Jolida JD 502B Integrated Amplifier Integrated Amplifiers

Jolida JD 502B Integrated Amplifier Integrated Amplifiers 

DESCRIPTION

- Peak Music Power:---115W per channel at 1 KHz, 8 ohms.
- Rated Output Power---60W per channel at 8 ohms, 20Hz to 75KHz.
- Frequency Response:---(at 1W into 8 ohms) 6Hz to 120KHz (+-) 1dB; 0dB at 1Khz.
- Distortion THD + N:---Less than 1% at 60W output, 29Hz to 20KHZ, 8 ohms.
- Tube Complement:---4pcs. 6550s, 2pcs. 12AX7As, 2pcs. 12AT7s.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 11-20 of 32  
[Jan 03, 2007]
Rockinghorse
Casual Listener

Strength:

Wide, deep soundstage, that floats in front and behind the speaker enclosures. Silky smooth midrange reveals the emotional intensity of singers. Ability to track bass lines accurately and fully without boominess.
Built like a russian tank. Heats up my room nicely this time of year!

Weakness:

Why it has a balance control, I can't figure out.. I mean, how many folks need THAT?

The amp makes you forget about your speakers. It totally lacks boxiness, and that accounts for the sense of reserve power one gets with it in spite of it's modest output power. It uncannily reveals the emotional essence of popular songs, so that one gets a sense of the raw emotions driving the music. I have never experienced that with any system i owned before playing with this amp. And that is coming from my honest impression. I have no axe to grind. It is especially good on vocals, piano, and woodwinds, and if I had to say what kind of music it's best suited for, I would say jazz and classical. That, however, is NOT the music I listen to: it acquits itself quite nicely with the hard and soft mostly alternative rock I favor, without any hint of stress or strain.The bass is quick and goes deep when necessary. I have yet to hear it clip. I am using it with the Epos ES11's, which also favor the midranges. Someone might think this would lead to a darker, constrained sound. I find it a wonderful pairing, and am completely enraptured by how it reveals music. If you are considering an amp, and don't have a lot of green, this one should be near the top of your list.

Customer Service

The New Tube gave me an offer I couldn't refuse, provided a tracking number when I asked and was quick to answer questions by email. However, no one ever answers the phone :)

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 2325

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 06, 2006]
José Manuel Hamill
AudioPhile

Strength:

The Sound and Power are amazingly fantastic comparing to some more expensive equipment.
If you are not an affordable audiophile this is the burgain of your life!

Weakness:

Too cheap for the quality.

A friend of mine and my brother, two truly audiophiles have bought a Primaluna Prologue one and two respectively and a pair of Sonus Faber Cremona loudspeakers. I was invited to a listening session at our friend's home. We started with some fusion while the tubes were warming up and finished with jazz CD and Super Audio (Miles, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Cassandra Wilson, etc). The session was fantastic.
Impressed with the experience, I was searching around the city of Luanda - Angola something similar to their "Primadonna". I found the Jolida 502B and a pair of TDL Cheviot speakers. Totalizing $1700!!! for both equip. I am using "Guerrilla Silver Single Ended Speaker cable" Cheaper than my friend's one.
I retributed their invitation and we have started as we did at my friends house few days before.
The session at my house was something unimaginable. Magic, fantastic, amazing!
The sense that everyone had in that room is similar to if an African Team defeated Brazil in the final of the World Cup Championship.

Similar Products Used:

Primaluna Prologue one and two

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 16, 2006]
audiojunkie23
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Soundstage. Power(for tubes). Value.

Weakness:

No remote, thats it. A seperate pre-amp could solve that

This is a solid performer. The jolida 502b is great for the money. I'm currently running a pair of Magnepan 1.4's which are not the most efficient speaker but mate rather well with this amplifier. I generally run it with the volume at about 1:00. This amp has a pretty good soundstage open and airy, and is good for a small to medium size room. When i put this system into a large room the amp could not keep up. But at 60wpc combined with the Maggies one can only expend so much volume. Overall i am very satisfied with my purchase, the only gripe i have is the lack of a remote. My guess is that Jolida will provide one in the future. Personally i prefer the sound of tubes. They seem to have a warmer more open sound and having a tube amp combined with Maggie speakers helps to take away some of the harsh highs that can be revealed from certain recordings while playing through panel speakers in my experience. If you are looking to rock the house, i would not recommend this. I is great for live recordings such as "Wish You Were Hear" on Pink Floyd's Delicate Sound of Thunder concert. If you like tube sound and do not have the disposible income for and Audio Research or McIntosh system this is hard to beat for the money. I would like to hear the modified versions that are now available, though i found Mullard preamp tubes and Electro-Harmex KT-90's improved the output levels as well as soundstage of this already impressive amp. My current system: Jolida 502b Pioneer elite dv-09 Magnepan 1.4 SignalCable.com speaker wire, interconnects and power cord. Great for the money, highly recommended MSB Link III Gold(soon)

Similar Products Used:

Quicksilver Marantz Ampzilla Kenwood

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 09, 2004]
Azores_Audio
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Bargain! Powerful (60 Watts seems like 160) good extension, easy on the eyes and most of all Mike Allen.

Weakness:

None at this price point.

I love this amp. I spent tons of $$ on a Home Theatre Pre/Pro and ultra powerful SS amps but the sound was terrible (see my review of the Anthem AVM 20) I gave up listening to music. Well, then I happened upon Jolida and Mike Allen. He reintroduced me to music. I'm new to tube gear and had no idea how dynamic, expressive and smooth it could be. Music aside this peice integrates very well in my Home Theatre and is actually lounder and more dynamic than the Parasound Halo A21 (250Watts x 2) that it replaced. It gets better! After living with it for a couple of weeks I went to Mike looking for suggestions on how to squeeze even more performance out of it. He suggested some minor component upgrades (replaced some caps and resistors) WOW! now its even more dynamic with cleaner highs and tighter lows. Hopefully Mike will offer the upgrades as part of his product line in the future (maybe a 502BSE) Now I get to roll some tubes... My System: 502B, PS Audio P500, Sony 999ES, Integra rcvr (sold the Anthem) and Sonus Faber GP Home speakers.

Similar Products Used:

This is my first tube amp. Halo amps, Integra Rcvrs, Anthem AVM20

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 14, 2003]
boa2
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Warm, inviting soundstage Natural sound An absolute bargain

Weakness:

Nada Niente Nil

Purchased the Jolida on the recommendation of a friend who had the 302B for several years (and loved it). I played music professionally for over ten years, and have specific requirements for sound, after having spent thousands of hours in recording studios. And this amp answers all of my needs--big soundstage, warm sound (changed to KT88 power tubes), detailed but laid back. No question, this is not at the top of the ladder when it comes to audio equipment. But the only reason I would consider upgrading is because it can be fun to try out different components. This amp lacks nothing, and I listen to it 6 hours + a day. I even find myself listening to songs that I used to skip over on my old system. System: Jolida JD502B integrated amp Jolida JD100-A CD player (A++++) Soliloquy 5.3 loudspeakers Adire Rava Subwoofer Signal Power Cables Signal Shotgun Bi-wire Speaker Cables (Bested everything I tried up to $600) VeraStarr Silver Reference IC

Similar Products Used:

First tube amp

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 20, 2003]
AudioPhile

Strength:

Everything! And I mean everything!

Weakness:

N-o-n-e

Do not think you Jolida sound awsome until you had this amp modified. If you want music kicked up to a higher level Get a modification done to your Jolida Amp. Tube rolling is ok but a Amp mod is really awsome.You will not regret it.

Similar Products Used:

Amps that cost 3 and 4 grand. Lots of cash A poor guy like me can't afford but have heard many times. For the Money I rate this product a 5 1/2 with Modifications.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 11, 2003]
TGA
AudioPhile

Strength:

Solid build, exceptional finish, great looks, 2 year warranty, super support and service from Jolida, access to the President Mike Allen, Sound wonderful and glorious, again, great looks...

Weakness:

None that I can think of or realize I have it set-up and there are no weaknesses.

I have enjoyed high fi stereo for 30 years and have lived through real to real, 8 track tape, cassetts, tons and tons of vinal, and now CD. All the time I held onto the superiority of transistors amps. Finally after all this I purchased a TUBE amp, the Jolida 502B. What a revelation! It is everything in sound that people have said it would be. Warm, soft, smooth no listening fatigue. Then there's that black hole effect. I'am not sure about what all is involved however there is a silence in and around the music that I did not notice in transistor amps. Even my daughter noticed the sound and commented how quiet the amp "sounded". Tube amps are wonderful and I am a new and strong convert because of Jolida. Jolida is a great company. I called the company to inquire as to the status of my order and Mike Allen answered the phone. Mike Allen is the president of the company. He was fun to talk with answered all my questions and shared some information on my new purchase the 502B. When was the last time you called a stereo company and spoke with it's President. The amp arrived in a very strong well packaged box. It was easy to unpack and set up. The biasing of the power tubes was relatively easy (the owner manual was very specific with excellent instructions). It is biased for 50mv. After a brief burn-in period (not necessary as the 502B was burned in at the factory) I was able to listen to some glorious music. All my CD collections seemed to "come alive". To me there was a very discernable difference. My family not true stereophiles were very impressed and commented favorably. As one reviewer commented you have to listen for your self to fully appreciate and under stand the sound of tube amps. I recommend Jolida and Mike Allen there are a great combination. Rick at Audio Force in Davenport, Iowa was also a great help in getting me the Jolida 502B. Rick has even followed up with 4 or 5 phone calls to my home in Georgia to assist me in the biasing and set up of the 502B. His service is exceptional. Tube amps? absolutely!!! My system: Jolida 502B, Axiom Millenium 3 Mkll, Energy sub, Cambridge 500SE CD, Cambridge 500 Tuner, Ixos wire and Monster Cable interconnects.

Similar Products Used:

Creek, Luxman, Harmon Karden, Adcom, Sound Craftsman, Crown, Carver

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 08, 2003]
gwlvrns
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Midrange, while not nearly single-ended quality, blows away ninety-five percent of the solid state stuff at ANY price

Weakness:

Bass... while good, hook your old solid-state back up and you can hear what you're missing... I did just that, borrowing my old Harmon-Kardon back from my bro-in-law

I've owned this amp for four and a half years... it's hard to believe I'm just getting around to writing this review, but here it is... Warm, semi-organic sound, with an amazing midrange, especially on female vocals... with very good bookshelf speakers you can listen to Aimee Mann or Dar Williams, or whatever your cup of tea and be amazed for days I don't think it's the most detailed, but it's the musical emotion it conveys that makes it well worth the price I recently moved into a smaller place and had to split up our two systems, so that I'm running my Jolida and Parasound separates through my wife's KEF 15.2's in the bedroom, and using her NAD L40 CD Reciever through my 1900 dollar Edgarhorn Slimlines in the living room, and spend much more time listening in the bedroom

Similar Products Used:

Only tube amp I've owned, thougfh I've heard quite a few... had a seventy-watt Harmon-Kardon dating back to around 1995, and before that a Kenwood I used for 11 years... have heard some very fine prod

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 12, 2003]
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Midrange, clear life like sound, females voices are like Wow. Buy this Amp you will be real happy.

Weakness:

none

This Amp is an Excellent Amp. I can go on and on about this Amp. So I will just say this is some Amp. enough said.

Similar Products Used:

Conrad Johnson, Rouge, Golden Tube. Tubes in general.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 25, 2003]
Margarite Mitchell
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Midrange, surprise base with right tubes Execellent Integrated Amp. Jolida is a real winner.

Weakness:

No remote but who cares.

The Best Tube Amp for the money, nothing and I mean nothing come close. Will blow most solid state amps away.

Similar Products Used:

most Tube amps.only thing less money, but thats good.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 11-20 of 32  

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