Build, Smooth sweet soundstage, Binding posts

None

WOW! What a great integrated amp. I used to own the 1701 (which is also a nice amp) but this 1501 is a definite upgrade. I prefer the black faceplate to the silver and I think i got the last one actually made. Replaced the stock tubes with Jan Phillips as soon as I got it. Incredible depth and soundstage. Drives my ProAc Response 1SC's effortlessly. Very detailed with a huge sweetspot. This amp is bringing out the best bass response I've ever heard with the ProAc's. The 1SC's are not what you would consider big bass speakers but with this amp I'm getting low tight bass that you can actually feel. Mids are so real it's scary and the highs are crystal clear and smooth. Great job Jolida! Picked this one up from Omer at OZ Enterprises. Great guy to deal with. He actually lent me the new Jolida tube CD player. Awesome! Now I'm going to have to change my 1501 to silver to match. Thanks Alot Omer!

Similar Products Used:

AudioLab 8000, Rega Mira, Jolida 1701, Marantz˜

Detail, warmth, and musical sound far exceeding what you would expect from a $575 integrated amp. Sound acceptable for even high end systems.

As another reviewer said, "None at this price". The 1501 is virtually featureless, only volume control, on-off toggle, and source selector knob. A plus for some and a minus for others.

This month marks a new life for me, as my divorce forces me to leave without a lot of my favorite possessions. I needed a replacement amp and preamp, as my ex is just as interested in good music as I am, and part of our amicable agreement was that she got the amp. I have high end taste with a modest budget in mind. I read a lot of good reviews about this new Jolida, integrated, hybrid amp. I have auditioned many good systems and have been exposed to that refined, open, airy, delicate sound that has the bloom of romance and emotion saturating it. I love tube amps and have an antique Fisher that is currently on the fritz. The warm sound of Careys provided me with a reference for positive tube quality sound. I thought I would try this Jolida, but I expected it to be only marginally better or only just as good as my Adcom 5300 amp and GTP 500II preamp.The Jolida only uses tubes in the preamp section, but is all quality Mofsets in the amp section. I only expected a small portion of the good tube sound from this Jolida unit, but I was hoping that the slam of a good solid state amp would still be there to do what transistors do best without doing away with the warmth of the tube front end. These were my hopes and things don''t always turn out according to theories. When the Jolida arrived, I installed the Phillips version of the 12AX7 preamp tubes. These were recommended to me by Bill of Response Audio, and were only a $12.00 upgrade. When I first fired up the amp, I was not expecting to hear such a giant improvement over my previous set-up. With out even being broken in, immediately the Jolida revealed more music , more emotion and details. Even the bass was adequate, right out of the box. Within three hours, the sound became more involving, and everything was starting to make good musical sence. No other changes were made, other than replacing Adcom power with Jolida. At the end of the day, my initial reservations were out the window, as I was being presented with a trully beautiful sound picture. I called up Bill of Response Audio, at his home and discussed with him my future plans to replace my CD player, as I would have to be leaving that behind too. He answered all of my questions, and gave me important technical information. Great job Bill, Thanks.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Fisher tubes, Rotel, and numerous listening hours on other equipment.

Presence, 3-D quality to sound. Strong bass, plenty of power. Solid and good looking. Oh yeah, a great price.

Very annoying channel imbalance.

I have used a number of solid state amps over the years and never really though changing an amp would make much difference in a system. Nonetheless, I wanted to give tubes a try as I am just sort of a retro person. The Jolida seemed a safe bet. I ordered one from Response Audio, but they were out of stock. Luckily I found a demo from Audio Visionary in NYC. BTW, both of these guys were great to deal with. The Jolida replaced a Parasound HCA800II power amp. The first listen to the Jolida proved my assumption about amp similarities all wrong. The Jolida has added a sense of being there to almost everyting I listen to - particularly strings and percussion. One of the first albums I played was a John Fahey album "Let Go". It was truly as though he were playing it in my room. Music has a much more 3 dimensional sound. The mids are gorgeous and just a tad sweet. The bass is deep and strong. This amp loves to romp and seems happiest when it has the chance to do so. There is absolutely no comparison between the Jolida and any pure solid state amp I''ve ever used. Add to this solid construction and a beautiful appearance. Wait... An imperfection. Just as I''ve read in other reviews I have an annoying channel imbalance problem in my Jolida - a major overemphasis in the left channel. To compensate, I am using my PS Audio 5.0 preamp that I originally used only for its phono stage (the Jolida lacks one) as a preamp. It has individual channel attenuation, so I route all my input signals through it which in turn is connected to the aux input on the Jolida. Not the convenience I''d hoped for with an integrated, but it works for me. Despite this flaw, the Jolida 1501 is a great amp at its price.

Similar Products Used:

Parasound and Rotel separates.

Looks, performance and the idea that I am now using "valves"

No RC - might be a strength becasue this causes you to listen to the music and not putzing with the remote. I has a strange smell to it. I think after a few weeks it will disapate.

I use the Jolida 1501 with my 2nd system in my study. The system consists of Magnepan MMG''''s and NAD c521i. I replaced the stock 12ax7''''s with Svetlana. The amp is very simple, nice looking and very functional. The tube effect is not subtle... very musical, smooth and "airy." I cannot heat ANY noise when cranked up full blast with no source ie it is quiet. I often times prefer listening to this smaller system vs my main system (Magenpan 1.6qr, NAD C541 and NAD c370). I believe it is because of the Jolida and perhaps a smaller listening room. If you do purchase the amp, turn it on for a couple of hours before making any judgement. It does sound "honky" when fired up for the first time. By the way, Zack at Audio Designs of Winona, MN fell all over himself to get me the amp (I am from out of town {Winona}) Very nice service. Who should buy the amp: People considering amps in the $500-$1000 range who don''''t need tape monitor loops and are curious about tube sound.

Similar Products Used:

nad c370

Outstanding value - this integrated amp can be had for under $600 - new!, sweet smooth sound of tube preamp section combined with deep tight base of a 100 watt solid state amp

no remote, no phone preamp

I had never heard of JoLida until a found a few mentions of JoLida equipment on AudioAsylum.com. It sounded like their tube/solid state hybrid would fill our audio needs - we wanted an amp that sounded great with a variety of music for dirt cheap. We found in this JoLida the sweet, smooth sound of tubes with tight deep bass of a solid state amp. Great sound quality with no bells and whistles for a fraction of the cost of other hi fi gear.
When I found a used JoLida 1701 in mint condition, I knew I had to try it. When I replaced our Rotel RA 985BX with the JoLida (with the stock tubes) the improvement was modest but noticable: smoother mids and highs, a nice soundstage but softer bass. We tried a few different sets of tubes before deciding on a pair of Tungsram 12ax7 (if you like rock, techno, reggie, hip hop, etc. these get our recommondation, if you value rich sweet midrange in your accustical, string and vocals look to 5751s from Raytheon, etc.). With the Tungsram tubes installed we found the deep tight bass we were looking for with sweet mids and highs. No hint of grain or distortion with a nice soundstage as well.
It has no remote, no phono preamp, nor much else in the way of features. Just 4 line inputs and speaker outputs. Controls consist of a 4 position selector, a volumn knob and an industrial looking on/off switch.
We really like this amp. I think it unlikly that we would have found anything even close in sound quality for the price. If you are considering anything in this price range, and can live with the lack of features, check out the equipment from JoLida. It is really great sounding eqipment for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Yamaha, etc.

Not an all together bad amp, just not for me.

Many problems with this unit. Lacked power. Poorly built.

I was not very happy with this amp at all. Sent it back and got my money back. It lacked power and sounded awful, not to mention there was a power cord failure. Also other problems with the amp led me to believe it was poorly constructed. I would not buy a Jolida again. I had it in a system of:

Pioneer 608 receiver (used for pre-amp only though).
Outlaw Audio 1050
Polk RT55's, 1000p, f/x 1000's. (all were bi-amped until the return of the jolida, outlaw for low, jolida for high)
AR SR500 sub.
Sony 36" XBR450.
Pioneer Elite DV37
Better cables interconnects.
Monster speaker wire.
Other monster products..

Similar Products Used:

first tube amp

Design, build quality, price!

None

Decided to put together a budget audiophile system and this was my 1st purchase. Based on some of the excellent reviews from this great site and others, bought this excellent amp on ebay and it is and will be the foundation of my system for years to come. It truly is detailed and accurate and at the same time very warm and musical. An absolute joy to listen to. Recently upgraded the tubes with RFT ECC83 [German made] and they seem to be a perfect match.I highly recommend this amp!

Similar Products Used:

My 1st audiophile type amp

Design, build quality, price!

None

Decided to put together a budget audiophile system and this was my 1st purchase. Based on some of the excellent reviews from this great site and others, bought this excellent amp on ebay and it is and will be the foundation of my system for years to come. It truly is detailed and accurate and at the same time very warm and musical. An absolute joy to listen to. Recently upgraded the tubes with RFT ECC83 [German made] and they seem to be a perfect match.

Similar Products Used:

My 1st audiophile type amp

VALUE

No frills but thats what makes it great deal

I have had some fairly nice tube gear and the Jolida 1501 was not quite as nice sounding as the VAC but it cost over $5000 and the jolida was $600 so what can you expect but it was close to the VAC. IMHO it is better in the high frequencies than the VTL tiny triodes I have. I could not hear cymbals, etc. nearly as clearly with the VLT as with the Jolida. It has lots of power at 100watts and it is a downright bargain at $600. I have apogee slant six ribbon speakers that are very revealing. It is a simple design that if matched with a passive preamp like the creek obh 12 you can make it function remotely with volume and source switching for lazy folks like me. Bill Baker at www.responseaudio.com is pleasure to do business with so check him out. No pressure to buy will repond to emails.

Similar Products Used:

VTL tiny triodes, VAC vintage williamson mk III< sony receivers

Crystal clear sound up and down the audio spectrum. Build quality.
Looks (basic black with gold knobs).
Ability to change tubes.

No remote.

Much better bass end then the tube amps though not quite as musical.
Still an excellent compromise of tube amp and solid state amp.
Traded in my jolida 102b to Bill Baker at Response Audio.
Tube amps just have no bass, or at least too little for my tastes. Bill Baker recommended the hybrid line from Jolida and he was right on target. Almost as musical as tube amps but with a lot more bass output and control.

He's a fine gentleman to deal with, highly recommended.
I received my amp when he said i would , doble boxed with an extra set of tubes. Way to go Bill Baker Response Audio (888-785-9773).

Similar Products Used:

Jolida 502b, Jolida 102b