Review: Jolida JD-1501 Tube amp

Category: Amplifiers

I listen to mainly Jazz, Rock and Singers & Standards, everything from Frank Sinatra to Frank Zappa! When I first turned on my Joliday 1501RC, I was not too impressed. This is a hybrid integrated with a tube preamp and MOSFET power amp. The stock Chinese tubes MUST go if you want to get the most from the 1501. It was only after about 50 hours and rolling Sovtek 12AX7LPS and, recently, Ei 12AX7 tubes, did I realize the potential of this astounding hybrid integrated amplifier. I've now owned the 1501RC for 6 months and have become very attached to it.

The amp is able to pull off the neat trick of providing excellent detail with smooth tube warmth and excellent imaging along with realism, presence and wide 3D soundstaging. It is so smooth that I can listen for hours without fatigue.....but all the detail is there.

It drives the 4 ohm MMG speakers with ease. I take the 100 watt/ch rating with a grain of salt. I KNOW it's capable of putting out more than the rated 100 watts. Build quality surprised me when I opened the case to swap tubes. The toroidal transformer is massive, the MOSFET's are atached to substantial heat sinks, the volume control is a nice ALPS, and the face plate is 1/4" thick aluminum. The tube sockets have spring loaded metal shields.

The remote is plastic junk although it works well. The volume knob actually turns when using the remote. There are no balance or tone controls. It comes with 4 inputs and a pre-out which I use to drive a powered sub.

The bottom line is that the Jolida 1501RC provides astounding performance and build quality for a small price. There's nothing I know that can touch it for $600.

Associated gear
Magnapan MMG Speakers, Compaq Laptop, iTunes, Stereo-Link DAC, Dayton 10" subwoofer, Onkyo CDP