Black ice Audio owners, pet peaves


The new Jolida Black ice ,Jim Fosgste assisted, is better then the fusion which was good 
most parts good ,except in the past thin sheet metal cases, you would think a sturdy 2-4 Oz copper trace circuit board  good quality tube sockets the bosrd in fusion models which I owned literally flexed when you want to tube rolll, I broke solder joints and was very easy on installing remov8ng tubes ,even used Stabilant-22 
contact enhancer which works great and helps ease tube removal you would think for a lousy $50 orless 
toput in a top quality board with a thick bottom plate with stand offs to secure the bosrd from flexing 
whst good is a great sound8ng component when you have cheap internal parts ,just dumb.
my good friend is a 40 year vacuum tube expert ,and I ask him to mod put much better coupling capacitors in ,and Vishay naked coupling caps ,better connectors , he stated he was concerned the circuit board too thin ,minimal he said should ge at least a 2 Oz Coppergold double sided board  for under $50 much better conductivity,as welll as longevity,and mounted on 6 standoffs . Put some dam thought into the build . Many companies if you can’t see inside we will cut corners ,that tells me as a True Audiophile $$ comes before your pride in building a quality component .  I tell it like it is sometimes the truth hurts.prove me wrong. As Audiophiles sonics,and dependability are a Paramount .i would much rather spend an extra $200-300 to get a muchbetter product in the key areas copper Furutech IEC, less then $15 ,vs the $3 junk even in many $10k electronics Why ? 5 x more resistance to start 
stupid . Military grade 2-4 Oz Gold copper trace boards, Gold copper rca  at least off as a SAe option 
no extra labor if built as a SE model when being assembled. If they don’t like whst I have to say a Too bad , then show some dam pride .i know from experience if m6 name is on it I know everyth7g is better then average ,and when buying parts in quantity the prices go down to under 50% retail.
before buying question the mfg ,look for product description. In detail if it is not ststed or says 
proprietary it is BS, that just means there is nothing special and trying to cover their low cost tracks,
it’s your money Lin this small boutique Audio market ,it is about time companies especially the larger well name companies stop living on their name and lofty way over priced gear.quality  conpetive priced gear is what the majority of the market wants . Happy listening. 😎🎶

128x128audioman58

I know I’m resurrecting an old thread but thought I’d chime in as there’s not a ton of info out there on the F360 Preamp.

I’ve had mine now for several months (got in just weeks before the price increase to $2500). Short version is that, in my opinion, it’s outstanding.

To be truthful, I originally wanted the Foz SS-X but ended up having a nice chat with Black Ice and they convinced me to try the F360. Glad they did. Their preamp is the single best upgrade I’ve made with the exception of my Klipsch Forte III. Just a beautiful, crisp and smooth pre with a wonderful stage. Ironically, I really don’t use the SSX function much at all. The amp just improved my overall enjoyment by a significant margin.

If anyone is interested in more specifics, please let me know.
 

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Nearly everyone is criticising the writing. Obviously English is a second language for the dude. Give him a break. I used to sell Jolida and Black Ice Audio for years. I can the old Jolida gear was a real bargain. Black Ice Audio gear is not. You will not find much old Jolida gear for sale, and when you do it is priced for as much as it sold for new, or more. And you will rarely every see one of their old hybrids for sale. Those has a great sound, and are built well. If you ever find a JD1701 for sale consider buying it. Great sound, rare amp, a good investment. The old Jolida gear is a good investment. I can tell you this- an Onkyo A-9110 amp for $349 will sound as good, or better than the Black Ice Audio F22 amp. 

Its peeve. The device is only properly judged by how it does its stated job. Unless it was advertised as a ‘mod platform’, this mode of judging a device is misleading, ill informed and pointless. This notion that anyone with a soldering iron and an opinion feels qualified to opine on a professionally designed product is one of the pitfalls of audiophile culture.

I totally disagree with the statement that Black Ice is better then the Jolida Fusion 3000. Lots of mods performed on these pre's. I tube roll all the time with no problems. Paid $675 + mods. I think 1/2 the problem is that people don't give the unit enough air for cooling, and/or no zen when installing  tubes. 

Just my2 cents.