I bought a JD100 and returned it (Jolida offers a return option to its dealers, even if the dealer does not usually offer a return option). I A/B'd it with my Rotel RCD-02. The RCD-02 (see review at AA), is very clean sounding, with decent detail retrieval, good soundstaging, and very tight, somewhat extended bass. It's shortcomings are primarily digital artifacts, with too much glare in the upper-mid/lower treble range. It is not very forgiving of poorly mastered CDs. The Jolida sounded so similar to the Rotel that I could not justify the money spent, plus I would have given up HDCD decoding, which I value. At the time, I decided that my system lacked the ability to differentiate between CD players. At the time, my combo 2-channel/HT system was built around a Sherwood/Newcastle P965 pre-pro, which fed an Odyssey Audio HT3 amp, into Vandy 1C speakers and an older Def Tech sub. I decided I would have to upgrade the preamp. While keeping the Sherwood, I inserted a used C-J PV11 preamp for my 2-channel sources. The improvement was huge, but the Rotel CD player's shortcomings were still a problem. In any case, I won't be able to upgrade to a better CD player for a while. It is interesting that, IIRC, the RCD-02 and the JD-100 share the same Burr-Brown DAC. I know there are many differences between the players, but this DAC is a few years old. When I do upgrade, I will focus on CD players and DACs with newer chips, and chips from other chip-makers. Also, the concept that a well-designed discreet output stage trumps an output stage that uses op amps makes sense to me, so I will focus on gear that eschews op amps. Just MHO, YMMV!
