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Rating  - Fantastic!!!
This phono stage has a good variety of adjustable settings for gain and cartridge loading. Gobs of gain available. Will work well with the lowest output moving coils, passive preamps etc... Great for recording vinyl to digital and getting proper recording levels. Pretty quiet, a little tube noise (whooshing) can be heard only with the volume cranked way up and nothing playing. Due to the high gain of this phono stage, it's unlikely you'd ever have the volume knob that high with a signal present. Build quality is very nice for something reasonably priced that performs this well. It's a ten pound phono stage with a thick aluminum front panel and a heavy steel chassis. All of the gain and loading options can be accessed via the rear panel without opening the unit.
I love the sound. On the warm side, but not at all "muffled". VERY dynamic. The "slam factor" is the first thing you'll notice if moving up from an entry-level phono stage. Good frequency extension, solid bass and a smooth high end. With a little tweaking of the gain and loading settings, I can't imagine anyone not being able to get sound out of this thing that appeals to them. Probably not the most transparent phono stage. The mids can sound a little forward and "thick"... I personally like the slightly emphasized richness and ambience in my system. What it does resolve, it does beautifully. "Musical" is an excellent one word description of the JD-9A. Nothing I've heard compares at this price. Always sounds rich, dynamic, balanced and pleasant. Stabile soundstage, good detail, and a nice sense of "life" to the music, slightly warmed up by the "tubey" midrange.
The stock tubes are Chinese Shuguang 12AX7A. They sound a little on the warm side. Frequency extension seems to suffer a bit, both in the bass and in the highs which sounded a little "gritty" to me.
I've tried a LOT of tubes in this thing, both NOS and new production. My favorite has turned out to be the inexpensive Sovtek 12AX7LPS. Tubes with a little more gain like many NOS tubes and some of the "premium" new production tubes seem to be wrong for use in the JD-9A. The frequency extremes seem to be exaggerated and the mids get thin due to too much gain. The JD-9A just sings with the Sovteks in there. Very even frequency response, smooth sound and good extension. There is a very nice balance of warmth and even a little more detail than I expected out of a tubed phono stage in this price-range.
Highly recommended in this price-range. Head and shoulders above "entry-level". Honestly don't think you could beat it for the price, or substantially more...
Retails for $450.00. Got mine at Uptown Audio for a little less shipped and received excellent service.
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Customer Reviews for Jolida, Inc. USA,JD-9,410000095539,0410000095539,B000GL22FY, |
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Electronics : Jolida Jd-9 Phono Preamp Customer Reviews
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