Jolida Black Ice Fx-10 Integrated Tube Amp Reviews

JoLida FX ten integrated amplifier
With its oestrus-resistant glass enclosure in place, the adorable JoLida FX x ($450; available in black, silver, or blue) measures just 8" W past seven" D by vii" H and weighs a hefty 12 lbs. On removing the amp from its sturdy packaging, I was impressed by its solid experience and fine build quality. This is an extremely huggable amplifier.

Claimed to deliver a modest 10Wpc into 8 ohms, the automobile-biasing FX 10 uses two matched pairs of Electro-Harmonix EL84 output tubes and two 12AX7 input tubes, all secured for travel past a block of Styrofoam. To remove the foam and gear up the FX 10 for play, simply turn the amp on its side and unscrew its four aluminum feet. Side by side, pull the feet out from the bottom of the amp to release the drinking glass enclosure from the amp'due south chassis. Smart and simple. After setting aside the glass enclosure, I gently lifted the foam cake from the tubes and constitute that each tube was already secure in its socket. I returned the drinking glass enclosure to the chassis, screwed the anxiety back in, attached the included Ac string to its rear-panel inlet, and placed the FX 10 on the top shelf of my PolyCrystal equipment rack. This is an amplifier that wants to be displayed.

On the FX 10'due south rear console are a rocker switch, the Air conditioning input, inputs for CD and Aux, and smartly arranged aureate-plated output terminals for speaker loads of 8 and iv ohms. On the front, from left to right, are a pocket-size Standby button and blueish LED, a remote sensor, a tastefully discreet aureate logo, a cute volume knob, three pocket-size input buttons, and a convenient 1/viii" jack for connecting an iPod. Press the rear-panel rocker switch and the FX 10's front-panel LED glows brilliant reddish, signaling that the amp is in Standby way; press the Standby button and the tubes are suddenly illuminated from below by stunning bluish LEDs, and the front-console LED blinks slowly 10 times before steadily glowing the same pretty blue—a little opening anniversary that was always seductive and impressive. The FX 10 functioned flawlessly while in my system, and I loved every minute of using information technology and looking at it.

I used a Rega P1 tape player with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, an NAD PP iii USB. phono preamp, and cheap RadioShack cables. At the start, with the PSB Alpha B1 speakers connected to the JoLida's eight ohm taps, the FX x made music—always a good sign—simply while its midrange clarity was respectable, the amp sounded restricted and lean, lacking body and tonal color. Afterward a side of John Fahey'southward Erstwhile Fashioned Love (LP, Takoma 6511), the amp seemed to open up up a scrap, offering a wider soundstage, slightly more than weight, and more fully developed tonal color—merely I wanted still more. Switching to the iv ohm taps seemed to deliver a better top-to-bottom balance with slightly more body and color, resulting in a ameliorate grip on the music, but did fiddling for soundstage depth. The Klipsch Synergy B-xx speakers added a dose of vibrancy and certainty to the JoLida's lean sound, and performed best from the amp'due south viii ohm taps. I stuck with this more synergistic pairing and listened to some music.

Fahey'due south beautiful "Marilyn," with its intertwining guitars, phase furnishings, and moments of insistent loftier-frequency ringing, will challenge most affordable components; the track'south most ravishing, emotionally compelling movements can sound utterly devil-may-care and annoying if a component can't distinguish between guitar tones and feedback. Unable to fully separate Woodrow Isle of mann'due south ruddy tone from Fahey'south more burnished sound, the JoLida FX 10 struggled to brand sense of the composition, and while I could see where the music was supposed to become, my emotions weren't swayed. Mann'southward guitar seemed somewhat lost in the groundwork, while the brighter ring of Fahey'southward steel-string guitar was brought to the fore. Listening to the anthology's title rails, withal, I sensed that the JoLida had a fine way with cymbals and horns, assuasive the latter to bloom effortlessly into my listening room, the former to sizzle gently into darkness—surprisingly, the tubed JoLida seemed quieter than whatsoever of the solid-state integrated amps I've recently used, including the Cambridge Audio Azur 340A, NAD C 316BEE, and my ain Exposure 2010S.

Hoping I'd discovered the JoLida'southward potent suit, I cued up "Lonely Woman," from Ornette Coleman'south The Shape of Jazz to Come (LP, Atlantic SD 1317). Percussion was quick and purposeful; horns were clearly delineated and capable of sounding appropriately sexy, languorous, and brawny; and detail retrieval was impressive. The sound was just as good when I switched dorsum to the Cambridge Audio Azur 340A, just with added weight and rhythmic certainty. Finally, I thought dorsum to the 2008 Rocky Mount Sound Fest, where I met JoLida's president, Michael Allen, and enjoyed my first experience with an early on version of the FX 10. Allen seemed especially proud of the amp'south ability to play hard rock at loud levels; he turned up the volume on a Linkin Park rail and the amp filled the room with clean sound. With this in mind, I reached for Earthly Delights (LP, Load 126) past Lightning Bolt, a savage noise-rock duo from Providence, Rhode Isle, and turned the FX x's volume knob to 3pm.

"Sound Guardians" is a heavily distorted, dense arrangement of loud guitars and raging drums. Played through the Klipsch Synergy B-20 speakers and JoLida FX x, there wasn't much of what could be called nuance or inner item, but in that location was music: Vehement, relentless cymbal bursts bled from the speakers, distorted ability chords were produced with shape and significant, and blistering leads sent me into a fit of air-guitar theatrics. The JoLida-Klipsch combo could certainly rock. The music nearly matched the beast force and impact of what we'd heard the night earlier at Lucky 7, only was and then much more satisfying. However, this was not the rich, romantic sound so often associated with tubes; it was something far more literal and direct.

I asked JoLida's Michael Allen to tell me more than about what had gone into the design of the FX 10. "We were trying to striking a number of objectives," he said: "depression cost, small size, and decent audio. I remember the most difficult part of the projection was the small size. Low price had its ain challenges likewise, in terms of selecting parts that were quality and met specification. In improver, since the unit had to be a lock-and-load, nosotros put in [tube] auto-bias, which nosotros practise not specially like since information technology reduces power and increases distortion."

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Source: https://www.stereophile.com/content/entry-level-7-page-2

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