I'm impressed. I really don't think something could sound any better. My first impression was "if this little heavy amp performs as it weights, I sure made the right choice". It did! I like the combination of "home made" appearence with its art-deco design, nevertheless manufacturer should pay more attention when placing knobs in front just to have them well aligned. It matches nicely my B&W 620 speakers, monster cables and Austrian Philips CD player. Definitively sounds like $3,000 and costs only $800 (in Mexico). Rock performs ok, jazz and clasic outstandingly but please give it a try with afro-cuban!

As a dealer, you may think that this review would be bias. Let me assure you that for a product to be part of our line-up, it has to prove itself to me first. Jolida has done just that with the JD202. After hearing this amp for the first time, I knew I had to have one for my personal system. The 202 displays qualies normally not found in a product at this price. Even with the standard tubes, the 202 has a sonic characteristic of much more expensive tube gear. With a great soundstage, pinpoint imaging and a just the right amount of musical warmth, the Jolida 202 is the perfect choice for those looking for tube gear at a "Real World" price. Depending on your listening habits, it may not have all the "slam" some people look for. But then again, you can't please everyone.
My wife loves it becaus it took out the irritating harshness from our home theatre set-up and she even dust it one a week (I tell her not to bother).
A beautiful warm tube sound that we could listen to all day. Isn't that what its all about!!
Don't have a dealer in you area? Drop us a line at Response34@aol.com for more info on this "Real World" tube amp.
Happy Listening,
Bill

The JoLida SJ202A is a relatively good buy for an integrated tube amp,but has some shortcomings. It has a nice, warm tube sound, with a rich
midrange that sounds a lot different than your typical solidstate amp.
However the cost cutting to get this amp down to the asking price is
evident in the tubby, below average resolution mid-bass, and in the
rolled off low-bass. JoLida uses lower grade transformers on this model
than in their pricier SJ302 and SJ502 series.

Used with very good, full-range speakers and you'll quickly hear the amp's
deficiencies. Use it with decent $400-$1000 bookshelf speakers that don't
go too low anyway, and it's a reasonable combination.

Just picked up this integrated and had a couple thoughts. First, the JoLida 202 is eminently more enjoyable than any of the prior integrated amps I've had (Acurus DIA-100 mkII; Nakamichi IA something or other; NAD 3020 [another good amp though - wish I hadn't sold it]). Warmth in the sound quality; "realism" of voices and acoustic instruments; and funky tube style (the amp looks beautiful - small chassis; neatly machined silver knobs, plates, and covers; glowing orange tubes). I'm hooked for life. Pair 'em up with a decent CD player and sensitive (relatively) speakers and these give you a good long glimpse of the "high end." This amp is particularly fantastic to complement lower-budget equipment which might sound a touch bright.
Second, plan to spend another $80-100 on replacement tubes immediately. I went about two weeks with the Chinese-made tubes that came with the amp and, on the recommendation of a salesperson, replaced them with higher-quality Russian tubes. Definite improvement. The "musician-in-the-room" thing became even more palpable. The already-liquid highs and mids became more transparent, revealing more textures. Best $85 tweak I can think of.

Can't recommend this gorgeous little amp enough. Especially for jazz, classical, and acoustic music fans looking at Rotel, NAD, Marantz, Adcom, Denon, etc. entry and mid-level integrateds (not to say that stuff isn't good). This is simply a different sort of choice with different sorts of rewards. Definitely worth a look and listen.

These reviews are great. Makes me want to run out and buy a 202!No local dealer here in Virginia Beach, VA. anyone know of a JoLida dealer
within 100 miles?

sweet, holographic imaging, music and
voices sound natural

no tape loop, no way to seperate preamp/
amp..ie, no pre in/power out jack. Poor
quality volume pot.

I agree, this is a wonderful sounding
amp, especially considering the price..
holographic and natural sounding. No
tape loop, and no pre in/power out jack
to seperate preamp and power amp however
is a negative. Also, the Panasonic volume pot is of poor quality, requiring
constant cleaning, otherwise you'll
get a scratchy noise as you adjust. Also
no balance, which is ok IF the volume
pot is of high quality. However, with
the Jolida's Panasonic pot, channel to
channel volume mistracks so you may hear
left is slightly louder than right, or
vice versa. What I did, and what many
are doing, which will solve this problem
as well as give you more flexability,
is to get a nice PASSIVE preamp..Creek
offers one for around $300 if you need
remote, or what I got is the Monolithic
Sound which is outstanding! Get these at
Music Direct. You can then hook up all
your gear into these units, set the
Jolida's pot at 12...or even full if
you'd like, and run your preamp into
one of the 202's inputs, tuner, cd or
aux. Then the 202 will act virtually
like an amp alone. It's very important
you use a high quality PASSIVE preamp,
as you don't want to pollute the signal
running it through active solid state
devices. Bad enuf you'll still be running it through that Panasonic pot,
but at 12 o'clock or full throttle, the
degadation is minimal. All in all, I've
never enjoyed a $1000 system as much
as this Jolida/Monolithic Sound system.
4 stars for the Jolida....5 for the system!

Pristine, easy-on-the-ears highs. Plenty of air. Wind instruments sound exceptionally beautiful

Poor definition and lack of texture in mids, weak bass.

A while back I posted a glowing review of this product. After many more hours of listening time, and having upgraded (price-wise, anyway) to a Bryston B-60 (a very balanced sounding solid-state), I should point out some of the 202's weaknesses. The upper frequencies continued to charm me, and many recordings sounded more beautiful than I'd ever heard them before. After a while, though, the amp's weaknesses caught up. I really felt like a lot was missing from the music. Mainly, the middle and bass parts of the music. For example, I found that while Ella Fitzgerald's voice sounded quite lovely coming through the Jolida, it did not have any of the gravel in the low end that makes her voice truly distinctive. I found the same problem with Ray Charles and other singers whose brand of beauty is less refined and more earthy. And I found that pianos, guitars and percussion instruments didn't sound quite natural. Beautiful maybe, but not complete. I should qualify all this by saying that I have only heard the 202 through bookshelf speakers in a large room with wooden floors, so that probably figures into the equation. Anyway,it's a good piece of audio equipment, but it's shortcomings are noticeable even to someone who cares about music a lot more than audio equipment.

What can I say about this sweet little integrated amp? After demo-ing the NAD314, NAD317, Rotel RA970, and Rotel RA985, I immediately fell in love with the "tube" sound. I found most of the solid state amps to be very similar in sound; they were bright-ish in the treble, punchy in the bass, and had an overall grainy texture that one probably would not notice unless he/she was accustomed to tubes. The 985 might be an exception; it was more neutral.I demoed the NAD317 vs. Jolida SJ202A with the NAD514 single disk player, and a pair of Meadowlark Kestrels. After hearing Dvorak's New World Symphony on the NAD317, I was fairly impressed with the power of the amp, but my pocketbook was leaning me toward the NAD314, which appeared to be about the same, with less power and minus a few features. Then the salesman showed me the Jolida, an in-store demo, that he could give me for a pretty good price. I didn't realize that tube sound could come so cheap! Trying to put together a budget system for $2500, I couldn't resist giving it a try.
Given my limited listening experience, I was absolutely blown away by the Jolida. With acoustic music, it sounded warm and natural in all ranges. The bass came out pretty clean, and vocals came out like real people singing, not with some grainy layer in the treble. For anything acoustic, classical, jazz, etc, this amp is absolutely incredible. Even for rock and dance music, this amp sounds pretty good. If this is the difference between tube and solid state, then count me a tube fan for life.
For the price and the sound, the line of Jolidas are probably, IMHO, the best integrated amps on the market. Needless to say, I ditched the solid state amps, and bought my first tubed component. Even rated at 40 w/channel, I rarely have to turn the knob past 12 o'clock to drive my B&W DM602s. One word of warning though - You must let the amp warm up for about five minutes, (have patience!) and the tubes do need to be replaced every few years depending upon usage. But believe me, these convenience sacrifices are worth it.
If you're in the market for an integrated amp (meaning you probably want to spend <$1500 on amplification) and your tastes lean towards more acoustic, then I would definitely check out the entire line of Jolida integrated amps and pick the one that best suits your needs. Be careful though, tubes are an expensive habit, and I'm only 21!

Quiet background,Liquid sweet midrange,price

None at this price range

This Integrated is undoubtedly one of the great Audio bargains and best kept secrets in audio. Purchased over the Net from Jim Lowe, brand spankin new in the box for a mere $500.00, there is nutin that can even come close to the glimpse into High End Tube nirvana that this little unit delivers. All the Hype you may read on these pages is true, believe it, trust it, and treat yourself to true musical reproduction that solid state just cannot deliver. Output tube upgrade highly recommended. Wonderful 2 dimensional soundstage. Ultra quiet and clean. In your lap vocals. Superb on live or acoustic jazz material. Plenty of power if you have effecient speakers. If your using mini-monitors or bookshelf speakers, don't blame the lack of bass on this unit. If your speakers are full range and truly go low, there's plenty of bass output. Purchasing this unit has finally led me back to my music collection, and enjoyment of same, which after all, is what it's all about.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood,Yamaha,Proton,Sony,Nad

Price,midrange magic,strong soundstage reproduction,price,price,price!!!!!

Lack of extensions on both spectrum(lows and highs).Stock tubes.

Its a true compliment when you compare this unit to Conrad Johnson and Sonic Frontier at four times the price .The strengths that CJ and SF has is more of a complete tube amp which offers control and base extensions and open highs but for the more important mid range Jolida matchs both units and more.Its surpasses SF in bloom and openess,and surpasses CJ in soundstage width and depth.The biggest drawback is the base or lack of.Forget about large orchestra and rock music,and you MUST use a low load speaker to really enjoy the 202a.Did I mention price?You can buy a new 202a for $550us if you're capable of bargining and this my friend is a terrific purchase.

Similar Products Used:

Conrad Johnson,Sonic Frontier.....