ideas on a decent budget - midpriced redbook cdp

michael_w

Thanks everyone for the posts... I like to hear good news about the player as much as I do bad news. I would like to know of any common flaws and stuff like that before I drop some cash so thanks for the heads up. (of course as well as why this thing is so awesome )

Your little side debates only keep me learning more so keep em comin

ND13

Anyone that doesn't want their Jolida cdp just send it this direction and I'll give it a good home:D

dragon1952

Since someone brought this back up, I subsequently exchanged several emails with Michael Allen at Jolida. He said it sounded like a problem with the main chip or the transport chip. Shortly thereafter I ran into a great deal on a 2 week old Jolida and bought it also. Since the main chip is socket mounted and is located in plain view with easy access I swapped main chips between the players and the problem followed the main chip to the new CDP, so it is obviously the main chip. Michael said it sounds like it got a spike in voltage or something. I don't know about that. I did find a thread on Audiogon where several people seemed to have the same problem. There also is a blurb in the back of the manual on the possiblity of 'No Disc' errors and blaming it on the fact that , due to the all metal construction, the player is susceptible to static electricity which could cause this problem. I don't know about that either. It just makes you wonder if they knew about a potential problem and tried to cover it up by blaming it on static electricity. Typically microcontroller IC's like this, or IC's in general for that matter, are susceptible to static electricity but the only danger is usually from touching the pins during installation (or after).
What kind of pisses me off is that this Michael dude is a little aloof and vague and doesn't really answer your questions very well. Meaning it took many emails to finally get enough out of him to be helpful, then he just dumped me and quite answering. They obviously would rather have you pay $50-$60 for round-trip shipping, pay an hour's worth of labor at $75 an hour for about 20 minutes worth of work, and $70 for a new chip that costs them about $7.00, rather than tell you how to do it yourself. I got the impression through his vague answers that he wouldn't just sell me the chip or tell me where I could get one. They're impossible to find through a retailer. You just about have to push yourself off as a business and order a quantity of at least 10 through a wholesaler. I found one place that would sell me 10 for $7.50 a shot. But finally, through a whole lot of searching, I found a company that makes a compatible replacement microcontroller, pushed myself off as a business and ordered 2 free samples Anyway, my point is that, considering I was a customer who purchased 2 of their units already and was obviously a potential customer again, and considering the damn chips shouldn't be failing anyway (AND only cost them 7 freakin' dollars), I thought he could have been more helpful instead of expecting me to shell out $200 more for them to do it. To me that isn't standing by your product, it's trying to milk the customer for more.
However, having said that and even with the issues I am still extremely happy with the player and would certainly recommend it and/or buy from them again. This silly issue with the 'No Disc' is intermittant and isn't really all that bothersome and all you have to do is turn the freakin' thing off and on and it's fine.
Sorry for the rant

BlueMDPicker

Originally posted by dragon1952
What kind of pisses me off is that this Michael dude is a little aloof and vague and doesn't really answer your questions very well.

No surprise there, he's just as charming in person.

F1nut

Originally posted by dragon1952

What kind of pisses me off is that this Michael dude is a little aloof and vague and doesn't really answer your questions very well.

LOL......yep, that's Mike, even in person.

I had (obviously) forgotten about your problem. Thanks for the reminder, unbridled_id.

Let me add that there isn't a piece of gear made that doesn't have a problem every now and then. It's the ones that have nothing but problems that you should avoid.

dragon1952

Originally posted by unbridled_id
Ok f1, dragon 1592 posted this on June 13th

Oh that dude? He's an idiot.....don't listen to a word he says :rolleyes:

And BTW, It's 1952, homes...not 1592. Sheesh, who do you think I am anyway, William freaking Shakespeare? :rolleyes:
And there's no space! :mad:

BlueMDPicker

Originally posted by michael_w
Your little side debates only keep me learning more so keep em comin

Here's another option well worth your consideration:

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23663&highlight=Eastern+Electric+MiniMax

dragon1952

Originally posted by Zero
Jolida is ok...and while the JD-100 is an alright piece.. you mine as well shell out some extra dollars and get a Meridian 508.20 and step into a whole other class of front-end.

People seem to be losing a bundle on those. $3000 new vs around $800 for the Jolida but they're both pretty simalarly priced used. I wonder what's up with that? I don't know....it might be a pretty decent player but I'll say one thing about it. It sure is UGLY!

dragon1952

Originally posted by BlueMDPicker
Here's another option well worth your consideration:

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23663&highlight=Eastern+Electric+MiniMax

Gee.....that transport sure looks familiar! Now lemme see....hmmmm?!

F1nut

Originally posted by Zero
Jolida is ok...and while the JD-100 is an alright piece.. you mine as well shell out some extra dollars and get a Meridian 508.20 and step into a whole other class of front-end.

Hmmmm.......20 bit technology, no upsampling, op amps and no tubes. No thanks!

unbridled_id

Dragon1952 not 1592, I've got it now, at least I didn't say 1492 !! What about this cdp the Njoe Tjoeb 4000, anybody have feedback on that one? I believe it uses only a tube output...

dragon1952

Originally posted by unbridled_id
Dragon1952 not 1592, I've got it now, at least I didn't say 1492 !!

Then I could have said. "Who the hell do you think I am anyway...Christopher freakin' Columbus?"

Yeah, at least you got all the numbers.....just a little dyslexic is all

I've heard lots of good things about the Ah! Tjoeb. The only thing I have against them, never having demoed one, is that it's rather ugly (like the Meridian) and it's got a funny name.

F1nut

The Ah! is also a good choice. Beardog has one, maybe he'll chime in.

ND13

Hey Michael, you learnin anything, now:p .

michael_w

Thanks for sharing your "experiance" here dragon1952... as for the Meridian.... lets put it this way -- A cdp that costs nearly four grand canadian is going to be about 75% of what I make in a year I'll check out that Eastern Electric MiniMax. Much to read and hard to choose when the market is flooded with good choices.

And yes Noel I learn something new every time I visit club polk.

marker

Originally posted by F1nut
What tubes are you using in the Jolida?

The very ones you suggested, Ei Elite 12AX7EG gold pins from http://www.tubesdirect.com with at least 200 hours burn in time on them. I've also changed the power cord on it to one from PS Audio.

I've compared the Jolida hybrid integrated and tube CD player against the NAD Silver Series int. and CDp on both the RT2000i and NHT SB3 speakers, both with each other's matching component and mixed together (ie. NAD CDp w/ Jolida hybrid int. and Jolida tube CDp w/ NAD int.), and IMO, the NADs just have more detail, bass control and dynamics in both cases. As well they should though since the retail on both pieces is quite a bit more than the Jolidas.

I think the Jolida hybrid int. is very conservatively rated at 100 watts. I believe it really has more than that, but I also think the NAD S300 int is even more conservatively rated in it's power at 100 watts. I believe it's probably pushing about double that.

unbridled_id

Those silver series components never did make a big splash in the states. There is universal agreement that the nad silver series is quite good... I really was looking at the s100 pre before I went with a passive... I also really like that s200 amp, what a solid looking piece of gear that is..
Perhaps you did the wise thing, purchasing the s300 and getting both in one box, doesn't it weigh over 60 lbs ? Also how much better of a perfomer is the s500i over the c 542 ?

marker

I have the S100/S200 combo in my main 2 channel rig along with the S500i CD player. I have the S300 integrated in my office rig along with a S500 CD player. Don't know exactly what the improvements in the S500i over the S500 really were supposed to be though. And yes, they are all HEAVY mofos!

It has been said that the Silver Series components were made for NAD by Gryphon. As one exanple, compare the S300 integrated, http://www.nadelectronics.com/hifi_amplifiers/s300_framset.htm to the Gryphon Callisto 2100 integrated, http://www.gryphon-audio.dk/default2.asp (click on products, the integrated amps, the Callisto 2100).

michael_w

Well I think it looks like I won't be content with something lower end / one that follows my original budget. I want to do it right the first time to save me cash in the long run. I'm going to put it off (yet again) until I can't stand this crappy toshiba any longer. Also need to stop bein a bum and get myself a job At the moment it's a little too hard being jobless to justify spending a grand on a cd player so I'll start working on that one.

Thanks again to eveyone for your very helpful suggestions, criticism and personal experiance with these cdps. I will upgrade eventually but for now I'm just going to enjoy the tunes. (and keep an eye out on the used market )

audiobliss

Sounds cool, man. I guess that's basically what I'm doing. Rock out!