Great sound, clean powerful bass, plenty of power to drive my speakers.

None at this price

I was disappointed with my speakers (Altec 508s) for ten years as I was getting a muddy bass. I decided to "retire" my existing system to my parents house and through this forum picked this amp from Response Audio. I found to my delight that it was not the speakers but my old amp that was at fault and am really happy now. Bass is strong and clean.

I was a little concerned about the raw power of this amp as I had been told by a friend that I should be looking in the 200amp range. Bill at Response thought that this amp should have plenty of juice for the job (despite my old amp being the same power rating)and he was absolutely correct. The service was great. He installed some Svetlana tubes and the sound is magic! I also bought the ember glow interconnects. Bill warned that the tubes and interconnects would take 200 hours to burn in and he was right. The sound did not sound bad when I first hooked it up but it sounds great now.

This amp is a bargain. Trouble is that I have since decided to change my CD player for a much better one as you can really tell the difference now.

Similar Products Used:

Sansui separates (A1000 and B1000 I think)

See below

See below

I ordered this yesterday from Bill at WWW.ResponseAudio.com.

I won't recieve it until next week. I just wanted to immediatley comment on Bill's customer service, and his service. Offered the 1501rc, (I was going to buy 1501 as I was unaware of the rc model) and he educated me on Jolida's product line. He reccomended the Phillips tubes based on my listening interest and taste for warm tone musicality. (He's even installing them)

I can't wait to get it, and will further post a review.
I HAVN"T SEEN A REVIEW OF THE 1501 OR 1501RC IN ANY TRADE MAGs?? Can anyone reccomend a back issue where I can read indepth or see some sexy pics of this fine beast?
jpollock@kana.com

Similar Products Used:

See below

Value, tube-like sound with SS power

No remote. Bought before the RC version came out :(

Like everyone else, I am absolutely happy with this amp. I use it as my second system in my bedroom where the warmth of tubes is more appreciated. But there is still bass in this thing. From Sade to Metallica this amp performs wonderful.

Mated with the silky sounding Dynaudio Audience 50's and the tube dac CAL Sigma II. I get nice, warm, detailed female vocals (Sade, Sarah, Dido, Beth Orton).

And yes Bill Baker is a pleasure. Had over an hour conversation with him. He just doesn’t love money, he loves audio. Unlike some local NY dealers

Equipment used:
Dynaudio Audience 50
Sony CX90ES 200disc Jukebox
Monarchy DIP

Great sound at a reasonable price. Able to comfortably drive large power hungry older model speakers.

The tubes it ships with are just ok.

I bought a 1501 with the Tape Loop option. I was a little concerned as to this amp's ability to drive my speakers. I have a pair of Bozaks (large expesive British speakers from the 1960's). No problem! This amp has plenty of power to spare. It has no problem driving these beasts clearly at any volume.

I replaced the tubes with some Svelana 12AX7 (cost about $25). Big improvment. The Bass is not quite as quick and sharp as most commercial aps I tried. However there is ample bass (yes you can "feel"). The sound blends together more musically with this amp. Smooth rich bass blends with clear sweat mids and highs. Quiet passages seem to linger (piano notes hang around longer than any solid state amp I've ever heard). The Jolida can also handle the loud quick and dynamic passages with ease. I'm going through my whole CD collection and its lke listening to all this music in a way I've never heard it before. Blues, Jazz, 70's rock, and even a little Techno.

Similar Products Used:

This is the only tube product I auditioned, but I tried several two channel solid state amps Pioneer, Dennon, and Adcom. They were all ok, but the Jolida made my speakers come alive.

When music is playing, you want to stop and listen

No phono section (but good ones are available)

Highly recommended!

The 1501-RC was a huge upgrade from NAD separates. A layer of fuzz was removed from the music, and the sound blossomed. I was particularly surprised at the difference it made on CDs. I would start playing one for background music, and then get drawn in to the music.

Warning: dramatically improving one component may lead to replacing others. In this case,I replaced my old Rotel CD player with a Sony SCD-333 ES SACD player (discontinued, list price $1200 but available for around $500 -- BUY NOW). Wow! SACD's really are more like analogue than conventional CDs. A previous poster was on target -- the warm, liquid sound of the Jolida matches well with a good SACD player.

Also, Response Audio is highly recommended -- lengthy informed discussion, free upgrade tubes, ...

In short, this amp is an incredible value.

Similar Products Used:

NAD

Profoundly musical yet transparent sounding

Not the ideal amp for tough loads or euphonic sounding speakers, not the ideal amp for imaging freaks, not the ideal amp for those seeking cool surgical precision or rose-tinted euphony.

I am not going to beat about the bush. I want to tell you what I think of this amp, now that 2 ½ years have slipped by since it first took-up residence in my system. I adore it.

No amp, no musical component is all things to all people, and the Jolida JD-1501 is no different in that regard. In the tube vs. solid-state debate it seems to come down squarely in the middle, reflecting its hybrid parentage. Good news for some, less good news for others.

First of all, the Jolida does not sound euphonic. Those seeking some type of sonic sleight of hand to cover up deficiencies, whether they be in your source, room, or speakers, would best be served by less transparent sounding devices than the Jolida. On the other hand, the Jolida JD-1501 does not hail from the ruthlessly analytical school of music making either. The Jolida is a musical advocate par excellence and is incapable of vivisecting music with the scalpel-like precision of some solid-state designs. If that is what your are seeking, look elsewhere. The Jolida presents music first. Everything else (all other audiophile considerations) second. If I were to describe the basic quality of the JD-1501’s sound, I would say that even though the amp does not sound euphonic, it is extremely capable of profoundly refined music making

This brings me to my first oxymoron (or can the English language describe what the Jolida does). Is this amp revealing or romantic? Is it neutral or does it have a sound? Is it’s music making completely transparent to the source or rose-tinted?

Well, in all my audiophile experience, I have never come across a component whose personality is more difficult to describe. The Jolida seems to be neither one extreme or the other. It is revealing AND romantic, neutral AND yet affectionate at the same time, entirely transparent AND yet utterly beautiful. Reminds me a little of unusual people that I have met, people whose kindness and warmth were tempered by honesty and respect, people whose presence in my life seemed to lift a burden, people whose beneficence brought light, people whom I suspected of saintliness.

In strictly audiophile terms, the Jolida JD-1501 does not hinder or obscure music in any way. In that sense the product sounds profoundly transparent to the source material. Yet the Jolida presents everything in the most flattering light possible. This is a quality that I have grown to respect greatly in this amp, and I suspect that this quality will endear it to many others.

So where does exactly does the Jolida fit in the tube/ solid-state continuum? Well, as I have pointed out before, it’s sound quality slots right alongside some remarkable solid-state (Krell KAV300I) and all tube designs (CJ MV-55, PV-10 or CAV50). All these amps are capable of highly sophisticated and transparent music making. The Jolida’s music making resembles both the Krell and the CJ, but technically it does not really resemble either.

The Jolida does not possess the high damping factor (450) of the Krell, so it’s bass is not so jackhammer tight. Neither does it possess the low damping factor and high-output impedance of most tube amps, so in comparison to them, it sounds very tight and defined. I would characterize its bass quality (the Jolida’s damping factor = 250) as full, deep, and satisfying (to both rockers and classicists). The Jolida’s relatively high damping factor means that it will not suffer from the blowzy, ill-defined bass that characterizes many tube amps. It will drive speakers with big woofers in a satisfying way.

Furthermore, the way the Jolida generates current seems to occupy a different ground to that of many all tube and all solid-state designs. Its power output (in watts) seems to stay the same into either an eight or four-ohm load in the manner of a tube amp. Yet, physically the amp resembles a solid state amp. It does not possess multiple speaker taps for example. A look inside the Jolida’s metal case reveals a gigantic toroidal transformer and big power capacitors. All of this translates into what I would call a moderate load driving capability. In my experience with the Jolida, it did not seem to appreciate really tough loads. On the other hand, impedance figures are nominal. The dips in impedance (to 3.5 or perhaps 3 ohms) that characterize many moderate loads (nominal 6 ohms for example) don’t seem to trouble the Jolida at all. Only really severe loads resulted in a breathless, strained quality creeping into it’s music making. When mating the Jolida with speakers, I advise avoiding really tough loads.

The Jolida JD-1501 is effectively a (passive) tube pre-amp and mosfet power amp in one case. More importantly, Jolida employs extremely simple, purist, circuits (and signal paths) in this model, a brilliant design, which results in high-quality music making. This is an audiophile design through and through. In my opinion, this great standard of music making would not be achievable in an all tube or all solid-state design of comparable cost.

The tube pre-amp section, specifically the choices of tubes, has quite a large influence over the sound quality of this amp. The JD-1501’s basic sound quality seems to remain constant though no matter which input tubes are selected. I have experimented with various new and NOS tubes, both 12AX7s and 5751s. Each brand resulted in a subtly different sonic picture. I suggest experimenting until you tune the amp just the way you like it. The JD-1501 is a tube rollers dream amp.

My favorite tubes are the Sovtek WA 12AX7s (claimed to have lower gain than most 12AX7s) and the Svetlana 12AX7. The Sovtek WA, like many of the 5751 tubes that I have tried resulted in subtle alterations in spectral balance and spatial recreation, that I would say resulted in a more relaxed presence band and a more transparent recreation of acoustic space. The Svetlana 12AX7 comes from the opposite school of spectral balance, sounding distinctly more “tubey” and euphonic without the same degree of transparency as the Sovtek WA. The Svetlanas do result in a more beguilingly “sweet” quality however, that does not obstruct the music making, and I prefer this tube with my most revealing speakers.

This brings me to another important aspect of the Jolida’s music making. Synergy, specifically speaker choice is very important. I suggest experimenting, but I have found that the Jolida JD-1501 gets along best with more revealing speaker designs. This translates as speakers with very flat frequency response characteristics, those without crossover dips, those that have not been tailored for a “euphonic” sound, those that can sound rough, dry or aggressive with less cultured and refined amps than the JD-1501.
The Jolida seems to work best with those speakers, which are most in need of its help.

This brings me to another important quality of the JD-1501. These remarkably transparent, profoundly musical amps work their magic with any source, but really appreciate the best, most extended, most explicit sources. I now have the JD-1501 mated to a Sony SACD player. It’s a match made in heaven. The Jolida is transparent and (as I have pointed out before) has tremendous bandwidth, from it’s sparkling, extended treble, it’s vast, open, and “present” sounding midrange, and terrifically deep bass reach. This means the JD-1501 can really show what high-resolution sound sources are capable of. The Jolida JD-1501 reveals SACD’s greater dynamic range, SACD’s more natural and organic way of recreating voices and instruments, and SACD’s improved soundstaging and imaging. Furthermore, I can think of no amps more suited to revealing the magic of multi-channel SACD, because Jolida makes a matching three-channel hybrid amp designed for use with the JD-1501 to make five amplified (and fabulously musical) channels. The three-channel amp will be my next high-end purchase.

“High-end?” At budget prices? Yes. That is what Jolida are offering with their hybrid amps. I would say it’s a remarkable achievement, and I offer Jolida my humblest and sincerest thanks and congratulations for their fine work in the interests of music. Jolida are music experts of the highest order. Music lovers can buy these amps with total confidence. We should have first crack at these amps though, so, Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Lest Jolida run out of these amps before we can purchase them!

BREAKDOWN:

Mid-range finesse ***** (Completely transparent, yet flattering)

Treble finesse ***** (Fabulously Extended)

Bass Extension ***** (Fabulously Extended)

Bass Driving Ability **** (Full, reasonably fast, satisfying)

Soundstaging **** (Excellent, but not quite up to the level of the very best. This design does not create the super-deep, super-defined, super-big soundscapes as the very best.)

Imaging **** (Excellent, but not quite up to the level of the very best. This design does not create the “holography” of the very best all-tube designs).

Load Tolerance **** (Excellent with nominal 8 ohm or 6 ohm loads but not ideally suited for tougher speaker loads)

Power Output ***** (Excellent with reasonable loads. Can really move air and create deep bass and huge dynamics with big speakers)

Overall Musical Ability ****** (Nearly off the scale. Unique. Nothing else like the Jolida hybrids)

Build Quality ***** (Excellent for the price. Protect these amps with good/expensive power conditioning. You will be protecting not so much your monetary investment as your musical investment)

Value ****** (Off the scale)

Similar Products Used:

CJ MV-55/PV-10, CJ CAV 50, Krell KAV300i

Tube warmth combined with solid state punch, price, remote, aesthetics.

None.

This review is for the JoLida 1501RC hybrid integrated amp. Same as the 1501, except it looks different (better, in my opinion), and comes with a remote control. Retails at $750.

I bought the JoLida used on AudiogoN for $425, shipping included. The unit came with upgraded tubes (JJ/Tesla's). I have since switched once to Sovtek 12AX7's, and have finally settled on a pair of NOS GE JAN 5751's.

This amp, in a word, is a STEAL. At 100WPC, it has plenty of solid state power to drive even difficult loads. And the sound! Fantastic. The tube preamp section (esp. with the NOS GE tubes) adds that wonderful tube warmth to the sound. Surprisingly, however, the 1501RC retains incredible clarity. Now that it has properly broken in (~50-60 hours with the new tubes), the soundstage has really opened up, and I am hearing some really amazing things. I was previously using an Onix A60 integrated--a great little amp, but also a thoroughly solid state amp. It was VERY precise, very detailed, but almost to a fault. I suspected that a hybrid would add warmth to the sound, but was concerned with a loss in clarity. The JoLida gives up nothing to the Onix, and recently has probably surpassed the Onix in terms of pinpoint imaging and detail. I listen almost exclusively to jazz (Brad Mehldau, Diana Krall, oldies like Ella and Sara) and classical (chamber music, symphonies), and the JoLida does exceptionally well with these types of music.

I can't think of any integrated in either the used or retail price ranges that could come close to the JoLida. Particularly at the used prices these amps go for, they are an incredible bargain. I've read some concerns about JoLida build quality... this may or may not be true. I have had absolutely no problems with my amp, and personally think the build quality is superb.

Happy listening! My system consists of:

JoLida 1501RC hybrid integrated, 2 NOS GE JAN 5751 tubes
PSB Century 600i speakers
AudioQuest Indigo2 bi-wire speaker cable
DH Labs Air Matrix IC's
Virtual Dynamics Power 3 AC cord
Sony DVP-NS500V SACD/DVD player

Similar Products Used:

Onix, NAD, Creek

Well built, sweet sounding, remote control, great value!!

At this price - none!

This review is for the Jolida 1501RC. I purchased this integrated as a replacement for my Musical Fidelity A1000, and it represents my first experience with a tubes. The reason for my switch from the Musical Fidelity was twofold: First, my speakers, the Merlin VSM Millenium's were upgraded with a tube harness approximately six months ago. I chose the tube harness because the manufacture suggested that it would be a good match with my warm sounding solid state amp. That combination produced some spectacular bass and superb dynamics, but I always wondered how my speakers would sound with real tubes.
To be honest, I never was impressed with how the mids and lows sounded on my speakers. It sounded a bit uninvolving for lack of a better word. Anyway, I was not really motivated to make the switch until the right channel of my Musical Fidelity developed an intermittant problem with static and loss of sound. I decided that instead of having the unit serviced, I would sell it on Ebay and purchase an inexpensive tube integrated to replace it. It turns out the proceeds from my auction was just enough to purchase the recently introduced remote control hybrid tube integrated from Jolida - the 1501RC. Based on the other reviews below, I decided this would be a good way to get my feet wet in tubes. I purchased this model from Response audio (based on the recommendations below) and chose the new Svetlana 12AX7
output tubes as replacements for the original ones.

First off, I did not expect much given the low price and the "Made in China" label. My previous amp cost 5 times more, so I was only expecting to get something decent sounding. What I got was something much much more. This unit is very nicely built - better then Japanese standards in my opinion. However, the sound is what really shines on this amp. While I admit the Jolida does not produce the same quality of deep, tight, bass and lightning fast dynamics as the Musical Fidelity. The Bass is very good and seems to blend in more naturally with the mids and highs. Speaking of the mids and highs, this in my opinion, is the primary reason to buy this amp. I cannot say enough about how much I love what this amp does for my Merlin's. The music is much more relaxed and natural sounding. The elusive "magic" - the kind you experience when everything is just right and all is left is the enjoyment of the music, is there each and every time I listen. When you consider the Merlin's are $8,000 speakers, and the Jolida is an entry level priced integrated, I would have to say this is an amazing bargain.

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity A1000, Acurus DIA100 MK11.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I have a secret to tell. Jolida has come out with a line of tube/mosfet hybrid amps. They are terrific! Do not tell your non-audiophile friends. These amps are too good for the general public. Once word gets out, it will be impossible to find one of these inexpensive hybrids for any price. Those of us who have suffered through trial and error, those of us who have long coveted the refinement of high-end gear without the means to own it, those of us who love music deeply...we should have first crack at these things.
These are audiophile amps, designed for use with audiophile speakers. Don't waste your time mating these to mass market speakers and sources. There are better amp and CD choices in that category. Furthermore, these hybrid amps offer no frills at all. Volume, source switching, on-off toggle, and four line inputs are all you get (no tape loop, no sub-woofer output, no pre-amp outs). If absolute refinement and fidelity are important to you however, these amps are the way to heaven.

Jolida is simply the most generous, most wonderful audiophile philanthropist organization there is! First, they come out with a line of tube amps that starving audiophiles can afford. Now they have produced the most refined and most exquisite sounding budget amps ever! Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The JD-1501 provides 100/watts per channel into an 8 ohm load. It's nearest sonic peers are the Krell KAV 300i integrated amp and the Conrad Johnson MV-55 tube power amp. Both of these audiophile designs provide extraordinary fidelity at a budget price point. ($2500 for the Krell & $2000 for the CJ MV-55). The Krell KAV 300i majors on powerful, razor sharp soundstaging and imaging, treble finesse, bass weight and rhythm married to total control over speakers. The CJ MV-55's strengths are absolute refinement and timbral accuracy, holographic imaging, and superb fidelity. The Jolida seems to combine the best qualities of both amps. It's greatest strengths are superb CJ MV-55 style refinement married to the bass weight and rhythm and total control of speakers that characterize the Krell KAV 300i. The Jolida JD-1501 is a match made in heaven for my lean and revealing B&W P4 speakers.

My P4s's have always sounded a tad grainy in the treble (metal dome tweeter) until mating them to the Jolida. Now the treble sounds much, much cleaner. It is as if a fine layer of grit has been cleaned away, revealing a more pristine and transparent sound. Transparent is the key word. The Jolida does not obscure detail.It reveals all, but still sounds unbelievably sweet. The Jolida matches the extaordinary transparency of the Krell KAV 300i and the CJ MV-55. Music sounds as if it has been freed from confinement. Simply put, the Jolida JD-1501 lifts a veil from music.

The amp gets tone color and timber right. Instruments and voices sound authentic. This mid-range finesse sets it apart from 99.99% of budget amps. Only the Krell and CJ MV-55, in my recent experience, have matched the Jolida's fidelity. Moreover, the Jolida possesses the natural harmonics and mid-range rightness of a tube amp that no solid state amp can match. The Jolida combines this sweetness (the complete lack of fatigue in the sound), something the Krell KAV 300i cannot match, with Krell style bass slam. The Jolida's bass sounds fast, full, resolved, agile, and graceful.

Furthermore, the Jolida JD-1501 seems to possess enormous bandwidth in that it's treble extends right up to the gods, it's mid-range displays oceanic depth and vastness, and it's bass reaches the abyssal bottom of extension. This lack of compromise is extraordinary in a budget amp.

The Jolida JD-1501 does not match the CJ MV-55's holographic imaging capabilities nor does it create a soundstage as deep and defined as that of the Krell KAV 300i, but in all other respects it is clearly the equal of these two exceptional designs.

All the Jolida hybrid amps marry a well engineered tube input section based around a pair of 12AX7s, to a mosfet output stage (Jolida encourages users to experiment with different types of 12AX7s). This is not a new recipe, but Jolida are evidently engineering experts and have voiced these amps beautifully. What more can I say? This level of refinement and fidelity was previously unheard of at these prices! I predict that once word gets out, these amps will be impossible to find at any price. So, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Treble Finesse *****

Soundstaging ****

Imaging ***

Tonal Color *****

Bass Rhythm *****

Fidelity *****

Build Quality *****

Value ******!

Wonderful Tonality

Cheap Remote

Well, I had a previous post, and was thrilled with the service Bill offered at Response Audio.

Unfortunatley the AMP shipped worked marvelous for two days, but then "started smoking". On close inspection it looked like a fet Failure on the solide state output side of things. Not being an electronics person, I mailed back to Jolida for repair. They assured me it was nothing I could have done, and returned it in working order. That was 4 months ago, and nary a problem since.

They did mention that the tubes (upgraded) were questionable which I believe to be bogus. The real bummer is that they did not return the upgraded tubes that Bill included when shipping back. So I am very happy, but will need to re-purchase some sweeter tubes from Bill. I love this amp, and Jolida fixed the problem, but still an inconvenience as I paid shipping etc.