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AH vs Jolida Cd Player


tigerwoodKhorns

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I have an AH! non-upsampled CD player (has the cord and feet). I am consideruing getting the upsampler (at $350) but am wondering if the Jolida is the way to go. I shoudl be able to sell teh AH! and step into a Jolida (used) for about the same money. I am very happy with the AH, just wondering if I am missing something.

Opinions?

Chris

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Chris,

I have not heard the Jolida, so can be of no help there.

Listened to the AH! for a couple of months before adding the upsampler.

I was skeptical, but curious. I have to say I was impressed. It

exceeded my expectations.

One reviewer I'd read described the sound of the upsampled AH! was like

lifting a veil off the music. Thought that description rang true with

my experience.

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Duke,

Interesting. Yeh, on the downside, the AH! upsampler is dedicated and

proprietary... can't be used on any other gear. However, the

things I've read about getting a DAC dialed in made me think it was a

more user friendly option.

I will also add that the Heart CD player, which does not offer an

upsampler sounds fabulous and is given the edge over the AH! by Dick

Olshner.

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I have an AH! non-upsampled CD player (has the cord and feet). I am consideruing getting the upsampler (at $350) but am wondering if the Jolida is the way to go. I shoudl be able to sell teh AH! and step into a Jolida (used) for about the same money. I am very happy with the AH, just wondering if I am missing something.

Opinions?

Chris

Chris,

Not all upsamplers are equally good. I happen to have a good one. (Neither brand under consideration.) It can easily be worth the cost, if you get the results possible. I have experimented with my system as was shocked at how much better the sound can be. I used a transport that was not upsampled versus one that was upsampled via a jitter free digital link.

If you can try the AH! with the right to return it, go for it. You will not know till you try.

Bill

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I own the Ah! Super Tjoeb 4000 w/upsampler, and I must say the differance is not small, it is definitly like lifting a veil from the music. Everything is better, more detail, clearer midrange, deeper tighter bass and more sparkle in the highs. The Ah! Tjoeb 4000 without the upsampler is a decent player at best, but with it, its among the best under $2k in my opinion. Go for it, if you dont like it you can easily sell it on Audiogon. Just curious, what tubes are you using, the second biggest upgrade next to the upsampler was upgrading the crap Jan Philips tubes with some Seimens 7308 gold pins, or if your on a tighter budget the Rocket Logo russian tubes are quite good as well. Good luck and happy listening.

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Bill, What upsampler and transport are you using? Pardon me if they're listed somewhere.

Fini,

I have a home theater setup that has this feature built in. My receiver is a Pioneer Elite 59TXi and I have the Pioneer DV-47Ai universal player. The systems upsamples at 8x the regular rate. The i.link allows the receiver to reclock the CD so that it is jitter free. My receiver also decodes SACDs and DVD-As via i.link and the use of the Burr-Brown PCM 1704 DACs (which allows a 113 db dynamic range.) With upsample being used, it sounds nearly as good as SACDs.

The DV-47Ai makes CDs sound better than other transports connected via coax or Toslink.

My amps are made by Sunfire (Bob Carver) which claims to have a tube like sound, but otherwise, my system is 100% solid state.

Bill

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Ive only heard the Jolida player briefly at a dealer, it was quite good. But I can't say which is the better of the two. I will say that I choose the Ah! Tjoeb 4000/upsampled over a few players in the $1000 range, the Arcam cd82 and Rega Planet to name a few. Although the higer end players from those two companies did have a significant edge over the Ah! Tjoeb albiet at double the price. For the price I doubt you can do much better, if you are happy with your Ah! player then keep it and add the upsampler and some good tubes, the Jolida most likely will be differant sounding but most likely not better. I highly reccomend Seimens 7308 gold pin tubes, they are pricey but they were the biggest improvement next to the upsampler. My advice is if you like the Ah! player stick with it.

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