Black Ice(former Jolida Company)new integrated amp opinions


Hello,

Just wondering if any one has any experience with Black Ice's new integrated tube amps. In particular the F22 & F35 Jim Fosgate designs. Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks


128x128sagger

 Black Ice is relatively new the company, but basically in name only. It is under the the same ownership as Jolida (owner Michael Allen & CEO Jerred Dunkerson) which has been around since the 80's. It's my understanding there was and issue between Jolida & it's Chinese partner who manufactured Jolida products which lead to the end of Jolida thus Black Ice was born.  Please know that I don't know all the details so I don't want to mislead. One thing for sure is that Jolida is no more & the name has been changed to Black Ice. The products under the Black Ice name are completely new where Black Ice commissioned Jim Fosgate (and audio designer since the 70"s) to be involved with the design. According to Dealers of Black Ice (former dealers of Jolida) the new Black Ice amps are not only superior in sound, but also fit & finish. Although a lot of the components may be purchased from China (like many amps today) the final assembly & quality checks are now done in Maryland. To me that's a big plus from the old Jolida product which was assembled & inspected in China. Anyway this all sounds interesting to me. I've seen some positive reviews & the Black Ice dealers say the stuff is great, but I'm hoping to hear from real users.Unfortunately there are no audio stores in my area that carry this product so I can't get a listen. I'm assuming since the product is fairly new I've yet to get any comments, so if you own or have auditioned a Black Ice amp please chime in. Thanks.

sagger

My only concern is service out of Maryland. I had my Dad drop off his Jolida because one channel was noisy. They had it forever and didn't do anything. So he sent it across the country back to me. It was just a bad tube, took me 15 minutes to find and fix. The amp is still in service, on the third set of tubes. I had to replace the power switch (easy-peasy). But if I was you, I'd buy a Prima Luna or a Quick Silver.