Shodrewken Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Does anyone own, or has anyone heard the jd-502b? I'm considering this for my first tube amp, any feedback would be appreicated. [] For those who want to know I'll be running my cornwalls through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Here's my experience (good one) http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/52058/496878.aspx#496878 With that said, I've since sold the amp. I did not like the amount of noise it had in the volume control, kind of that scratchy sound. Wasn't BAD, it just annoyed me and I knew I didn't have to settle for it. Don't know if it was my unit or all of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 by the way...this was back in the day when Craig luved me... [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotton Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I recently purchased a JD-100B and I love it. I like the products and company enough to carry their product line. I've used mine on my home system with RB-81s and in our showroom with RF-63s. It has been my first tube amp and I have nothing but good things to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shodrewken Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 thanks for the replies. I'm hoping some more people who own this amp on the forum will share they're experiences too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivieraranch Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 You don't need a 502B; the 302B, which I own is better regarded overall. It uses EL34 power tubes, which are nicer and more refined than the 6550 used in the 502B. I believe that the iron is the same, so much so that there are modifiers out there who will modify a 302 to run on either EL34 or 6550 power tubes. I had a 202B also, I liked the art deco look of the transformer covers. I began with a 102B also; nice little amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpmgumdoc Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I have a pair of Cornwalls that I've lugged around the midwest from house to house since I bought them used while in college in 1981. Never could bring myself to part with them because I thought they sounded so great. Always ran them with fairly inexpensive yamaha and denon ss gear. They had been in storage in the basement for several years so I recently thought about selling them. Got on the web to research prices and came across this site and a few others where I repeatedly read about how great Cornwalls are with tubes. So rather than selling I set them up in the basement and did some research on tube amps about which I knew zero. A found a bunch of posts that specifically liked the Jolida/cornwall combo and found that Jolida got consistently great reviews for entry level tubes. More research seemed to point to EL34 tubes with Cornwalls. Spoke with a guy that sells Jolida and he said to go with the 302 which uses the EL34 tubes. So I had no trouble finding one used as they often are available on Audiogon and ebay. Hooked up the Corns and fell in love all over again! Could not believe how much better they sounded than with the ss gear. Had a bad tube which gave me an excuse to swap out the cheap original chinese tubes for some nice russian tubes and improved the sound even more dramatically. So there you have it...I did all the research for you! If you can spend over a grand get the new 302BRC which has a remote and a sub out if you plan to use a sub. If you want to try tubes on the cheap IMO you can't go wrong with a used 302B or a little older 302A. I'm enjoying just sittin' and listening to music again for the first time in many years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I recently purchased a JD-100B and I love it. I like the products and company enough to carry their product line. I've used mine on my home system with RB-81s and in our showroom with RF-63s. It has been my first tube amp and I have nothing but good things to say. Cotton, I have a loaner Jolida JD 1000 amp driving a small pair of B&W's right now. Nice amp. It is owned by a friend and I have the option to buy it later if I choose when I build my K Horn project (that has been on the shelf for two years...). If it all works well I may keep this as a tube system. The JD 1000 is the older model that has the flat front and no remote. Does Jolida sell (or can you obtain) the remote and volume control / input selector from a JD 1000 RC so that I can make this amp a remote control model? Even better, how about the chasis from a new JD 1000 RC. That is one beautiful unit and I would not mind swapping the guts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shodrewken Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 I have a pair of Cornwalls that I've lugged around the midwest from house to house since I bought them used while in college in 1981. Never could bring myself to part with them because I thought they sounded so great. Always ran them with fairly inexpensive yamaha and denon ss gear. They had been in storage in the basement for several years so I recently thought about selling them. Got on the web to research prices and came across this site and a few others where I repeatedly read about how great Cornwalls are with tubes. So rather than selling I set them up in the basement and did some research on tube amps about which I knew zero. A found a bunch of posts that specifically liked the Jolida/cornwall combo and found that Jolida got consistently great reviews for entry level tubes. More research seemed to point to EL34 tubes with Cornwalls. Spoke with a guy that sells Jolida and he said to go with the 302 which uses the EL34 tubes. So I had no trouble finding one used as they often are available on Audiogon and ebay. Hooked up the Corns and fell in love all over again! Could not believe how much better they sounded than with the ss gear. Had a bad tube which gave me an excuse to swap out the cheap original chinese tubes for some nice russian tubes and improved the sound even more dramatically. So there you have it...I did all the research for you! If you can spend over a grand get the new 302BRC which has a remote and a sub out if you plan to use a sub. If you want to try tubes on the cheap IMO you can't go wrong with a used 302B or a little older 302A. I'm enjoying just sittin' and listening to music again for the first time in many years! Good lookin' out! Thanks for your personal experience with the 302b. I had first looked at that one, but I've read for several sites that the 302b didn't have very much bottom end, so thats why I was leaning more towards the 502. Speaking of which, were you missing any bottom end sound with your cornwall/302b setup? And I was't aware that the 302b could have a sub out on it, so thats pretty sweet news! if any of you guys have experience with jolida keep them comming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 You have a lot of choices, take your time .... I think you can do better than Jolida, take your time ..... My problem with Jolida, even as your buying their product, they recommend up dates,and tube chages, before you even get what you ordered, and personally speaking, they are too expensive for me to consider .......... Your money, spend it wisely, hopefully spend it once !!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfk Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 It's age, some things get dusty and get a little funky, the controls on my mom's old Macintosh equipment make noise because of dust in the potentiometers. Once you get buy it, all still sounds good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 by the way...this was back in the day when Craig luved me... That was before you became Jub-lusional [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I had the 202a and 302b. Nice amps, both of 'em. I used them on Cornwalls and never found the bass to be lacking. IMO, however, the Cornwall / el34 combination is not ever going to produce tight bass. Low enough, yes, perhaps, and you may like the sound, but I found it to be a bit loose. It's a nice way to get into tubes. I had these with a Scott 299b. I went back to Jolida after getting tired of dealing with the problems of vintage components. Disclaimer: I never had the 299b updated by an experienced tech like Craig AND I had to fix loose wiring on a tube base of the brand new Jolida 302b. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 "That was before you became Jub-lusional " ROTFLMAO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotton Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 tigerwoodKhorns, I will look into that on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HatTrick66 Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 EL34 vs. KT88? I too am starting to head in the tube direction and have been looking at the 502. I was lead to believe through research(no listening yet) that for Rock and bass, go with the KT88 based system. Although Corns are certainly efficient enough to work well with either, my listening tastes were taking me toward the KT88. Any thoughts from those of you who have heard both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I would be more tempted, although they cost a little bit more, to try one of the PrimaLuna amps. http://www.upscaleaudio.com/view_category.asp?cat=96 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spongeworthy Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 No question about it, with all other things being equal, the KT88 will provide much more bass slam than EL34s. I have had both in a few different amps. A 6CA7 will be somewhere in the middle - still has nice bass and the sweet midrange that EL34s are known for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 with all other things being equal, the KT88 will provide much more bass slam than EL34s With the 502 I had, i was also able to swap out the 88's for some KT-90's (I forget who first mentioned that on this site) but the KT-90's offered even some more beef. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpmgumdoc Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Good lookin' out! Thanks for your personal experience with the 302b. I had first looked at that one, but I've read for several sites that the 302b didn't have very much bottom end, so thats why I was leaning more towards the 502. Speaking of which, were you missing any bottom end sound with your cornwall/302b setup? And I was't aware that the 302b could have a sub out on it, so thats pretty sweet news! if any of you guys have experience with jolida keep them comming! Cotton, Only the new 302RC has the sub out feature. I was also concerned about the bottom end with the Cornwalls/302 setup from my readings but was very satisfied when I got it hooked up. I listen to everything from hard rock, jazz, vocals, even some classical (sorry, no country shall pass through my cornwalls!) I'm fairly certain the 502 would also be nice as some of the others have posted. As with all this stuff it comes down to personal preference! PS-there is a 302B and 302RC on Audiogon now. Good luck and happy listening. 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.