B&W 705 and modded Jolida 302b (LOVE IT!)

[legion1capone]

I had the chance awhile back to buy the B&W 705's for $1000 a pair at a local dealer. I searched long and hard for a bookshelf that suited my needs. They definately hit the spot! I had listened to them starting out with Rotel, Marantz, Azur, Classe, Mcintosh and a couple others. Out of all the differant amps I tried with these speakers I really like the Mcintosh MA6300 and MA6600. It was just really sweet, smooth, subtably detailed and enjoyable. The salesman told me there newer MA series was there shot at making a solid state amp sound more like tubes. I think they did a very good job portraying this. The only problem was I didn't exactly have $4000+ to spend on a new or used amp. Since I really liked the new sound of the Mcintosh MA6600 I decided to look into tubes online. I read review after review. Days of reading, until I stumbled across Jolida. I decided to keep my eye on audiogon and ebay for a modified Jolida. I stumbled across a modded 302b, I ended up paying a total of $621 shipped without hearing the amp. It has modded caps, couplers, and resistors. Along with Tung sol 12ax7 and russian EL34's power tubes. When It arrived It was a decent looking piece. Nothing spectacular, but hey it was modded and came with really nice tubes. I bought some stands on craigslist. Made my own cables using audioquest cables and monster banana plugs. Never hearing my speakers with full tubes I was a little worried that I wouldn't like it, but had a good notion that I had made a good choice. I was used to giving these speakers 100-200W, this amp was only rated at 50W. I hooked it all up got everything working properly and let the amp warm up a bit. What a beautiful sound! I now don't judge amps by power ratings, as tubes are completely differant than solid state equipment. But the amp that I only spent $600 on. WOW! My favorite jazz cd's, woman's vocals, live recordings sound detailed, natural, warm, smooth, and oh so enjoyable to listen to for hours on end. The bass was a bit lacking but with a bit of speaker adjustment and setup helped that tremendously. I knew I would have less bass since it was a bookshelf speaker. I may mod on of the inputs to a subwoofer out since I use this system to watch movies too. If your looking for a budget 2 channel system I would highly recommend a system such as this. All together I payed right around $1800 with some budget shopping. I now have a system that blows away friends and family and puts a smile on my face every time I listen to music! What more could you ask for!

[audioqueso]

Nice testimony. I've heard lots of great things about how different tubes sound compared to SS amps. I have never had the chance to listen to any tubes. But I'm glad to hear that you found a great setup that you are happy with.

[Briz vegas]

You should try them Audioqueso. I like the ones that I have heard. They would suit the 805 as much as they suit the bouncing guys 705.

I have toyed with the idea of taking my 705 from the rear, putting them in a room with a tube amp, maybe get a modest turntable of use one of the cheapies I have in the back room and have an old school vinyl rig. Will probably never happen but its a fun idea. Thing is my current SS setup has some of the characteristics that people seek from tune/vinyl anyway.

[legion1capone]

Tubes with these speakers is just such a sweet sweet sound its hard to stop listening. The one thing I might do differantly next time is instead of getting a tube amp powered by EL34's, I will go with KT88 power tubes to help out with the bass extention.
My next big purchase down the road is going to be modified Jolida JD100 cd player and a nice turntable. As of right now I am using my PS3 as my player for games, movies, and music. It does a pretty good job, but I would eventually like seperate components.

[audioqueso]

You should try them Audioqueso. I like the ones that I have heard. They would suit the 805 as much as they suit the bouncing guys 705.

It's tempting, but I don't think I could compromise HT for 2-channel. I have a Nautilus 805/HTM2 front with 600s in the rear, and it's been a journey looking for the right 2-ch sound while still maintaining HT capabilities. With $4k to toy with, McIntosh has caught my attention, but with that budget I can only look into their integrated amps, and that's only 2-channel. With HT in mind, Arcam's new AVR600 is also getting my attention, but will it do justice for my 805's? It's never-ending. :B

[Briz vegas]

You can have it all, but is tends to be expensive as I found out.

[audioqueso]

ha ha... yes, I know... but as mentioned, I only have $4k to play with.

[Briz vegas]

Mc275 ?

[audioqueso]

... but then it comes back to only 2-channel. ha ha See... it's a trap. Can't have both.