Jolida JD9A Phono Stage
I've had this phono stage for almost two years now.
It's been paired with a Dynavector 20XL cart mounted on a VPI Scout.
It's a pretty good phono stage, very dynamic.
It has a tube output stage, and tube rolling the pair of 12ax7s really has a big impact on the sound. The stock Jolida tubes I found quite forward.
I have tried a few 12ax7s and here are my impressions:
Tungsol (new production) - sound is more restrained, a bit dry.
Electro Harmonix - quite forward, with a lot of gain, but rough.
Sovtek LPS - big bass and heavy bottom end, but has a peaky upper midrange.
Telefunken (NOS) - very detailed but sometimes sounds bright.
JJ (Slovak) - warm and smooth, but with less gain than the others. This is the tube I left in the Jolida.
Settings of the dip switches
100 ohm (#1 on)
0 capacitance (none on)
Gain at #2
Output RCAs used is "Hi"
Comments
Tried the 12axtLPS again, but this time, increased the VTA.
Also increased the capacitance to dip switch setting 3.
Very good result, open sound with weighty bottom.
Just goes to show there are many ways to skin an audio cat.