Jungson JA88D anyone?

the Krell gear, to me all sounds hashy and hard in the high end, ok throughout the mid, and with tremendous bass slam. I owned the KAV300i for a period, and it melted down, enough so that the factory, to their credit replaced the unit. It was nothing like the Jungsen amp I have now. The Jungsen is one of two integrateds, I own, one is the (please don't throw knives, I am not a shill, a DK. While the DK is notably better, it costs a considerable amount more.) I think the overall sound of the Jungsen is sweet and musical, and stages nicely, and is well worth the price of admission.
Subjectivly one of the better values in audio. Plus it looks killer.IMHO it is much more musical than the Krell gear, and better looking...of course again subjectively.
Plus the inherent advantage of Class A design with no switching distortion, it is, given the price a no contest winner product.
It is not as fleshed out as the DK but a helluva product nontheless. The above post hits it dead square, when it talks about the organic sound. As far as speed, I think that speed, infers something not usually thought of in music, in terms of musicality, IMHO. Great sound for a low price.

A small cautionary note about the 88D. In the February 2005 issue of BFS, in which the 88D was listed as a "Component of Exceptional Merit," Marty stated that he had received complaints about damping material that turned viscous and smeared the inside of the unit. I also seem to recall reading posts to that effect not long ago, but could not locate them in either AA or AudiogoN.

The problem seems like a production flaw, not a design defect that affects the sound, so it should be relatively easy for the manufacturer to fix. Because this product is bought directly from the U.S. distributor, the purchaser should be able to get a straight answer about the situation before purchasing a new unit. If buying used, the seller should also be asked about the presence of this problem. Obviously from the favorable comments in this thread, not all units already in circulation have this problem.

Really great input.

(1) Korsun V8 and Jungson 88D are in the same price range and seem to be prime competitors. The V8 is a OEM for one of the Levinson amps that sells for around $7000. The feedback from your friend seems to parallel what others say about the 2 amps.

Korsun seems to be a high end integrated the follows the mold of classic SS. I think its rated like 250wpc. One thing that really impressed me about the Korsun was the use of dual 1000va transformers. The Jungson seems be more of a high end Hybrid amp, although it dosen't have any tubes. It is said to be sensitive to power cords and can be made to be super quick with the right cord.

(2)Exactly, Jungson may be known as the "Chinese Krell" but its sound from what others have reported is nothing like Krell. I hate to say negative things about a amp I haven't seen or heard myself. However there have been some posts on Audio Asylum by those who have looked in the KAV400 and haven't been real impressed by some of the parts.

(3) I remember reading something about a strange fluid found in one of the Jungson amps. I post on a private forum dedicated primarily to Jungson, but also includes other Chinese Audio. The "strange fluid" reports have been mentioned on the forum. But to my knowledge no one who posts there, has actually experienced this with their own amp.

Again you can contact Sekei if you have any questions about the fluid. They sell other brands. But Andy makes no bones about it he is basically a Jungson dealer.

BW Maxx

Well, I'm leaning towards the JA-50 over the 88Ds eventhough the monoblocks really are out of my budjet. I may have to go with a really good but cheap passive preamp for awhile. I'm looking into getting the Marantz SA-11 SACD player that has balanced outputs producing 5 volts! Should be plenty to drive a passive preamp and the high input impedence of the Jungsons. Anybody actually compared the 88D with the JA-50?

Drac why don't you email Fazoid. He has the JA-100 and I'm sure can probably tell you the differences between the JA-50 and JA-100. He also has the 99c. Which I am told is the same power amp section as the 88D.

Yep, if I had the bucks I would go with the JA-50 too.

BW Maxx