New Variac for Joule Electra Amps

Hi Outlier,

Have you contacted Joule Electra and asked if they will sell a new variac to you? That would be great if they would. I thought Jud Barber retired recently due to age and health concerns.

Hi Thaluza, I have explored that route (and that would definitely be my preferred route), but it was not an option. I'm working with Rich at Signature Sound in NY on a rebuild - I've been very happy with his speedy and thorough engagement so far though I understand that there are no guarantees on what may be possible but will see. It may involve retrofitting a new variac vs. fixing this existing one.

Swampwalker, yes, it's a pity that these units aren't more bullet-proof. It's hard to put a price on reliability - it's easy to take it for granted until something goes awry with one's equipment..

Outlier- Should have thought to suggest talking to Signature Sound...they have always been heavily involved w Joule (and Merlin) gear. As for build quality, it's not only electrical reliability, but also mechanical that I was concerned with. That is to say that the physical integrity/strength of the casework, I/O jacks/posts, etc, did not seem to be consistent with the sound quality. But that might also have been a function of buying on the used market with unknown # of owners andshipping cycles. Hope you can get the amps up and running soon; winter is their "peak season" ;-)

The Joule variacs are indeed custom applications. When I looked at aftermarket variacs it became apparent that nothing would work "off the shelf".

Fair warning: The Service Dept (CT) may have quoted you 10 weeks but a VZN-80 I sent in for repair took approximately 6 months. PM me for more info but you should send the unit to someone who wants to actually work on them. they are also unable to get any parts, schematics or other info from Jud anymore.

I wanted to post the fact that there was a happy conclusion to this issue. I sent the kaput variac to Richard Brkich at Signature Sound. Rich is pretty familiar with the Joule amps and uses a pair himself. He researched my variac, got a new one(higher spec/capacity) from a great source for a great price. He then did the custom work on ensure that it would work perfectly in my application. I got the variac back in a timely fashion and there was always excellent communication and attention to detail along the way.

Independent of Rich's help, I bought 16 new power tubes as it became clear that I had some runaway current on at least one tube.

I'm not back in business with a wonderful sounding pair of amps that are very stable and the variac is prefect again.

I could not have hoped to work with a better technician/expert than Rich - he was a joy to deal with and I cannot recommend him highly enough if you ever need any work done or if you are in the market for new equipment. His advice and recommendations were thorough and super helpful and he was very generous with his time.

I'm back to a lot of happy listening now (exploring my new Tidal subscription and exploring more vinyl with a new Thor phono-stage as well). Happy listening!!