Jolida quality

[slowGEEZR]

Over the years, I've used a Jolida JD1000RS integrated tube amplifier in my system. I used it for about five years with the ML Aerius and for a about a year for the Wilson Watt Puppies. I preferred the sound of it over the sound of the Krell KAV400ii integrated that I also have. After I purchased my Pass Labs amps and preamp, I stored both of the integrateds. Prior to storing the Jolida, I noticed that it began having an issue with the protection system turning the amp off prematurely, as when I would apply some volume quickly or not waiting for it to warm up for a few minutes. A friend of mine, Luther, AKA "Wardsweb" on this site, decided to borrow it from me and tinker around with it (as he is wont to do with electronic gear). He sent me some photos of the circuitry and was dismayed, as I, that the quality of the soldering left quite a lot to be desired. Some solder joints had too little solder, some too much, while flux was everywhere! Just very poor, all the way around.

Now, I'm not sure if the quality letdown is due to the original manufacturing in China or the "touchup" work done at United Home Audio, but in either case, I can no longer recommend Jolida products. Hopefully, this quality issue has been resolved and their product does not exhibit this poor craftsmanship any longer. Attached are the pics that Luther sent to me.

 

[UHA]

Now, I'm not sure if the quality letdown is due to the original manufacturing in China or the "touchup" work done at United Home Audio, but in either case,

United Home Audio does not do any work on Jolida equipment.
UHA has never worked on Jolida equipment.

However, as a Jolida dealer for quite some time I can verify that Jolida does stand behind their products and has more properly operating equipment in the field than many manufacturers will ever have.

 

[slowGEEZR]

United Home Audio does not do any work on Jolida equipment.
UHA has never worked on Jolida equipment.

However, as a Jolida dealer for quite some time I can verify that Jolida does stand behind their products and has more properly operating equipment in the field than many manufacturers will ever have.

I auditioned and purchased my amp from UHA and I also was in the repair room. I saw with my own eyes, quite a few pieces of Jolida gear on the bench, with the covers off and someone working on them. So, I disregard your opening statement out of hand. Not only that, but when I purchased my amp, I was told that when Jolida came into this country that they were "gone over" in California and then again at the shop in UHA.

I am very glad that Jolida stands behind their product. I am also happy that Jolida has so much gear in the field that is working.

As for the quality of workmanship, I ask you to please look at the soldering job in the pictures above. I'm merely pointing out the poor craftsmanship of the soldering on this unit. My amp. The one of which I know the service history. Notice the big globs of solder on some of the joints? Notice the lack of sufficient solder on others? Notice the excess flux? Basic soldering skills include cleaning up flux. If I wanted to get picky I would have mentioned the flexed circuit board in the top photo. Clearly, it is too thin. For these reasons, I cannot recommend this gear to my friends.

 

[Bernard]

Based upon that picture I would not even recommend Jolida to my enemies! I'm amazed at how poor the soldering job is.

 

[User211]

Had the Jolida Glass FX II DAC below and the sonics amazed me for the money. I never did look inside it though.

It only takes one idiot in the factory to mess things up for everyone but where was OC? Asleep?:ROFL:

I ordered a Lampizator L4G4 with V-Caps though... that's a L3G4 in the pic.

 

[coolcobramatt]

Based upon that picture I would not even recommend Jolida to my enemies! I'm amazed at how poor the soldering job is.

For those of us who have no idea what we are looking at, explain what this means.

 

[RUR]

IPC J-STD-001* is the widely acknowledged criterion used by commercial and defense entities. The PWA pictured is pretty laughable.

* or some variation thereof.

 

[twich54]

For those of us who have no idea what we are looking at, explain what this means.

Matt, read Steve's post #3, it's explained..........

 

[edwinr]

I've had Quality Control issues with Jolida tube amps in the past. But to be fair to Jolida, I've also QC issues with other manufacturer's amplifiers as well.

 

[UHA]

I auditioned and purchased my amp from UHA and I also was in the repair room. I saw with my own eyes, quite a few pieces of Jolida gear on the bench, with the covers off and someone working on them. So, I disregard your opening statement out of hand. Not only that, but when I purchased my amp, I was told that when Jolida came into this country that they were "gone over" in California and then again at the shop in UHA.

I am sorry but your information is completely wrong.
The Jolida factory was behind the UHA store, if you were in the back repair area that is a Jolida factory. That factory had nothing to do with UHA or any UHA technician.
Also there is no Jolida facility in California at all.
These are the facts.

 

[coolcobramatt]

Matt, read Steve's post #3, it's explained..........

gotcha, I am not a solder guy so I didn't know what to look for.

 

[Bernard]

I ordered a Lampizator L4G4 with V-Caps though... that's a L3G4 in the pic.

What's special about it, Justin? It sounds like the kind of exotic thing only you would go looking for!

 

[Rich]

I am sorry but your information is completely wrong.
The Jolida factory was behind the UHA store, if you were in the back repair area that is a Jolida factory. That factory had nothing to do with UHA or any UHA technician.
Also there is no Jolida facility in California at all.
These are the facts.

It speaks volumes that you are focusing on these irrelevant issues while completely ignoring the substance of the original post: that the quality of manufacturing of the Jolida product pictured, which was purchased from you, is absolutely subpar. And by that I mean shoddy to the point of incompetence. If this is the kind of product produced by Jolida, and sold by UHA, then I would recommend everyone stay away from both of you! And if this is the way you respond to honest concerns about the quality of the products you sell, then one would have to be a fool to do business with you.

 

[slowGEEZR]

I am sorry but your information is completely wrong.
The Jolida factory was behind the UHA store, if you were in the back repair area that is a Jolida factory. That factory had nothing to do with UHA or any UHA technician.
Also there is no Jolida facility in California at all.
These are the facts.

I walked in the front door of UHA, went down the hall to the right. At the end of that hall was a showroom, which contained Jolida products and a small MBL speaker and other brands of speakers. Prior to reaching that room, I entered a door on the left side of that hall and voila, I was in a room with Jolida gear opened up and being worked on. To say that small room was a "factory" is preposterous! There was no identification that this door opened into a "factory". However, if you want to call one little room, between two showrooms in the same building as UHA a "factory", then so be it. Now, Jolida may have a proper factory behind the UHA store, I don't know, or care. I also suppose things may have changed in the years since I was there.

Now to your point about there being no Jolida facility in California. I agree, there is no Jolida facility in California. That just proves to me that the person who sold me the amp lied to me. This is not a faded memory or a mistake, it was an out and out lie. I was also told that when the amps came in from China, that the "cheap" parts were removed and the "quality" parts installed in this non-existent California facility. The lie grew. I was also told that the transformer used high quality German windings, not Chinese. Is that another lie I was told? I now think so. As I stated before, I was told that the final going over of the Jolida amp was done at the Maryland site. Was that also a lie?

To your point about the "factory" having nothing to do with UHA or any UHA technician let me say this. The same person who sold me the amp and lied to me is associated with UHA, as I have seen him at RMAF many times, representing UHA. He was also in the "room", which you call the "factory". How can this "factory" have "nothing to do" with UHA? But even with all this, if you say there is "nothing to do" between the Jolida "factory" and UHA, then so be it. But, it smells fishy to me.

 

[UHA]

UHA is a dealer for Jolida like any other Jolida dealer across the world and that is it.
There are no volumes of issues, or any fishyness, in fact there were no issues with this Jolida purchase I am aware of at all, until I came across this post.
If you had an issue why didn't you make someone aware if it at Jolida or at UHA?

You state that you bought the JD1000 and it sounded better than your Krell, I assume the Krell cost much more than the JD1000.
You had this amp for 5 or 6 years without issue.
I have to assume that it has provided proper service and sound quality for that time because you have not contacted anyone anywhere with any issue.
As an audio dealer with an impeccable reputation and countless happy customers for the last 15 years we stand behind all the products we sell and will happily provide support through any warranty issue or repair.
Over the years we have even provided support for products we do not sell to properly service our valued customers.

 

[coolcobramatt]

Ya'll kiss and make up or go outside and work it out like men...

 

[Rich]

You state that you bought the JD1000 and it sounded better than your Krell, I assume the Krell cost much more than the JD1000.

Yeah, and I assume the Krell has a properly soldered board inside of it. Like they say, you get what you pay for.

You had this amp for 5 or 6 years without issue.
I have to assume that it has provided proper service and sound quality for that time because you have not contacted anyone anywhere with any issue.

Yep. And then he had an issue with the protective circuit shutting down. Probably due to the poor workmanship which is quite evident in the pictures above. Do you still want to dodge the issue while waving platitudes about your impeccable service and all the wonderful products Jolida has in the marketplace? Because honestly, your replies are doing a lot more damage to your reputation than if you had stayed off this thread to begin with.

 

[MrBT]

If I wanted to get picky I would have mentioned the flexed circuit board in the top photo. Clearly, it is too thin. For these reasons, I cannot recommend this gear to my friends.

It looks to me like it's camera lens distortion at wide angle, not "flex circuit board".
As far as quality of soldering, the pictures are too low quality to tell.... it takes magnifying glass to examine board for cold solder joints. Not crappy, low res picture.

There can be an aesthetics issue with the look of pcb but functionally it proven to be fine for a couple of years except for some protection circuit problems, which may or may not necessarily be related to aesthetics or "too much or not enough solder"....

This is just my humble opinion......

P.S. I always clean a pcb after soldering my DIY projects but folks from Conrad Johnson didn't bother to do it with my $7500msrp preamp. Who cares.....

 

[User211]

If you save the pictures to the hard drive, then use a photo viewer to zoom in, the PCBs are definitely a mess.

EDIT: the real question, I suppose, is is it typical of Jolida products in general?

 

[User211]

What's special about it, Justin? It sounds like the kind of exotic thing only you would go looking for!

Believe me Bernard I didn't want to buy a new DAC but my old machine finally gave up.

I just like the sound of it. Words like enjoyable to listen to and "undigital" sounding spring to mind. However, the L4G4 will sound different to the one I have on loan as it has fancy copper Teflon boutique caps in and "more betterer" other bits.

More info here if you're curious: Lampizator