jolida 202 or 302?

Thanks. I'll get a chance to do a head to head of the stock 302 and 202 next week. I've been inclined to follow Crazy4blues advice and get the 202 spend the extra money on tubes, etc (in part, I admit, because that extra $ is easiler to slip by without spousal approval. She already thinks I'm nuts for what I want to spend on the 202. A character in a book I read said that the greatest blow to male independence was the disappearance of separate bank accounts.)

Judasmac, I misread your original post. I thought you had efficient speakers, but you clearly stated your speakers were inefficient.

Based on that, I think you opting for the 302 is even more imperative. Transformers, plus the number of tubes, are the only means a tube amplifier can cope with a difficult loudspeaker. In fact, I would see if you could audition your speakers with either of the amplifiers. Otherwise, you'll soon be starting a thread where you are inquiring about a more efficient pair of loudspeakers for your Jolida.

While I may be one of the biggest fans of Jolida on Audiogon, they do not sound good when driving the wrong loudspeakers. Case in point, two weeks ago, I paired the 302b up with a pair of speakers I was auditioning which I was thinking about in my second system. I wanted to use the Jolida, as I consider it a baby Jadis made in China. Believe me when I say that the JSE Infinite Slope 4 turned an amplifier I highly regard into one that sounded poor. It was like a wheezing asthmatic trying to run up a San Francisco hill. And, the Infinite Slope speakers supposedly present a pretty friendly load. The combination simply did not work.

Please note in the very same room, I have personally heard the very same Jolida sound about as good as things ever get driving the heck out of a pair of Totem Arros. Just a better match.

I guess my overall point being that I can fully understand your wanting to get into tube amplification. Particularly, the glorious sound that can come from an EL34 tube amp. But, almost any amp running just 4 EL34 tubes, Jolida 202, 302, or otherwise is not fit for driving an inefficient pair of loudspeakers. The combination will not come to life, and you will wonder, in your disappointment, why you found the amp so special during your audition in the first place.

That being said, if you are looking for tubes for the Jolida, I highly recommend either JJ or Svetlana EL34. I personally prefer the JJ, as I find them to offer a better tone and bass response. The Svetlanas will give your amp a sunny disposition that is classic tube. Just about anything you plug in will be an upgrade of the small tubes.

GOOD LUCK!

Yes, my speakers are inefficient (maybe around 86 - they're Tangent RS4s). But I have auditioned the 302 and the modified 202 with them, and I've not heard them sound so good before. So I'm sold on the tubes. It's true that I couldn't really crank the volume, but I don't do that much in any case. I figure I rather sacrifice the ability to crank as high as I sometimes (but not often) like in order to get that sound I heard from the Jolida. I did THINK I might have detected more headroom with the 302 over the 202, but wasn't sure why it should be noticible with only a 10W difference. (Besides, I auditioned a 40W Arcam that seemed to have no trouble with these speakers at the levels I listen to, so I figured I must just have been hearing what I expected to hear in power difference between the 302 and 202.) Hence my thread.

So, Trelja, your response begins to explain to me why I might not have been imagining things when I thought I detected more headroom with the 302. Right? It's not simply a matter of wattage (or the way it's measured, anyway)?

One more thing... Being new to tubes, I have lots of questions. How much difference could tubes make in making the 202 (or 302, for that matter) sound more powerful? For example, KT88s?

Hi Judasmac,
tubes can make a significant difference (Tube Rolling) but it's a very system depending thing and also of personal likings. And it's best decided by you after you hear different tube brands...
Cheers!