Wiring confusion with JL sub and components
Oldrider, I feel a bit silly that i missed the part of the original post stating that you had an integrated amp. I just looked at some images on line and i understand your delima. I was thinking you had a preamp to amp setup...so that would allow you to just split the signal coming from your pre. Man... i cant imagine having that sub and not being able to fully utilize it! If you really get obsessed with it maybe call Ted at Thor audio and they could probably covert your tape in to another line out as they did on my pre. Just a thought. Sorry for the confusion. |
Mcpherson, Please, no worries. Appreciate every comment members make. Where is Thor Audio located? This integrated unit has a line out, but it doesn't make enough voltage (or at least this is what I've been told by a reputable Jolida dealer) to run these JL subs. And yes, am pretty much bummed at this point trying to get some "reasonable" solution. I've finally sent off pix to Barry Oder at the Soundoctor company. He's supposedly the "go-to" guy for JL Audio home components. Will see what his comments are. Just don't want to purchase another amp/preamp at this time. Just took deliver of a new Marantz Super Audio SACD player, along with having one of their nice TT15 tables on the way from Crutchfields..... Oldrider |
...Just don't want to purchase another amp/preamp at this time. Just took deliver of a new Marantz Super Audio SACD player, along with having one of their nice TT15 tables on the way from Crutchfield..... Ironically, a really good match for the SACD player and turntable you just bought is Marantz's matching PM8004 Integrated Amp. It is an amazing amp at the price and I heard a demo of the SA8004 playing a Redbook CD through it to a pair of $10K Sonus Faber Cremona M speakers. This CD player pulled out detail and ambience I didn't know existed on recordings I'm very familiar with. And the amp brought out the best in the ten-times-as-expensive speakers, with an organic, transparent midrange, neutral tonal balance, and amazing control over the bass of a pair of ported dual-woofer towers. The TAS review is very enthusiastic and mentions that the built-in MM-level phono preamp is excellent. And yes, it has a pair of preamp outputs. To keep signal transfer high and expenses down when connecting to the JL Fathom, you could get a pair of AudioQuest Mini-5 Interconnects on closeout. These have a single central stereo cord that's broken out at each end with an RCA pair, perfect for sending both channels to the stereo input of the JL Fathom. These Mini-5s use AQ's best copper, PSC+, and this sale enables you to get some really long, convenient-to-place interconnects for an excellent price. E.g., 3M for $59.99 or 5M for $79.99. |
If you want to keep the Jolida with the JL sub, I think you'll have to have the Jolida modded to add a stereo pair of line level outputs. If I were you I wouldn't get frustrated at JL--or even Jolida. As Kal said, each vendor makes its decision of features based on market demand and to make the unit more affordable. Putting speaker level inputs on subs adds cost that few people will use. The same goes for lower-priced integrated amps. I used to use an Onkyo A-9555 integrated amp. It's a nice-sounding unit, but has no preamp outputs, and if you use the headphone jack, it automatically turns off the speaker outputs. Otherwise I could have used a stereo phone plug to RCA stereo adapter cable to use a sub. But it wouldn't do that and I moved on. Now I use separates and my last two line stages have had two pairs of line level outputs. But there are plenty of integrated amps at every price level that have a pair of line level outputs. Audio Advisor has a Vincent Integrated for $399 (marked down from $900) that not only has preamp outputs, it has a USB port and a built-in DAC. So does the NAD 326BEE at $549 and many others. Also, the current production Jolida JD302BRC or CRC integrated amp also has preamp outputs. |
