna outfit. It perfectly handles Quad ESL-57's. But the reason I am writing is for any Proac 2s owner. If you have Proacs then I have a most pleasant surprise to share.

The Jolida 502B with a Rega Planet 2000 and Kimber KCAG interconnects. Connect the Jolida to the Proacs with Nordost Solar Wind cables. Let the wild rumpus begin.

It is like some made-for-TV chick movie where the guy and the girl find deep and perfect love at first glance. These things were meant for one another. And the outfit, except the Proacs, is all within entry level hifi reach.

I won't review the speakers, just the difference. The soundstage is much wider and deeper. Lows are even more amazing and the Proacs do lows amazingly anyway. But the mid and high registers gain significantly from this match-up. I mean like "I am not moving these, unhooking these, or ever leaving the room" kind of sound.

Give it a try if you own Proacs.

Wow.

Strengths:
Solid, no-nonsense amp and sound. Match well with Brit sound speakers.

Weaknesses:
Really heavy and you can throw your back out getting this one into an audio stand.

Similar Products Used:
Dynaco Stereo 70, Dynaco MK!!, Dynaco PAS.

shadyave

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1200.00 from United Home Products

Summary:
I have had the Jolida 502b for about 18 months. It has been wonderful, fulfilling my expectations in regard to switching to tubes. The sound is warmer and more musica than my previous amp. The the mid-range is especially good. I have found it to be a good match with my older speakers as the power is adequate to run these less efficient speakers.

I am fortunate to live near the Jolida business which is in the same building as United Home Products. I was able to have my 502b modified slightly at the factory, to include a tape out - which has allowed me to burn cds from my favorite LPs. It was also convenient to be near the factory, when I had one small problem related to a loose input selector switch. The folks at Jolida switched it out on the spot at no cost.

The additional entertainment that come with a tube amp is seeing if one can improve the sound by substituting the tubes. My 502b came with EH KT88 power tubes which I would highly recommend and have not changed. After some reading and experimenting, I have replaced both sets of pre-amp tubes (5965 for the 12AT7, and 6681 for the 12AX7). These tubes have a bit less gain. The result was a clear improvement in the sound, most notably widening the soundstage. I would note also that biasing the 502b is very easy using a simple system of turning screws until a LED light comes on. No other equipment is required beyond a screwdriver.

I have had a great time with this amp which has been in daily use since I purchased it. The build quality is very good, and other than the minor problem with the switch, it has worked flawlessly. I don't think one can do better at this price in a tube amp.

Strengths:
Very musical, particularly great mid-range
Build quality is good.
Easy to bias the tubes.

Weaknesses:
Mine does not have a remote (but Jolida now has one with a remote)

Similar Products Used:
First tube amp. Other amp is NAD C320BEE