The insides of my Jolida JD9

[Poultrygeist]

Let the mods begin. So far I've replaced the output op amps and swapped the Jolida tubes for a pair of Fisher Telefunken 12AX7. The Obbligato Gold caps are on order and should get here any day. Man have I ever changed my tune about vinyl. The only phono stage I had for an extended period was the CJ PV1. I thought it was good but the Jolida walks all over it.

http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/500/medium/P2090006.JPG

[frenchmon]

Hahahaha...Vinyl rules!

[Enochrome]

that's a lot of acreage in that chassis. Let the mods begin!!!

Sweet phono stage........as I seethe with envy.

[dannotubes]

Also replace the power supply caps on the board with some
good quality panansonic caps.
I did the power supply caps, Obbligato gold caps on the output.
I tried the tele tubes but found the mullard had more detail.
I haven't touched the input board yet as I have too many projects on the go, but what op amps/etc did you change and where did you source them.
Dan

[Poultrygeist]

Dan,
I went with opa627 ( digikey ) in the outputs (1 and 2 but may do others ) and replaced the tubes at the same time for a subtle improvement. I believe the op amps are much cheaper on ebay if they are the real McCoy? I expect a greater jump with the Obbligato's as that's when others say it all comes together. Are you using 12ax7 or 12au7? Can you provide a link to the Panasonic caps you used on the PS?
Thanks, Paul

[Poultrygeist]

"lots of acreage" - E, they make it 2.5" high and the standard 12.5"x17" so folks can place a TT or other gear on top of it, which I wouldn't do.

[dannotubes]

I got all the caps from Mouser. Best to pop out the board and measure the diameter, height is a non issue. I am using Mullard 12ax7 right now.
Have you tried the MC input? I haven't got a MC cartridge yet.

[Poultrygeist]

Thanks. I tried the high level out puts but they have way too much gain for my 97ex MM cart, even with the dips switches off. II hope to try a MC one of these days.

[Enochrome]

Dan,
I went with opa627 ( digikey ) in the outputs (1 and 2 but may do others ) and replaced the tubes at the same time for a subtle improvement. I believe the op amps are much cheaper on ebay if they are the real McCoy? I expect a greater jump with the Obbligato's as that's when others say it all comes together. Are you using 12ax7 or 12au7? Can you provide a link to the Panasonic caps you used on the PS?
Thanks, Paul

I have been meaning to try 12au7's for a little less gain in my Jolida 502a because I can't even get the volume past 7 o'clock using my dac. I think you will like the MC stage just as much as the MM.

How do you like the the 97xe with the Jolida?

I heard in terms of Opamps that the AD8620/10 is really good: gobs of detail without the forward presentation. I use a pair of LM4562's in my dac, but they are now going to go into my Cambridge 640p along with a recap to widen the soundstage, get more detail (which they are known for) and increase the output a little. I am going to pair them with some AD8620's in the output stage to tame the LM4562's.

Me likes vinyl. :arf:

[Poultrygeist]

Wow! Big difference with the Obbligato's which replaced some chiclet sized caps on the opposite side of the board. Very defined bass and the high notes just hang forever in space. Great airiness in the top hats on Sonny Rollin's Sax Colossus. I've still got four more op amps to upgrade and a ps cap but it's hard to imagine it getting better. To quote a guy on AK regarding these mods, "stunning, just stunning"

http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/500/medium/P2270004.JPG

[Poultrygeist]

With four more Texas Instrument OPA 627 and some Russian Mullards which are on the way I'll have around $200 in upgrades over it's original $360 price tag. This is basically equivalent to level III Underwood mods with performance comparable to $1500 tube phono stages.

The Jolida has got to be one of the best deals in audio. I only wish I had bought one sooner.

[Poultrygeist]

On another forum there was questionable soldering quality on one unit but on this JD9 the soldering is top notch.

The over sized Obbligato cap mods are secured to the chassis with velcro patches. I may dampen the insides and top cover at some point. For the time being I'm running it naked i.e. no top or tube covers. I'm in awe every time I fire it up.

[frenchmon]

Ok...let me hear you say it! VINYL RULES!!!!!

[Poultrygeist]

Vinyl rules especially with a great tube phono stage.

[frenchmon]

Thank you sir! You are now in the club!

[Poultrygeist]

This is what the kitchen counter top looked like this morning.

http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/500/medium/P3100010.JPG

[Poultrygeist]

http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio//500/P3100013.JPG

[Poultrygeist]

At $21 a pop from Mouser these ain't exactly a cheap mod but well worth it. Since I'm running it topless I see no need for case dampening. To say I'm extremely pleased would be an understatement.


http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio//500/P3100015.JPG

[Poultrygeist]

I've listened to the Jolida for most of today and this puppy is as smooth as a baby's butt and quiet as a church mouse. I can not believe my good fortune in finding this phono stage and then with some simple mods taking it to a level I would not have thought possible. The Conrad Johnson PV had a great phono stage but it's light years behind this modded Jolida.

[Poultrygeist]

A guy on AK just posted that he's owned the following:

ASL Phono
McCormack Phono
Hagerman Cornet II ( modded )
Juicy Music Tercel
Audible Illusions
K&K Phono

And the JD9 is better than all except for the K&K. He feels that once modded the JD9 competes with the $1300 K&K.

[Poultrygeist]

Greeting the Sunday dawn here as I spin my new, wonderfully recorded 200 gram "Billie Holiday" album ( thank you frenchmon ).

The monster threads and hyper excitement over the JD9 is totally justified. I rolled the Telefunkens back in and am just smitten with their velvet smoothness and dark background. The silence between notes is CD like but with all the visceralness and warmth that only comes with tube analog. As one would expect there's no hint of transistor glare/fatigue in the least.

I recently had the opportunity to compare it to the highly regarded Hagerman Cornet2 and the modded Jolida trounced it.

[Poultrygeist]

http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio//500/P4150002.JPG

[frenchmon]

Greeting the Sunday dawn here as I spin my new, wonderfully recorded 200 gram "Billie Holiday" album ( thank you frenchmon ).

The monster threads and hyper excitement over the JD9 is totally justified. I rolled the Telefunkens back in and am just smitten with their velvet smoothness and dark background. The silence between notes is CD like but with all the visceralness and warmth that only comes with tube analog. As one would expect there's no hint of transistor glare/fatigue in the least.

I recently had the opportunity to compare it to the highly regarded Hagerman Cornet2 and the modded Jolida trounced it.
You are welcome on the Billie Holiday record. I love that Album. I think all who know Billie Should have that Album. They did as good of a job as possible cleaning that record up and mastering it. That was recorded 3 years before she died and though her voice was not like it was before the abuse she still sounds dam good. And Ben Webster on sax...Wow. The 2M Black does it really good. And by the way....when she recorded that album...she was a full blown junkie...heroin .

[frenchmon]

I use to have the SL 3. Which one is yours?

[Poultrygeist]

It's an original SL1300 I bought new back in the day. I know folks are not keen on automatics but it cost more than an SL1200 and is pretty much the same TT with some additional parts. I don't think I could give up the auto sit down, return and repeat mode.

Since the JD9 will drive any cart under the sun I'm looking at moving coils. I can get near dealer cost prices on any of Denon MC line. Any recommendations?

[frenchmon]

It's an original SL1300 I bought new back in the day. I know folks are not keen on automatics but it cost more than an SL1200 and is pretty much the same TT with some additional parts. I don't think I could give up the auto sit down, return and repeat mode.

Since the JD9 will drive any cart under the sun I'm looking at moving coils. I can get near dealer cost prices on any of Denon MC line. Any recommendations?

Man you lucky devil you!

Try the Denon 103R...really all of the Denons get good hype. But the
103R gets very good praise at under the $400 mark.

If you like automatic TT and you want to get a little more performance you should step up to Thorens - TD-295 MKIV

http://www.audioadvisor.com/images/THTD295_M_LIFE.jpg

Its semi automatic, has a a few Pro-Ject parts on it and is a great performer. Many audio-files don't like it because of the Pro-Ject parts but if you want quality in a auto-matic of semi-automatic Dual or Thorens is where you gotta go. My vote goes to Thorens...they make some great tables in every price range.

[Poultrygeist]

I see that the Denon 103R tracks at 2.3 - 2.7 g.

Isn't that on the high side which might cause record wear? What do you consider ideal tracking force?

I must have played Billie 20 times this weekend ;-)

[frenchmon]

I see that the Denon 103R tracks at 2.3 - 2.7 g.

Isn't that on the high side which might cause record wear? What do you consider ideal tracking force?

I must have played Billie 20 times this weekend ;-)

Yes the Denons are heavy carts. But most guys with Technics seem to be fine with them. I've never owned a Denon so I really cant speak with experience about them or record wear.

My 2M Black is tracking at 1.7 now and Ortofon says 1.5. Music Hall sets their pre-installed Goldrings at 1.5, but recommends to dial it in by ear. from looking at your arm I would think it would have no problem. Is that the original arm?


And on to Billie....man I know, I have just about worn that Album out! I may have to order another...

Her voice is like hypnotism....so engaging. My wife bought me a DVD of the few video's of her and lots of interviews back then from those who knew her and one interview in 1955 with Mike Wallace. Well while listening to one interview, the lady, I forget her name, but she was 22 years old at the time Billie like mid 30's. She was Billies piano player out in Vegas around 1953. She said she stayed in the same hotel room with Billie and that Billie was not shooting up at that time. But she did say she was like Billies maid and that she poured Billies drinks all day and all night long and had to dress her as well. She said it was Vodka that she was drinking.

She went on to say that Billie at this time had the mind of a 12 year old. That she could not even keep an adult conversation. After that interview, there was the Mike Wallace interview with Billie Holiday. That was a very interesting interview because you know Mike Wallace and the type of questions he ask...well he had to make it real simple for Billie. I saw what her young piano player was saying...Billie was like a kid. After the interview with Billie ended, Mike Wallace went on to say that the reason Billie was like the way she was, is because of the beatings that she had taking from her former husbands. She was married 4 times, and just about all them beat her kept her strung out on drugs, and took her money. The first time she got arrested for heroin, the news clipping showed in the Video said that in the three previous years to her arrest, she had made a quarter of a million dollars just singing in clubs, and that by the time she was arrested she was broke for spending on drugs. I would have to assume her husband at that time took her money. Man if you see the Video you would cry. She was such a very beautiful you lady and by the time all the abuse and drugs ate her body and mind up, you would have thought she was 50 or 60 years old. Billie started on Herion very early, like 20 years old, and died at 44 years old....her birth certificate said it was from natural causes. Such a wasted life. Its just to sad. She changed the way people sang back in her day....

Look at this youtube clip of Billie singing with Armstrong. This is at the hight of her carreer, she is aging and around mid too late 20's still a junkie. Man she is beautiful! Billie Holiday - The Blues Are Brewin' - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWtUzdI5hlE)

Now look at this one two years before she died...at the end of her career singing a song she wrote...drugs and the beatings have taken a toll on her...She looks stoned with the look of a child on her face.


Billie Holiday - Fine And Mellow (Live CBS Studios 1957).avi - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaZiijPbnP8)

Oh and by the way...the white guy playing the Baritone sax...thats Garry Mulligan...another well known and reported junkie who was also locked up for herion as well. He may have been loaded on this clip as well.

[Enochrome]

It's an original SL1300 I bought new back in the day. I know folks are not keen on automatics but it cost more than an SL1200 and is pretty much the same TT with some additional parts. I don't think I could give up the auto sit down, return and repeat mode.

Since the JD9 will drive any cart under the sun I'm looking at moving coils. I can get near dealer cost prices on any of Denon MC line. Any recommendations?

I am really a big fan of Denon carts.

I would imagine the arm on the Technics is low to mid mass? If so, I would recommend the Denon DL-301 MK2 or the 304. Those are really the only sub 500 carts in your compliance category, even when you factor the 10hz doubling of compliancy.

But wait.....you can also try the Audio Technica line as well because their compliancy specs are even higher. The OC9 series and the AT33/32 series are inline with the Denon carts, but they have linear contact styli, which some find more desirable. As far styli with Denons even though they are elliptical they are really well made. I have a Denon-103LC that has a conical stylus and it past every track on the Shure test record so go figure.

Also, look at the mid-fi Ortofon MC line, they are rather high in compliance and have gotten good feedback.

[frenchmon]

Enochrome...did you get the PM I sent you?

[E-Stat]

ISince the JD9 will drive any cart under the sun I'm looking at moving coils. I can get near dealer cost prices on any of Denon MC line. Any recommendations?
New to MC cartridges? You're in for a treat. The 103 has been a workhorse for a long time I got one back in about 1980 or so. Since then, I've used Accuphase, Shinon and Dynavector. You'll enjoy wider dynamics and a purer top end than what looks like a Shure M97 (I have one of those, too).

While you're modding the phono pre, you might also beef up the B+ caps and bypass them with small film values. I think that the rails run @ 230V for the tube supply, but cannot tell the value. I note the factory adds 4000 uF to the 25V op amp supply in the "3SE" flavor.

The last version of my preamp doubled the capacitance of the 285V supply and gave it better control and punch. You can never overdo power supply stiffness. :)

[Mash]

New to MC cartridges? You're in for a treat. ...........
The last version of my preamp doubled the capacitance of the 285V supply and gave it better control and punch. You can never overdo power supply stiffness. :)

Gee... That is what my wife told me!

[E-Stat]

Gee... That is what my wife told me!
LOL ! Now that you put it that way. :)