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Marianne Electra Memorial Edition Preamp LA-300ME Harry Pearson's 2010 Editor's Choice Award, TAS issue 201, March 2010 p.130 The [title] signifies Marianne Barber, designer' Jud's late wife, one of the most ebullient of women, a full-blooded character...Their marriage stayed a romance and so Jud designed this in her honor when her health failed. I think you can hear something of her in the deeply romantic sound this linestage elicits from the sources fed it. I do not mean "romantic" in the sense of being highly colored and euphonic, but in the sense of something more ineffable I am yet unable to put into words. Jud Barber's best design work and that is saying something since he has never designed anything amusical. Preamplifier Owners review Joule Electra Marianne Electra Memorial Edition Preamp LA-300ME "In a live musical performance, it's practically impossible to disassociate the musician from the performance. In reproduced music, at times is sounds like a machine is producing the music. The Marianne Electra Memorial Edition preamp is capable of exhibiting all the nuances that make it to the recording. The fingers hitting the valves of a trumpet, the breathing of a singer while singing, the sound of the wake created by a hand hitting the drums, these are the nuances that make live music sound the way it does. I get to hear all these details through the... preamp. All these are qualities that are not easily associated with reproduced music, but they are just so easy to perceive from a live performance. The Marianne Electra Memorial Edition preamp presents music with all the good qualities of live music and without any of the artifacts of reproduced music. I am absolutely stunned by the fact that this preamp can faithfully recreate the sound qualities of a live musical performance. I've been an audiophile since I was 7 or 8 years old. I grew up being exposed to live music on a regular basis and I still go to live performances a few times a month. I never thought it was possible for an audio gear to convey the soul and emotion of a live musical performance."
LA-150 MkII Harry Pearson's 2007 Golden Ear Award TAS issue 173, August 2007 This unit is so seriously seductive that many a veteran listener will accept its version of the musical "truth" and be happy exploring old favorites in his collection...The LA-150, in its new edition, has bottom-octave response - and this includes the dynamics as well - that you seldom get in any line stage....you almost never, in any price range, get the explosive transient dynamics you get here. What is more remarkable... is the midbass response, which even more propulsive dynamic contrasty, and three-dimensional. It almost never happens that you get this kind of jolt from the bottom two octaves without one being obscured, usually the very bottom (below 40 Hertz) ... With the LA-150 you are going to think that your speakers have bottom-end response that never did before. ..And all this is bathed in glorious '"tube" sound. [Jud Barber's] window on the world of sound is entirely convincing when taken by itself as, you might say, its own singularity...That the LA-150 sounds the way it does represents a victory of design witchcraft over commercial realities. Audiophile Audition (2008) reviews LA-150 MkII
The mechanical quality is fantastic ...Another nice touch on the LA-150, is that it doesn’t shut off all the way, but stays in standby mode, extending tube life... Ok, now that you know all the techie stuff, it sounds GREAT. If you are searching for a line stage that is very neutral, dynamic, but not very “tubey” sounding, than the LA-150 could be the grail you are seeking...I listened to a wide range of different music.... The soundstage is very wide and deep, along with a very fast, transparent presentation. All [listeners] felt that the tonal quality of the LA-150 was very accurate indeed. In the end, the LA-150 is highly recommended...it has the performance to become an integral part of a very high quality 2 channel music system. Read more from Audiophile Audition
OPS-2 Mk V Phono Stage
Sound Stage (2001) reviews Joule Electra OPS-2 Mk V Phono Stage Sound "Incredibly musical," which for Bill "occurs when the brain steps aside and the soul takes over...more to the forgiving side of the spectrum than the analytical, [but] there was no sense of veiling or syrupy tube coloration...could provide startling macrodynamics, yet never to the point of sounding artificial or hyped... .In short, the Joule Electra OPS-2 Mk V brought about an undeniable emotional attachment to the music. While my brain could find a few things to fuss over, my soul got lost in the tunes it played....For someone who simply wants to enjoy music... the OPS-2 Mk V may be a gift from heaven. Joule Electra VZN-80 Mk V Emerald OTL Stereo Amplifier Stereophile Class A Recommended Components, Stereophile v. 32 No 10 October 2009 The "big and beautiful" VZN-80is a handcrafted, 80 Wpc, output transformerless (OTL) tube amp in a wooden chassis...the VZN-80 provided "remarkably stable - not to mention noiseless, humless, and unfailingly reliable... Its neutral and textured sound was "downright dreamy"...a "believably fleshed-out midrange." A heavenly experience... The Absolute Sound (2005) reviews Joule Electra VZN-80 Mk V Emerald OTL Stereo Amplifier Is it a cult or the real deal? A look at one outputtransformerless tube amp by Sue Kraft While I wouldn’t exactly call the VZN-80 a plug ’n’ play component, none of the user settings were difficult to make... Adjusting the bias for both the input and output tubes was as easy as pushing a button, and ramping up the voltage on the Variac to the appropriate level was straightforward, as well. [VZN-80 MK V is the]component that sounded so incredibly gorgeous. I was listening to one of my favorite vocal harmony tracks on Nickel Creek’s Nickel Creek [Sugar Hill] and, as cliché as it sounds, I’m sure my jaw was scraping the doubt my initial listening impressions could have been more favorable The Joule never cracked under pressure, at least not in my smaller listening room, and had substantially more dynamic slam than I anticipated. Bass notes had considerable weight...high marks for three-dimensionality...there’s no arguing that this is one colorful, lively, and gorgeous-sounding amp with the rare allure only an OTL design can bring to your system....If you’re a fan of lushness and bloom from the Old School of tube design, the VZN- 80 will eat you alive. And all I can say to that is, what a way to go! Stereophile (May 2007) reviews Joule Electra VZN-80 Like all Joule Electra amplifiers, the VZN-80 is big and beautiful, crafted into a neat wooden chassis that cradles the parts just so, in order to shrug off troublesome vibrations without similarly troublesome mass The Joule was remarkably neutral: as colorless an amplifier as I've ever heard, regardless of parts or circuit design. Malcolm Arnold's recording of his own Symphony 5 (LP, EMI ASD 2878) is filled with lots of delicious-sounding instruments—celeste, glockenspiel, saxophone, and some vivid writing for trumpet and clarinet—and the VZN-80 did a much-better-than-average job of letting those sounds sound like themselves. In a similar sense, it was a faithful, believable re-creator of vocal sounds from classical and popular recordings alike. Choral music, such as John Adams' moving On the Transmigration of Souls (CD, Nonesuch 79816-2), benefited from the Joule Electra's good sense of scale, and clearly delineated soundfield depth as well. The VZN-80 was also a remarkably textured amp. Acoustic guitars and mandolins sounded as if they were made of deeply grained wood and strung with steel-and-bronze strings. At the other end of the spectrum, the plucked violins toward the end of the first movement of Brahms' Symphony 2, with Pierre Monteux conducting the London Symphony (LP, Philips/Speakers Corner 0835 167), popped out of the soundfield in a manner that escapes even my sweet little Quad IIs. In all, my Joule Electra experience was a heavenly one—as one would expect from a thoroughly handmade amplifier of this caliber. The basic VZN-80 retails for $12,000, with a number of extra-cost options available, including a chassis made of solid, instrument-grade tonewood (as opposed to the marine plywood used as standard), which is actually tuned like the soundboard of a guitar and finished in the color of one's choice VZN-100 Mk. III Marquis Monoblock Amplifiers
Positive Feedback (2004) reviews VZN-100 Mk. III Marquis Monoblock
Amplifiers The midrange was, as might be expected, excellent.. was so haunting, it was scary; the ache and yearning in ... voice and guitar were so right... There's a rightness to the vital midrange tonality that avoided all the hackneyed stereotypes about "golden tube sound." Even the high frequencies, though, were very fine. No ringing; no tizziness; no roll-off; no overhang. The clarity of OTLs was evident... at the lower frequencies, the VZN-100s delivered bass that was rich and rounded. In the realm of imaging and soundstaging, the VZN-100s....presented a soundstage that was every bit as good as any amplifier, solid state or tubed, that I've had in my room. They were wide, high, and very deep... The especially pleasant thing about the VZN-100s was that all frequency ranges were well integrated, preserving the sense of musical wholeness Well, I would have to say that the Joule Electra VZN-100s are certainly the best OTL amps that I've ever heard, and one of the finest tube amps of any kind that I've had in my listening room... which goes back over 13 years of listening and reviewing now. They provided rich delight, were absolutely reliable, and made world-class music with any genre that I tossed at it via SACD or turntable. In a word, their performance is simply magnificent. Therefore, I award the Joule Electra VZN-100 OTL monoblocks a "Ye Olde Editor's Highest Recommendation." Enthusiastically Read more from Positive Feedback
VZN-220 Rite of Passage Harry Pearson's Super Component List from HP's Workshop in Issue 142 (May 2003)
[Jud Barber] amplifiers are some of the most reliable design that
dispense with the output transformer - thought to be the most
significant source of coloration and distortion in tubed circuitry
design... And what a gorgeous sounding amplifier this, his latest work,
is...it ought to drive anything you can think of other then Hummer. With
plenty of headroom to spare and dynamic swing that will catch you by
surprise... equal ease it shows at every dynamic level and the
continuous way it slides between both the mini and the maxi changes.
Wonderful bottom-octave response, the kind that sounds like bottom
octaves sound in the hall...Natural as can be sonically.
The Higher End: Robinson Brutus Awards for 2005 Jud Barber and Joule Electra for their stellar achievement in OTL amplification, the VZN-220 Rite of Passage Monoblock OTLs. A smashing 220 Watts of mono power, a pair of Rites can handle any speaker load that you're likely to encounter, and do it with ease. Quick, clear, detailed, and light on its feet, the Rites take all the qualities that I enjoyed in their little brother, the VZN-100 Marquis Mk. III monos, but ups the ante something fierce. More dynamics; greater ease of presentation; greater three-dimensionality, as compared with the Marquis Mk. III's. OTLs have a theoretical edge by losing their output transformers and the problems thereof, but getting OTLs right is a dickens of a task. Jud Barber and company have done so, and have been doing so for years. If your listening room can handle the thermal dissipation requirements of 24 6C-33CB tubes and you're looking for tube amplification that is both richly musical and transparent, then the Rites may well be your ticket to heaven. Read more from Positive Feedback Harry Pearson Golden Ear Award (Jan 2002) [Rite of Passage.] sounds...tonally neutral, quick as a tick in getting to percussive note and without the gentle slurring we often associate with better tube deign Its 12 Russian 6C33CB triode tubes can run hot...there is a feedback control knob that you"ll have to adjust to get the maximum transient accuracy. Let your ear be the guide...The most obvious difference between it and Edge that we could determine in early listening sessions was in the matter of texture with the Rite sounding more wetter or liquid or slightly richer of its harmonic renditions Outside of few classic Audio Research designs... I have never heard this pure or anywhere like this from a tubed design..
Positive Feedback (2005) notes Joule Electra Rite of Passage ....Jud Barber's marvelous Joule Electra Rite of Passage monos (220 Watts per of pure OTL delight!) were in action. God's half acre of 6C33's on parade! ... the sound was marvelous… authoritative, clean, and detailed. I love the sound that Jud gets from OTLs, a devilishly difficult topology to do well; I really enjoyed the Joule Electra VZN-100 Marquis Mark III's that I reviewed for PFO back in issue 6. Hearing Jud's big boys has been a long-term goal of mine..... Read more from Positive Feedback VZN-300 Destiny
Harry Pearson's 2007 Golden Ear Award, TAS issue 173, August 2007 This 300-watt monoblock design from Jud Barber comes without transformers and is worthy competition to the Western Electric [WE-97A], with or without its beautifully build and sonically enhancing $4000 stands, and for about $70,000 less for the pair. If you suspect I shall have a Battle of the Giants, you suspect correctly Stargate amplifiers Positive Feedback (2004) reviews Stargate amplifiers
The high end through the Joules reaches stratospheric frequencies without any hint of sizzle or distortion. Cymbals shimmer beautifully, and the overtones of strings and human voices are perfectly proportioned, never revealing even a hint of fatiguing stridency. This wonderful, subtle upper end also translates into air and ambience in spades. The Stargates let an orchestra play from within whatever hall the event took place. They reveal a wonderful sense of enveloping space, depth, and reverb that is superb in its ability to put the listener into the original recording space......most importantly to me, the Stargates have a sensual and romantic gentleness.. Music through the Stargates just has a "rightness" that makes me sink happily into my overstuffed couch and sigh with joy...With just a touch of tube "glow," the Stargates produced an unbelievably lifelike recreation of the recorded event without giving the feeling of looking through a magnifying glass. Soundstaging, timbre, timing, dynamics, and delicacy come through, putting flesh and bone back into a two-dimensional recording. Performers have never sounded so alive in my living room as when played through the Stargates. Read more from Positive Feedback
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