Jolida 302B & Manley StingRay Impressions (Int tubes)

[No Disc]

Here are my impression of a weekend with both of these Integrated tubes amps. You can get the specs of each from Jolida.com and manleylabs.com. On to the meat....

Testing with Klipsch KG4's. I used some Jazz to test these amps including, Brubeck "Time-Out," Krall "Loves Scenes," and Patricia Barber "Nightclub.".

The Manley Stingray exhibited a wider dynamic range and more detailed focus for vocals, but not so much to completely outclass the Jolida. Both had excellent bass on the kg4s, and both had clean and accurate highs. Previously I had tested a NAD 350, and I would say both Tubes were superior in sound quality.

Considering there is about a $1400 retail price difference between them, the Jolida gets my nod for value, and the Manley for overall sound quality. Is the Manley $1400 better than the Jolida? I think that is a case of dimishing returns.

- tb

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Tim's Home Theater

[mobile homeless]

The Jolida can sound much better with good input tubes and some mods to the PS. IT also sounds better via the 4ohm taps.

I would have thought the Stingray would have been the better of these two. Do know the Jolida is a good amp for the money, especially when used and you can find the 302b used.

The both should have sounded different as the Stingray uses the EL-84 tube while the Jolida 302B relies on the EL-34.

If you do opt for the Jolida, I would look used in the 500-600 range. Better input tubes will make a difference here as I said. There is a guy that has extensive notes on the mods he did with his Jolida 302.

It is not the last word in refinement but its a great little deal and surely better than almost any solid state amp under 1K.

The Manley Stingray does look intriquing. I imagine it had a tighter presentation...more buttoned up... a bit more controlled. But it is more money as well.

kh