Which Setup? Shanling/Aragon or Jolida

I have a pair of Magnepan 1.6QR speakers and am debating on which setup to get to go with them. The two choices are:

1) Shanling T-100 cd player and the Aragon 4004MKII. This setup gives me a tube pre and SS power. I also like this option because the Shanling has upsampler/preamp and a tube headphone out to run my Senn HD-650's. The 4004 has 400Watts and high current to drive the Maggies.

2) Jolida JD-100A cd player and the Jolida 801 tube amplifier. The 801 is 70W per channel of tube power.

Which would you choose and why? Thanks for the advice.

Aaron

The Shanling looks so good it is scary. I have no idea how it sounds. The Aragon will drive the Maggies extremely well. Not at all familiar with the Jolida, but they get good reviews. This won't be much help but if possible, listen to both setups and buy the one that sounds best. Still the Shanling is wicked pretty.

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Originally Posted by airdough49

I have a pair of Magnepan 1.6QR speakers and am debating on which setup to get to go with them. The two choices are:

1) Shanling T-100 cd player and the Aragon 4004MKII. This setup gives me a tube pre and SS power. I also like this option because the Shanling has upsampler/preamp and a tube headphone out to run my Senn HD-650's. The 4004 has 400Watts and high current to drive the Maggies.

2) Jolida JD-100A cd player and the Jolida 801 tube amplifier. The 801 is 70W per channel of tube power.

Which would you choose and why? Thanks for the advice.

Aaron

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They are one of the best looking CD players in the business. They also have an SS output in addition to the tubed one in case you want to do an A/B. The headphone amp is a BIG bonus. Also it can be run directly to an amp WITHOUT a preamp. I've been tempted several times to get one of these, I really like them!

A friend has an Aragon amp, although not your model. It's a bulletproof amp, and drives his speakers well. I would recommend it too.

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Originally Posted by airdough49

I have a pair of Magnepan 1.6QR speakers and am debating on which setup to get to go with them. The two choices are:

1) Shanling T-100 cd player and the Aragon 4004MKII. This setup gives me a tube pre and SS power. I also like this option because the Shanling has upsampler/preamp and a tube headphone out to run my Senn HD-650's. The 4004 has 400Watts and high current to drive the Maggies.

2) Jolida JD-100A cd player and the Jolida 801 tube amplifier. The 801 is 70W per channel of tube power.

Which would you choose and why? Thanks for the advice.

Aaron

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Aaron,

I have personally auditioned the Jolida combination that you are considering with the 1.6 QR. This combination works extremely well for the following reasons:

Dynamics, ambiance or air (whichever you prefer) is exceptional. I used Diana Krall's CD to listen to the equipment and put it through its paces. The vocals gives you the "you are there" feeling. The timbre of the piano (I played classical piano) is dead on accurate. The footpedals sounded like they were miked!!! The highs were accurate with a little roll-off. If you have cables that plays "bright", your combination would probably work. However, all things being equal, I would audition the equipment in your home environment to get the full impact of what you are looking at.

In terms of bass, if your room is large you may want to consider having a fast and accurate sub (8" woofer). My room is a 12 X 12 bedroom which I converted into a dedicated music room which is very tunable. I would have purchased that combination if I had the room to put it in as I do now.

One last comment. I would recommend taking a look at the Prologue One/Two since the build quality in my opinion is better. I ended up going we Prologue versus the Jolida, Antique Sound Lab and Audio Note (after making my comparison).

Thanks for the opinions, I actually just purchased the Jolida setup. I didnt get a chance to listen to it, because it is impossible to find a dealer in San Diego, but I did get to see the Shanling in person and I realy wasnt that impressed. It looks good in pictures, but It seemed a little cheap in person, especially the plastic remote. Oh well, I cant wait to get the Jolida setup and hear how it sounds. I guess If I dont like it, I can always sell it and start over. Thanks again.