Soundthought Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 Hello all. Here's a little story that's sure to warm your heart. I have an office located at the back of my house. Because of design and circulation problems, it's usually fairly cool. I set up my Jolida in the office a month ago for some "critical listening" sessions. Since then, it's been on almost every day for at least 6 hours. All of a sudden. Out of the blue. A pleasant discovery. While in the midst of buttoning up the house for winter, I realized something strange. It's warm in my office and I haven't even busted out the space heater yet. I'm glad I didn't. I was getting ready to sacrifice the use of the Jolida in lieu of a heater due to power constraints. Not anymore. Not this year. Forget that noisy old heater. I'm gonna use the Jolida. Sure, it might not put out as much warmth as the heater, but it definately sounds better. LOL And as long as it keeps the chill out of the air, i'm good to go. So there it is, the little Jolida 202 space heater with 4ohm tap. Talk about justification for ones' toys. Heh. You can't get much better than that. Now, I wonder how many I would need to heat the whole house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundthought Posted October 10, 2003 Author Share Posted October 10, 2003 Bump. Ha Ha Ha. Well, another year has passed and it's time to set up my Jolida in the office again. Nothing quite like warming up the old hands over the warm glow of the Jolida. Regards, John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassetized Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 this is the el34 amp, right? what speakers are you running on it? i've been kinda interested in Jolida, mainly in the 102-i have a hankerin' for el84 power and i'm not sure about going the vintage route again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 http://www.progressive-engineering.com/klipsch/jolida_102b.jpg In my opininon, the little Jolida 102 is the SLEEPER integrated of that line! I love the EL-84, the overachiever of the pentodes! And with some mods, the 102 can become an EXCELLENT base for your system. They are the cheapest of their tube offerings and one used is REALLY reasonable. Hexfreds and snubber in the PS, some JJ caps in the PS, perhaps some better coupling caps, and you have a GREAT little integrated. Most bypass the cheap balance and some also add a better volume pot. Sound like a lot? All those mods dont even hit $50 if you shop intelligently. Even bone stock, this is a neat little amp. Is it better than EICO/SCOTT/FISHER? Personally, I dont think so. But it is NEW and some prefer that line of reasoning. As for the HEAT of the tube amp, running pure class A triodes in the summer at the beach is a HELL of a way to kill your AC and power bill! Poor Jeff Lessard was running his SET 300B Monos when it was 100F with NO AC a year ago. IT was literally 95F in his damn dump!!! We had to sit on his rooftop, not a bad thing really in the heart of old Quebec. LAter, I heard the froot SLEPT on his rooftop! Lordy. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Let's talk about really bad sounding amps for a while. Is there such a thing as a terrible sounding tube amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painful Reality Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 ---------------- On 10/10/2003 9:28:29 AM DeanG wrote: Let's talk about really bad sounding amps for a while. Is there such a thing as a terrible sounding tube amp? ---------------- I can recall a single ended 6L6 amp that was pretty horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Not compared to solid state, which are underachievers in the audio world. I rank the mid-fi solid state AV receivers you can purchase at Best Buy, Circuit City, SAMS, et al as some of the worst sounding pieces of gear for 2 channel music you can find. After trying to outfit my freak-a-tron brother's quest for a TV and system in ever room, I soon realized that the 2 Channel option, even with better than average SS AV amps, barely reached MEDIOCRE quality, especially if pushing mid-fi speaker options. But you talk of tube amps. Some tube amps CAN be overly warm, lack extension, and sound a bit slow and maybe rolled off. BUT, these are actually HARD to find these days! Even that integrated that Jim was looking at via ebay would sound better at $280 used than 99% of the the SS dreck the large corps pass off as quality, sub 1k AV amplifiers. So your comment is a valid one. 15 years ago, tube amps were EXPENSIVE and out of reach. Lately, China has produced some ok amps and some of the little manufactures are bring GREAT low cost options that sound damn good. Jolida is made overseas but put together in the US. I have had a handful of Jolida in my home purchased for friends systems. Although I would NOT buy new, they were a great deal used and the mods for them are all over the Asylum (a few dedicated sites as well). AGain, I think a quality vintage amp has better sound and are more refined but some dont want vintage. Ultimately, some tube amps are more equal than others, to use an amusing reference. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Yeah, Jeff... And you sure arent a lover of the ole Zen amp, perhaps a bit too harsh on the little tike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painful Reality Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 ---------------- On 10/10/2003 10:05:49 AM mobile homeless wrote: Yeah, Jeff... And you sure arent a lover of the ole Zen amp, perhaps a bit too harsh on the little tike. ---------------- I wasn't refering to the Zen. If you read correctly, I stated a 6L6 SE amp. The Zen use a SV83 or EL-84. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 I've been looking at some of the other things Decware has to offer. The Signatures using the SV83 look sweet, but at that price -- other things start coming to mind that might probably best them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 I know I have the interior of the Jolida 302 in several views. I might have one for the 102 but as of the moment, I dont know where either is located. I have so many audio shots, they actually have a a dedicated drive in my system! Pathetic when you think about it. Hell, I just uncovered these beasts while looking for something just now... The gold on either is a bit much for my taste, but still some nice stuff, especially that Jota. kh ps- Jeff, my comment was IN ADDITION to the one listed... lord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painful Reality Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 ---------------- On 10/10/2003 10:31:19 AM mobile homeless wrote: ps- Jeff, my comment was IN ADDITION to the one listed... lord. ---------------- Oooops... My mistake! Zen wasn't good for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 I just ran through with a search on my audio pic HD and cant locate the Jolida interior shots. I know they are there and as I remember, the 102 has the same general type of construction. Here is an interesting review of the Jolida 102B by the late speaker maker John Wyckoff, the designer of the HAMMER DYNAMICS SUPER 12 high efficiency speaker. I thought it an honest and straight forward review from a person that has no connection nor much review experience. He also gives the newbie some nice background while not being too technical. While stretching some definitions, the article is informative and a fun read. Worth a look: Read John Wyckoff's Review of the Jolida 102B kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Dean, I had the Decware Signature monoblocks for 30 days driving my Cornwalls. They sounded quite nice, but really pooped out at ~90dB in my room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundthought Posted October 10, 2003 Author Share Posted October 10, 2003 Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I've been occupied with the garage sale i'm have today and through the weekend. 9-6 Fri-Sun...come on out and bring some cash. Ha Ha. Bassetized- I run everthing I get my hands on with my Jolida. From RF7s to Magnepan MG2s. She pushes them all very well and has yet to fail in performing as required. *cept for the time I nearly blew up Otsbys Heresys at the Chi-town horn club meeting. But that's a different story. Heh....what a day that was. I've set up and listened to every speaker I own in great lengths....and that's alot. All I can say about my Jolida 202A is that little sucker can be your best friend or worst enemy. Kelly- Great review link. Getting my Jolida was in part due to your input last year. I never thanked you for writing me in such explicit detail concerning "getting my feet wet" with tubes. Much oblidged, good sir. Wasn't it your ex-girlfriend whom ended up with a 202A? I gotta say, if not for the deal a fellow member gave me on the Jolida and a minty pair of Forte IIs, I wouldn't have shelled out the dough for it. I got the package for less than the amp, itself, retails for. I have to admit, I'm not into forking out the BIG cash for my gear. Call me cheap, but I think it's my heritage talking. Half Dutch and half Latvian. I rest my case. Regards, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 My brother really loves his 40 WPC 202a integrated amp, especially with his new Electro Harmonix EL34 output tubes in place. I'd love to yank his amp outta his HT rig and try it out through my Cornwalls, but he'd freak out if he ever caught me! It's a shame he doesn't like in-your-face horns...he drives a pair of nasty Acoustic Research AR9 black tower 3-ways with side-firing 10" woofers he bought 3 years ago. They're efficient at 92dB per 1W/1M, but they sound "cupped" to me (like holding your hands over your mouth when you speak...yuck)! His latest Acoustic Energy Aegis Two 2-way towers have that old English warmth I'm fond of, but they're much less efficient and bass output is reduced (he only uses a sub for movies). If it was up to me, the AR9s would soon be posted on eBay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 Jim, dont you and your brother LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE? If so, I cant believe he wouldnt let you walk the 20 feet down the hall and try it in your own system! This is crazy to me. ISnt he curious as to the sound of his Jolida with your cornwalls? I personally would want to hear it on any speaker I had in the house just to learn more. On top of that, I would want to CONVERT my brother to tube hell! Really, why in the world wont he let you try the little beast out? Crazy in my view. I would have let you the first day I had it. Swine brothers! kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 LOL! You don't know my brother! He hates my Cornwalls! He's disliked them since the day my dad first brought them home...granted he was only 9 years old then, but he's never liked horns (too blatty and harsh to his delicate ears). He'd rather listen to his dull lifeless AR9s (nothing like the masterpieces from the early days of Henry Kloss). Hell, he doesn't even like our youngest brother's Magnepans or old Infinity Reference Standard 6 Kappas. I swear he's got a tin-ear! What a waste of a perfectly good tube amp. Damn swine brother! I'll wait 'til one of his days off and he's out of the house...I'll fix him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 Yeah, but wont he let you just try it out? Hell, you are living together, you must get along to some extent. What would be his reason for not even letting you try it for you to see what kind of amp worked on your speakers? Lordy, you all have your amps in reverse! I still think you shoud go all tube as having a tube pre, though a great compromise, and something I lived with as well, is not the ultimate solution for your horns. I personally would go with tubes for amplification, ESPECIALLY with horns. They DO reward quality tube amps, however. It doesnt sound like your budget is letting your roll with a myriad of choices. I still wished you had gone with that ebay amp just to sample. You could have sold it in weeks and the learning process would have been a good one, especially since your brother appears to be one stingy loon! kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 Tom may be 33, but he acts like 13! It's not really as bad as I portray, and all 3 of us get along quite well actually (although our 4th brother was smart and got married and moved to Niagara Falls to get away from us single idiots...heh)! And we do have our amps in reverse, but I introduced Tom to vacuum tubes awhile ago with my collection of tube radios (he now has 7 fully restored vintage radios as well) and my first tube preamp purchase last December. Oh, he'll eventually let me try the JoLida out (in his own sweet time)...he's rather anal about switching gear around, unlike our youngest brother who swaps out gear with me and others all the time. He's savoring the tube amp all for himself right now, the greedy bastard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.