Post by ocezam on Jul 14, 2013 11:20:18 GMT -5
Against the advice of a couple people on this forum, I decided not to wait for Emotiva’s “value” line of tube products that many of us are hoping will be developed. I have no idea if or when Emotiva will develop these products, or if I’ll like them if they do. If Emotiva does come out with something I like, I may sell these and buy Emotiva. If they don’t, I haven’t wasted any time waiting. Heck trying new products is half the fun.
I knew from the outset I didn’t want to end up with low powered amps that would force me to only consider high efficiency speakers. Who knows what speakers will strike my fancy in the future, I’d like to be able to drive most speakers.
I had been looking, and listening, to the Rogue Audio Atlas 100W/channel stereo power amp. I got to talking to Walter Leiderman, the owner of Underwood HiFi online, who sells both brands and he suggested I look at a pair of upgraded Jolida 502s for about the same money. After a week of talking to Michael Allen, President of Jolida, I decided to order the customized amps.
This is my new pair of Jolida 502P power amps. In their stock form they are 60 watt per channel stereo amps. These have been factory modded. In this current form, running bridged, they are 140 watt monoblocks. At the factory they have been upgraded with Hexfred Diodes, ceramic composite resistors and custom coupling caps. I also ordered them without the 6550 (KT88) output tubes they normally come with so I could install my own KT120 output tubes. I bought this pair for $1740 brand new shipped to my home, and have about $340 into the eight KT120’s.
I decided on the KT120 power tubes after a lot of reading on the internet. These tubes are said to be extremely reliable and powerful. These are the tubes Bob Carver uses in his top of the line Black beauty 305. These are, to my knowledge, the only power tube designed in the 21st century*, and were designed specifically for audio amps. Tung Sol is the only manufacturer of the KT120, and they are built in Russia.* Each amp also has a pair of 12AT7 Electro-Harmonix and 12AX7 Tung Sol preamp tubes.
* Edit: (09/27/13) Tung sol has recently announced a newly designed tube, the KT150.
* Edit: (11/16/13) Shuguang, a Chinese tube maker has recently announced they too are producing KT120's
I’m quite impressed with the build quality of these amps. They are not in the same league as the much more expensive Carver’s. They have circuit boards not point to point wiring. But they appear to be of stout build (they actually are heavier than Carver's amps) and I would presume they are akin to what Emotiva would produce. Jolida designs their products in Maryland, has the sub components built in China, and final assembly and any customization is done in Maryland.
So how do they sound? Well as expected they compare favorably to the Red Dragon Audio M500’s I just sold. Those were the most tube sounding solid state amps I’ve ever owned. And by most accounts the Jolida 502 has a modern tube sound. Which is to say, not overly tube like. The KT120s are known as powerfull, tight tubes. In a nut shell the Jolidas have a slight bit of that “tubey” mid range bloom. They have a bit more air between instruments and singers. The Jolidas are extremely dynamic and accurate for tube amps. Although the bass on the Red Dragons was a slightly tighter the Jolidas produce strong full toned bass. My current speakers, Polk LSi15s are 87db 4 ohm. These amps drive them very well. Having owned Magnepans in the past, I believe these would do well on them also. Something lots of tube amps have a very hard time at.
This is the type of amp I think would sell well for Emotiva should they decide to pursue entry level tubes. They are a great bang for the buck product. I’m enjoying the heck out of mine.
I mentioned I didn’t want to be stuck with having to have high efficiency speakers. Well in a couple weeks I’ll be trying out some Zu Audio Omen speakers. There will be a review here of course. Stay tuned!
I knew from the outset I didn’t want to end up with low powered amps that would force me to only consider high efficiency speakers. Who knows what speakers will strike my fancy in the future, I’d like to be able to drive most speakers.
I had been looking, and listening, to the Rogue Audio Atlas 100W/channel stereo power amp. I got to talking to Walter Leiderman, the owner of Underwood HiFi online, who sells both brands and he suggested I look at a pair of upgraded Jolida 502s for about the same money. After a week of talking to Michael Allen, President of Jolida, I decided to order the customized amps.
This is my new pair of Jolida 502P power amps. In their stock form they are 60 watt per channel stereo amps. These have been factory modded. In this current form, running bridged, they are 140 watt monoblocks. At the factory they have been upgraded with Hexfred Diodes, ceramic composite resistors and custom coupling caps. I also ordered them without the 6550 (KT88) output tubes they normally come with so I could install my own KT120 output tubes. I bought this pair for $1740 brand new shipped to my home, and have about $340 into the eight KT120’s.
I decided on the KT120 power tubes after a lot of reading on the internet. These tubes are said to be extremely reliable and powerful. These are the tubes Bob Carver uses in his top of the line Black beauty 305. These are, to my knowledge, the only power tube designed in the 21st century*, and were designed specifically for audio amps. Tung Sol is the only manufacturer of the KT120, and they are built in Russia.* Each amp also has a pair of 12AT7 Electro-Harmonix and 12AX7 Tung Sol preamp tubes.
* Edit: (09/27/13) Tung sol has recently announced a newly designed tube, the KT150.
* Edit: (11/16/13) Shuguang, a Chinese tube maker has recently announced they too are producing KT120's
I’m quite impressed with the build quality of these amps. They are not in the same league as the much more expensive Carver’s. They have circuit boards not point to point wiring. But they appear to be of stout build (they actually are heavier than Carver's amps) and I would presume they are akin to what Emotiva would produce. Jolida designs their products in Maryland, has the sub components built in China, and final assembly and any customization is done in Maryland.
So how do they sound? Well as expected they compare favorably to the Red Dragon Audio M500’s I just sold. Those were the most tube sounding solid state amps I’ve ever owned. And by most accounts the Jolida 502 has a modern tube sound. Which is to say, not overly tube like. The KT120s are known as powerfull, tight tubes. In a nut shell the Jolidas have a slight bit of that “tubey” mid range bloom. They have a bit more air between instruments and singers. The Jolidas are extremely dynamic and accurate for tube amps. Although the bass on the Red Dragons was a slightly tighter the Jolidas produce strong full toned bass. My current speakers, Polk LSi15s are 87db 4 ohm. These amps drive them very well. Having owned Magnepans in the past, I believe these would do well on them also. Something lots of tube amps have a very hard time at.
This is the type of amp I think would sell well for Emotiva should they decide to pursue entry level tubes. They are a great bang for the buck product. I’m enjoying the heck out of mine.
I mentioned I didn’t want to be stuck with having to have high efficiency speakers. Well in a couple weeks I’ll be trying out some Zu Audio Omen speakers. There will be a review here of course. Stay tuned!
