slowGEEZR
Well-known member
I put this tube integrated amp into my system two days ago and thought I'd give my impressions of it to the group. I've never written a review before, so don't expect great writing! You can skip to the review, about 3 paragraphs down, if you wish...
First, a little history...Although I've owned my ML's since 1993, I have never thought of myself as a "hard core" audiophile. I put away my vinyl way back in the earyl '80's, as the sound I was getting back then did not compare to what I was getting with CDs. Up until a year ago, I had a rather modest system, consisting of a Yamaha surround receiver, a Denon CD player, a Pioneer Elite CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD player and the ML Aerius's. I also had (have) various other gear that was (is) not connected in my system. Friends that listened to my system thought it was great and I enjoyed it, too. However, I got the upgrade bug when I listened to a friend's system.
The first upgrade I bought was the Krell 400xi integrated amp. I thought the sound it gave was great; especially for the money! It took control of the MLs in a way that the Yamaha never approached. As they say, the sound was at another level. I then decided to get back into vinyl, as my friend, who owns Apogee Stages, Threshold preamps, Classe amps and a VPI 19 III junior and I enjoyed listening to vinyl on his rig. So, I bought a VPI Scout. I didn't care at the time if the vinyl sounded as good as the digital formats, I just missed the intimacy of vinyl and all that goes with it. I was surprised to find that, with the right vinyl, the sound was great, rivaling what I heard on digital sources and actually sometimes sounding even more real to my ears.
I have been listening and looking at tube gear for a while now, as I liked what I had heard from my little Bellari tube phono amp and the Musical Fidelity X-CAN v3 headphone amp. I wanted the tube sound, but didn't want to spend a lot to get it. I had actually narrowed my search down to the SixPacs when I went to United Home Audio in Jessup, MD to check out their store. They had the JoLida hooked up to some MBL speakers. This amp was producing some amazing sound through those MBLs. I found out that the MBLs had an 82 db sensitivity rating and the JoLida could power 2ohms speakers without a problem, so I figured it could drive my MLs. Mike, the salesman at United, told me they had to burn in an amp for me and it should be ready by Wednesday (this was a Saturday). Tuesday afternoon, he called and said the amp was ready. So, it has been in my system since Wednesday.
The review...
After two days of listening, I have simply no desire to put the Krell back into service in this system. It is going into a bedroom system. The JoLida has more than enough power to completely control the Martin Logans to well above my normal listening levels. Muddy bass? No way! I had been thinking of a subwoofer, but not now. The bass is clear, fast and full. There is now an overall foundation to the sound that was not fully there with the Krell. I can now listen at a relatively low volume and still have a richness to the sound. I hear what I guess are more true harmonics. On one of my Patricia Barber MoFi SACDs, "cafe blue" there is a copy of Nardis. There is a drum solo that starts about 5 minutes into the song. During this solo, there is a point where the drummer changes the sound of his snare drum. This transition sounded really good with the Krell, but even better with the JoLida. I was hearing harmonics that I didn't with the Krell. There was a fullness to the sound, that I don't know how to describe except to say it sounded somehow, more real. I've also noticed that when playing complex sounds there is a clarity that seems very pure. I don't know if I'm describing that correctly. Here's what I mean. Track 7, Reasons Why, from Nickel Creek's Reasons Why CD, has a very dynamic cresendo which can easily sound hard, but the JoLida played it beautifully, so that I didn't feel the need to turn down the volume as I always did with the Krell.
The vinyl album of The Road to Escondido, JJ Cale and Eric Clapton is probably the best sounding record that I can think of. There is virtually no groove noise. They (JJ and Eric) had a lot of help on this album. There are some stellar performers playing guitar. It is a lot of fun for me to pick out the different guitar sounds and attribute them to the correct performer. The JoLida makes it easier to determine the different guitar players.
Stepping back, I would describe the overall sound of the JoLida as more earthy, more real, more "at ease" with a clarity and fullness that I really like. Vocals as well as all acoustic instruments sound more like they are in the room with you that coming from a hifi system. I know I've used a lot of cliches you've heard before, but I really don't know any other way to describe what I'm hearing. I highly recommend this amplifier to anyone thinking about getting into tubes! - Steve
First, a little history...Although I've owned my ML's since 1993, I have never thought of myself as a "hard core" audiophile. I put away my vinyl way back in the earyl '80's, as the sound I was getting back then did not compare to what I was getting with CDs. Up until a year ago, I had a rather modest system, consisting of a Yamaha surround receiver, a Denon CD player, a Pioneer Elite CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD player and the ML Aerius's. I also had (have) various other gear that was (is) not connected in my system. Friends that listened to my system thought it was great and I enjoyed it, too. However, I got the upgrade bug when I listened to a friend's system.
The first upgrade I bought was the Krell 400xi integrated amp. I thought the sound it gave was great; especially for the money! It took control of the MLs in a way that the Yamaha never approached. As they say, the sound was at another level. I then decided to get back into vinyl, as my friend, who owns Apogee Stages, Threshold preamps, Classe amps and a VPI 19 III junior and I enjoyed listening to vinyl on his rig. So, I bought a VPI Scout. I didn't care at the time if the vinyl sounded as good as the digital formats, I just missed the intimacy of vinyl and all that goes with it. I was surprised to find that, with the right vinyl, the sound was great, rivaling what I heard on digital sources and actually sometimes sounding even more real to my ears.
I have been listening and looking at tube gear for a while now, as I liked what I had heard from my little Bellari tube phono amp and the Musical Fidelity X-CAN v3 headphone amp. I wanted the tube sound, but didn't want to spend a lot to get it. I had actually narrowed my search down to the SixPacs when I went to United Home Audio in Jessup, MD to check out their store. They had the JoLida hooked up to some MBL speakers. This amp was producing some amazing sound through those MBLs. I found out that the MBLs had an 82 db sensitivity rating and the JoLida could power 2ohms speakers without a problem, so I figured it could drive my MLs. Mike, the salesman at United, told me they had to burn in an amp for me and it should be ready by Wednesday (this was a Saturday). Tuesday afternoon, he called and said the amp was ready. So, it has been in my system since Wednesday.
The review...
After two days of listening, I have simply no desire to put the Krell back into service in this system. It is going into a bedroom system. The JoLida has more than enough power to completely control the Martin Logans to well above my normal listening levels. Muddy bass? No way! I had been thinking of a subwoofer, but not now. The bass is clear, fast and full. There is now an overall foundation to the sound that was not fully there with the Krell. I can now listen at a relatively low volume and still have a richness to the sound. I hear what I guess are more true harmonics. On one of my Patricia Barber MoFi SACDs, "cafe blue" there is a copy of Nardis. There is a drum solo that starts about 5 minutes into the song. During this solo, there is a point where the drummer changes the sound of his snare drum. This transition sounded really good with the Krell, but even better with the JoLida. I was hearing harmonics that I didn't with the Krell. There was a fullness to the sound, that I don't know how to describe except to say it sounded somehow, more real. I've also noticed that when playing complex sounds there is a clarity that seems very pure. I don't know if I'm describing that correctly. Here's what I mean. Track 7, Reasons Why, from Nickel Creek's Reasons Why CD, has a very dynamic cresendo which can easily sound hard, but the JoLida played it beautifully, so that I didn't feel the need to turn down the volume as I always did with the Krell.
The vinyl album of The Road to Escondido, JJ Cale and Eric Clapton is probably the best sounding record that I can think of. There is virtually no groove noise. They (JJ and Eric) had a lot of help on this album. There are some stellar performers playing guitar. It is a lot of fun for me to pick out the different guitar sounds and attribute them to the correct performer. The JoLida makes it easier to determine the different guitar players.
Stepping back, I would describe the overall sound of the JoLida as more earthy, more real, more "at ease" with a clarity and fullness that I really like. Vocals as well as all acoustic instruments sound more like they are in the room with you that coming from a hifi system. I know I've used a lot of cliches you've heard before, but I really don't know any other way to describe what I'm hearing. I highly recommend this amplifier to anyone thinking about getting into tubes! - Steve
