Newer Jolida Products

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Bruce Burgess, Aug 19, 2018.

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  1. Bruce Burgess

    Bruce Burgess Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hamilton, Canada
    Back in 2004, I purchased my very first tube amp, the Jolida 302B because of very positive comments coming from this site and others. I liked it so much, I ended up buying the JD 100 CD player a couple of years later. I tried upgrading to a more expensive amp (Rega Elicit) and CDP (CA 840C) but ended up restoring the Jolida products to my main system. I'm not saying they are better than the more expensive products but they are better matches for the speakers in my main system. The Elicit and 840C perform well as part of my second system.

    I have not heard much about Jolida products, other than their phono stage. Has anyone purchased any of their more recent products? I am just curious about how good they are.
     
  2. Vinny123

    Vinny123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    I’ve wondered about this as well. I have a 15 year old Jolida Musical Envoy preamp that’s excellent.
     
  3. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Jolida has changed their name to Black Ice Audio.
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  4. Radiotron

    Radiotron Tube Designer

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    Is Michael Allen still the owner?

    EDIT: Answered my own question. Per Stereophile: "Jolida, now under the leadership of new CEO Jerred Dunkerson, is in the process of changing its name to Black Ice Audio Solutions."
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2018
  5. fmfxray373

    fmfxray373 Capitol LPs in the 70s were pretty good.

    My 102B is almost 10 years old.
    Too bad that issue with the factories in China hi-jacking the name brand hurt the reputation of the company. I too have found that speaker selection is very important.
    I came upon a brand and model lately that sounds great with my 16 watt push-pull amp...a pair of B&W 201i s. At 90db they have great high end and a very nice bass.
     
  6. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    However, I believe he still owns the company. I saw him a few months ago, he's aged a lot.
     
    Hendertuckie likes this.
  7. StimpyWan

    StimpyWan Forum Resident

    Jolida still has their U.S. website.

    Jolida

    Though, this display at Axpona, suggests changes are coming.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2018
  8. Dolemite

    Dolemite Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Mine too. I love that amp and never had my problems with with it.
     
    fmfxray373 likes this.
  9. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    first "real" hi-fi I ever heard was a Jolida CDP > Jolida 502B > Dali Suite 2.8's in the early 2000's at United Home Audio/Jolida HQ in Maryland. I probably should have just purchased that exact setup and saved myself a lot of money over the last 20 years.
     
    Dolemite likes this.
  10. ls35a

    ls35a Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, Idaho
    Whatever happened with the big (and I mean BIG) Jolida lawsuit between Jolida.com and Jolida.org, or whatever the two companies were?
     
  11. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Jolida USA had to change the logo design on their gear. The lawsuit also drained them financially resulting in the closing of their showroom/warehouse. Jolida China seems to have all but disappeared in the US, although their products appear to still be available from House of High Fidelity in Naples, FL.
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  12. slovell

    slovell Retired Mudshark

    Location:
    Chesnee, SC, USA
    Jolida USA made good stuff. I've got the JD5T preamp, JD9 phono amp, and the JD100 cd player. Never had any problems with any of their units. They give me a very nice sounding relatively inexpensive analog setup. I'd have one of their amps if I didn't already have a Dynaco ST-70 clone amp.
     
  13. elaterium

    elaterium Forum Resident

    My Jolida 302c is 8 years old. Never had an issue. They are driving a pair of Klipsch Kg4’s.
     
  14. vinylontubes

    vinylontubes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy, TX
    I think they are releasing a phono stage, if I remember correctly to replace the JD-9. I think it includes the Foz XT-R. I bought an Foz XT-R recently on discount as needledoctor.com was closing them out. I have a Rega so it ended up being a good solution to remove crosstalk errors as there's no way to correct azimuth. They also recently released some kind of tube buffer that can modify your sound stage on the fly called a Foz SSX. If their is another sale to get Jolida branded products the self, I might go for the SSX. But otherwise, $400 is a bit steep for something I would consider a toy. I bought a used Jolida 302B in the late 90s. It still works perfectly. Great little amp. It got moved to my office system when I upgraded from Vandersteen 1C speakers to Magnepan 1.7s.
     
  15. I used to have a Jolida SJ-502A which I bought second hand in 1997, shortly after I graduated from law school. LOVED it. Sounded great. I only moved on from it because I found an awesome deal on a Conrad Johnson CAV-50.

    I remember in the 1990’s Jolida was lauded by Stereophile and TAS. They and Golden Tube Audio represented the affordable entry into tube hi fi.
     
    Morbius likes this.
  16. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    The 502A was a neat looking amp with the black metallic paint and the exposed transformers, I was disappointed when they enclosed them in the later iterations. I used mine with a revolver turntable and a Creek obh8 and some Klipsch CF 1's. It was a nice sounding system and could play pretty loud. Traded it all when I discovered Rega though.
     
  17. The Revolver Rebel turntable! A similar classic. revolver is selling the Rebel II these days, BTW.

    Funny enough, I also used a Creek OBH-8 with the 502A. Turntable was a Denon DP-23F. Speakers were NHT SuperZeros and a Klipsch subwoofer. Cd player was an NAD 512. Good times!
     
    Morbius likes this.
  18. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    I've read about the Revolver II, in a different league. But that reminds me, I used the Rebel with a Grado Signature Jr. and I also had an Obh2. For CD I used a Sony XA20ES. Had that system for a good ten years.
     
  19. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    Is the current Jolida webpage for the US company?
     
  20. StimpyWan

    StimpyWan Forum Resident

    Jolida.com. It links to the Maryland location.
     
  21. All things must change. I've always enjoyed there product. I currently have two devices, a JD-1000a integrated amp and a JD-9. When I purchased the JD-9 I went out of my way to verify company of origin.
     
  22. The black paint (powder coat, really) had really tiny gold flecks in it. It was a very cool look. I agree that when Jolida started putting faceplates on the their gear, rather than just having an integrated single metal piece for the front, top, sides, and back, and started using a transformer cover. the components lost some of that cool look.
     
    Morbius likes this.
  23. bamaaudio

    bamaaudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Almost got a Jolida a little over a decade ago but an online friend always talked me out of it. Now he's a reasonably prominent amp designer, builder and lecturer in the amp scene.
     
  24. jhw59

    jhw59 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rehoboth Beach DE.
    No problems with my Jolida integrated amp and cd player over seveal years. Both bought used.. They work well with my Heresys. Tubes and power cords have been upgraded. Are they still HQed in Annapolis Junction, MD?
     
  25. Bruce Burgess

    Bruce Burgess Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hamilton, Canada
    Mine is nearly 15 years old and it's still going strong. So, I'm sure you'll have many more years of enjoyment from your unit. I just have mine modified at Parts Connexion.
     
    elaterium likes this.
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