Official Jolida JD9 thread

After a little more warm up things opened up more. Not bad but not quite all the punch and dynamics I'd like but getting closer. Any thoughts on how the 10x5 would sound w mm gain and 1000 ohms out of high outputs vs 47k ohms.?
 
I am already long using the Jolid JD9 before i used it with an Revox B795 and a Digitrac 300SE. Now i am using it with an Kenwood KD990 and an Ortofon X3MC the problem is i do not really know how to configure the Jolida JD9.

I have the next questions:
- Do i have to use the MC or MM settings?
- Do i need to use the capacitance settings?
- Do i need to use the MC settings?

The jolida JD9 is modified with BB627 opamps in all stages and also with better tubes and also damped inside. It also has some better caps in it.
 
At the moment i have the Technics 310MC connected and it sounds good. But i want to buy a brand new cartridge for my Kenwood KD 990. I want to try an Denon 103R with the Jolida. I know it is a very low output MC also the 310 MC is very low output MC both are around 0.25.

With the 310MC i start to have background noise when i want to raise the gain to a setting comparable with my stream audio sound level. My questions are:

- Is the Jolida JD9 suitable for the Denon 103R?
- How can i raise the gain without adding more background noise? (i use 627 opamps in all slots)

Looking forward to your replies.
 
I've been messing around a bit more with the solid state section of my JD9 and I feel I've made some progress. I've relocated the 1st and 4th set of capacitors in order to fit larger film type. This was a huge upgrade over the WIMA I was using. It also did not add any noise to the system.

I've also played around with different OPA. I've tried many different combinations at this point (49710, 5532, 637, 797 and probably a few others) and have found the ideal combination to really be dependent on the gain needed for the particular system and cartridge. For my HOMC I really liked the 1028 input and 627 for the rest. When I went to a LOMC, I found 797 along with 627 to be sweet. Of course when I swapped out the capacitors, all that changed. It became way too bass heavy.

I decided to try some discrete OPA. I tried 4 but to make a long story short, I didn't like the way they sounded with 5 volt power. They really sound good with 15 volts though. I ended up finding the sweet spot with 4 797 and 2 of the discrete OPA in the last stage. I'm super happy with these results. Detail, soundstage and tone are great. As I said though, completely dependent on cartridge and system.
 

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I wanted to share an update on my Jolida JD 9 MKII I reviewed some time back. Personally, I can NOT recommend it. After moving into a house with a nice size living room (from a small apartment) and being able to really crank the volume and having the time to really listen to the Jolida JD 9, I noticed significant RF (radio frequency) interference with the Jolida. This apparently is a common enough problem, and I don't live near any broadcasting towers. Nevertheless, I could hear popping, buzzing, a low hum, a guy talking about his 'abuela' in the background, and so on. I already had the level one upgrades installed with my unit (plus Audyn Caps).

The unit was still under factory warranty, so I sent it back to Jolida. Jolida recommended upgrading the unit with ByBee rails and cardias connectors to help cancel out any RF noise. They then sent me a replacement unit and unfortunately, (over $500 later) the unit still had persistent RF interference. Moving the unit didn't help, nor upgrading the power cord or trying different tubes, (all suggestions by Jolida). When I simply switched out the Jolida from my setup and connected another inexpensive solid state phono preamp, it was dead silent.

I also want to point out that by the time I upgraded the Jolida, it's wasn't such a great value, (I was in well over $1500 with the upgrades). Think about it, If your have to replace and discard half the guts of the unit to get the desired sound, where's the value? Also, for those here that have attempted upgrading themselves, the folks at Jolida told me they have made a small fortune correcting botched work by do it yourselfers. (Somehow those posts never seem to make it to blogs).

If you are handy with electronics and a solder gun, more power to you, (unfortunately I am not). I would personally recommend though that if you do want to upgrade the unit and don't know what your doing, have it professionally done; or at least give Jolida a call first. They are happy to help, and certainly know which upgrades are worth doing and which aren't.

Anyway, after much research, I finally decided on the Manley Chinook phono preamp and I am very happy with it. (The Jolida turned me on to tubes and the tube sound). The Manley which also uses tubes, is night and day better than the Jolida, (and with getting a 10% discount from Acoustic Sounds, it wasn't significantly more costly). The Manley is in a whole different league, and no 'upgrades' are required. The Manley, (compared to the upgraded Jolida) has far better imaging, resolution, and detail, (sans any RF interference). Obviously, the Jolida isn't well shielded or designed when it comes to RF interference, (your mileage with this problem may vary).

If you are happy with the Jolida JD 9, more power to you. It didn't work for me, but it did have a nice enough sound stage.
 
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s
It should be at triple the price, apples to oranges there.
As I stated, by the time the Jolida was upgraded, it was only a few hundred more for the Manley Chinook (not near triple the price). The Jolida JD 9 with upgrade I now lists for $900. It's not exactly cheap. Upgrade prices: (from Jolida)

JD 9 and JD 5T Upgrade I: The addition of a resistor array to the input and driver tubes, Clarity Cap ESA output capacitors, gold pin 12AX7 Tungsol Tubes.
Retail Price: $250

JD 9 and JD 5T Upgrade II:
Cardas Input and output RCA Jacks and XLR (reduces RF interference):
Retail Price: $ 300

JD 9 and JD 5T Upgrade III: Addition of the ByBee Rail Reduces noise by 45dB.
Retail: $450
JD 9 and JD 5T Upgrade IV: Addition of Audyn output capacitors.
Retail Price: $ 250

If you add in Upgrades II, III, IV to the $900 list your at: $1900 (Joilda gave me a break for my troubles). I got the Manley for $2000.

No comparison.
 
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The fact that they never found where the RF was being introduced is the issue. They apparently worked all around it and never found the antenna. I have worked around RF spikes for years in churches that just happen to be in the path of microwave towers from our local cable system. Equipment that works great all over the rest of town was totally out of the question in that certain location. Sometimes your location is so covered in RF that it is truly trial and error to avoid the signals, but you never know it until you get a piece that is affected.

I'm glad you like the Manley, as they make some really great gear.
 
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I stated this in his copy/paste at Steve Hoffman's forum in response to addman27 but I live extremely close to a handful of radio towers, no RF issues with the jd9. A much older unit in fact now with lots of DIY tweaks but 0 in the way of added shielding. It's a shame Jolida couldn't help you out!

Turntable setups in particular seem more prone to grounding and RFI issues at the end of the day, those cartridges are like microphones.
 
I stated this in his copy/paste at Steve Hoffman's forum in response to addman27 but I live extremely close to a handful of radio towers, no RF issues with the jd9. A much older unit in fact now with lots of DIY tweaks but 0 in the way of added shielding. It's a shame Jolida couldn't help you out!

Turntable setups in particular seem more prone to grounding and RFI issues at the end of the day, those cartridges are like microphones.

Yup...I posted in two places. Why is that relevant to illustrate? You're lucky you've had no noise issues. I'm not the only one that has had these issues.
 
I had noise issues a few times. I was always able to fix it by separation and proper routing of cables.

That said, the JD9 is not a quiet phono stage at all and the signal and power wiring inside the unit also needs to be separated. In addition, better power supply caps and better diodes will help improve the noise floor immensely.

On the positive side it can have a wonderful, holographic sound stage, and produce very nice sound once fitted with upgraded op amps, better coupling caps, and better tubes.

I don't think it is a very good buy at list price in stock form; spend $300- $400 upgrading it and you have something nice. For $299 you can get the fully flexible Vista Audio and IMHO it sounds better than a stock JD9.

I do like my JD9 because I picked it up used for $150 and I have enjoyed modding it. If your not a modder/ tweaker there are better options.
 
At the moment i have the Technics 310MC connected and it sounds good. But i want to buy a brand new cartridge for my Kenwood KD 990. I want to try an Denon 103R with the Jolida. I know it is a very low output MC also the 310 MC is very low output MC both are around 0.25.

With the 310MC i start to have background noise when i want to raise the gain to a setting comparable with my stream audio sound level. My questions are:

- Is the Jolida JD9 suitable for the Denon 103R?
- How can i raise the gain without adding more background noise? (i use 627 opamps in all slots)

Looking forward to your replies.
I've used my JD9 with my 103R and it sounded quite good. I cant remember the settings I used as it was 2 years ago since the last time I had the 103R on my TT. Half the fun of the JD9 is experimenting with the settings to get the best sound with the least noise.
 
At the moment i have the Technics 310MC connected and it sounds good. But i want to buy a brand new cartridge for my Kenwood KD 990. I want to try an Denon 103R with the Jolida. I know it is a very low output MC also the 310 MC is very low output MC both are around 0.25.

With the 310MC i start to have background noise when i want to raise the gain to a setting comparable with my stream audio sound level. My questions are:

- Is the Jolida JD9 suitable for the Denon 103R?
- How can i raise the gain without adding more background noise? (i use 627 opamps in all slots)

Looking forward to your replies.

Make sure you separate the signal from the power wires INSIDE the JD9. Some models, like mine, had power wires from the transformer bundled and tied with signal wires. Use tie wraps to keep them separate.

You need about 60dB of gain with the DL 103. Use high output with only switch 1 up. Do not try to match your digital output volume, try to get the best sound that your analog can achieve.

Set capacitor load with all four switches down. Set resistance to 100 ohm load.

Keep the main ac cord away from all other signal and power cords, always a good practice.

Good luck, Bob
 
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So all, I've read probably most of the pages on this thread, but this is my first post. I've had my JD9 for a few years unmodded. I've rerouted cables, replaced the line from the tube board to the outputs with some shielded cable left over after shortening some interconnects, and I put in Clarity ESA caps. Those changes alone made a subtle but clear improvement in sound quality.

I bought a lot of 11 LT1028 op amps on the 'bay for $18. Hopefully they're genuine, but I figured for the price of a few drinks I'd take the gamble. I replaced the four op amps in the first two stages. I haven't gotten a pair for the last stage yet. I made some recordings of the noise. They're interesting, take a look at the pics. This is with switch 3 up, I have a low output MC. The noise is very different from the stock OP37G. While the amplitude is larger with the LT1028s, subjectively it's much quieter because the noise is much lower in frequency. The stock chips have a pronounced 60hz hum as well as a lot of higher frequency noise. I really know nothing about circuits, I'm just swapping out what you guys tell me to swap out. I put in another set of LT1028s to see if they behaved any differently, they look and sound the same. I could see a slight difference when I killed the A/C and the LED lights nearby. (I have two A/C units outside just a few feet from my system.) Does anyone know about these op amps and that low frequency noise?

Before I work on any more mods, I have an issue I have to fix. When I change the gain switch settings the left channel gain drops but the right doesn't. I'm guessing a bad dip switch. Even though my Dynavector 20xl is .25mV I need lower gain. With the high outputs my preamp tape inputs are getting overloaded. The aux input isn't, so listening is fine, but recording is not.
 

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AZDean,
It's been a long time since I worked on my JD9 but I seem to recall that LT1028 didn't work out in the third and final stage on the solid state board. My recollection is the voltage to the third stage is higher (+/-15vdc) than the voltage to the first two stages (+/-5vdc). I used either OPA627 or OPA637 in the final stage. I can't remember what my complaint was about LT1028 in the third stage, either the sound was distorted and overdriven or OPA627/OPA637 sounded more dynamic. FWIW-OPA626/OPA627 didn't sound as good as LT1028 in the first two stages.
For my system, I think increasing the value of the last 4.7uf caps on the SS board to 5.6uf filled out the sound and "made The Beatles sound like The Beatles again". Increasing the value of the other two sets of interstage 4.7uf caps was a detriment.
The problem I had when I replaced the 4.7uf caps was "real estate", really tricky getting those caps to fit. I think increasing the value of the last interstage coupling caps was "the magic ingredient" I had been seeking for so long. It improved the body of the sound.
The stock chips have a pronounced 60hz hum as well as a lot of higher frequency noise.
Interesting scans. I wonder if the stock chips are why so many people complain of hum.
 
That said, the JD9 is not a quiet phono stage at all and the signal and power wiring inside the unit also needs to be separated. In addition, better power supply caps and better diodes will help improve the noise floor immensely.

IMO, those upgrades should be done before anything else. If it is noisy to begin with no amount of 'mods' will make it sound good
 
AZDean,
It's been a long time since I worked on my JD9 but I seem to recall that LT1028 didn't work out in the third and final stage on the solid state board. My recollection is the voltage to the third stage is higher (+/-15vdc) than the voltage to the first two stages (+/-5vdc). I used either OPA627 or OPA637 in the final stage. I can't remember what my complaint was about LT1028 in the third stage, either the sound was distorted and overdriven or OPA627/OPA637 sounded more dynamic. FWIW-OPA626/OPA627 didn't sound as good as LT1028 in the first two stages.
For my system, I think increasing the value of the last 4.7uf caps on the SS board to 5.6uf filled out the sound and "made The Beatles sound like The Beatles again". Increasing the value of the other two sets of interstage 4.7uf caps was a detriment.
The problem I had when I replaced the 4.7uf caps was "real estate", really tricky getting those caps to fit. I think increasing the value of the last interstage coupling caps was "the magic ingredient" I had been seeking for so long. It improved the body of the sound.

Interesting scans. I wonder if the stock chips are why so many people complain of hum.


I ended-up with LT1028 in first two stages and 637 in the last (output) - after literally trying dozens of combinations
 
AZDean,
It's been a long time since I worked on my JD9 but I seem to recall that LT1028 didn't work out in the third and final stage on the solid state board. My recollection is the voltage to the third stage is higher (+/-15vdc) than the voltage to the first two stages (+/-5vdc). I used either OPA627 or OPA637 in the final stage. I can't remember what my complaint was about LT1028 in the third stage, either the sound was distorted and overdriven or OPA627/OPA637 sounded more dynamic. FWIW-OPA626/OPA627 didn't sound as good as LT1028 in the first two stages.
For my system, I think increasing the value of the last 4.7uf caps on the SS board to 5.6uf filled out the sound and "made The Beatles sound like The Beatles again". Increasing the value of the other two sets of interstage 4.7uf caps was a detriment.
The problem I had when I replaced the 4.7uf caps was "real estate", really tricky getting those caps to fit. I think increasing the value of the last interstage coupling caps was "the magic ingredient" I had been seeking for so long. It improved the body of the sound.

Interesting scans. I wonder if the stock chips are why so many people complain of hum.
Heyraz, I only used them in the first two stages, even though I had more than enough, I didn't even try them in the 3rd stage because of what I've read, including many of your posts. I have plans to replace those 4.7uf caps, so maybe I'll try changing the value of that last pair too.
 
Probably and what bobins08 mentioned... The poor stock power supply caps and diodes
Yes, the diodes, 4.7uf caps, and maybe even the resistors in the signal path and feedback circuits are on my list, as well as those last two op amps. I've got a parts list together. Did you replace the bridge on the solid state board too? I saw where one person replaced that with a discrete rectifier they built. The tube board on mine has 8 discrete diodes for the power supply so I was looking at fairchild stealth diodes there.
 
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