Is the Jolida jd 100 as good as the dealers claim?

Shoe, have you considered a modified Jolida as an upgrade? It's something you might want to consider. The mods do make a difference. The Arcam FMJ 33 is very nice and the Cary 303/200 is also great player. The Cary is very neutral and open/spacious. The Arcam a little more detailed and pointed (but not too technical). To my ear, the Jolida is warmer than both of these, while still remaining detailed. The Arcam has the tightest bass of all three and the Cary has the most neutral sounding, but the Jolida is the most emotional of the three and for me was the winner.

It is like a tubed Rotel.

A used Cary CD-308 is much better and can be gotten for $900 or less.

I had the Jolida in my system for a week. I ended up with the Cary. Better resolution, soundstage, and musicality. The Cary has better DAC, parts, power supply, and build. It also offer upsampling and HDCD.

But, if you like the boring Rotel sound, go for it.

>>I had the Jolida in my system for a week.

A week! Mjcmt: IMO that's not enough time to evaluate any front end unless it's mass market stuff. The Jolida requires tube rolling, the right aftermarket PC, and other tweaking to properly evaluate it. My modded unit did not perform at it's best until I tried a few sets of tubes. I also tried more than one aftermarket PC. I respect the Cary nameplate and I have no doubt that the 308 is a quality cdp. But it should be, it retails for $1,500. You're comparing it to a retail $900 player. How about comparing apples to apples. And, I've had the Rotel RCD 1072 in my home and it's a fine player at it's price point. IMO the JD100 does not sound like a tubed Rotel RCD 1072.

I happen to like the Cary 308T better than the 308. I think the Jolida is more addictive, but the 308T has more detail. Choose your poison.

"The Jolida requires tube rolling, the right aftermarket PC, and other tweaking to properly evaluate it."

Foster, I didn't mean to tap your turntable, but these are my experiences. I have had their amps and worked in an audio salon representing their equipment, and heard it many, many times. I have owned Rotel as well and made the comparison on that.

Finally by the time you add the Jolida mods, tube rolling and power cord you are not talking about a $900 CDP anymore. Now the Cary, especially used, is a very good deal. The Cary uses a better dac, power supply, parts, etc. It also offers upsampling and HDCD.

I think the extra resolution of the Cary suited my Pass Labs amp and high resolution speakers better.

Mike