Job 225 by Goldmund

Well folks, as of late I've been turned onto this amplifier. Job 225 is made by Goldmund and is available for quite a good price considering the cost of it's parent company's gear.

http://www.jobsys.com/products.htm

There seems to be a few good reviews for this interesting amplifier strewn across the internet. It seems a few folks are using passive preamps with this amp due to it's high gain of 35db. My question to you folks is, if I'm to find a passive preamp to use with this, what should the potentiometer value be? 10K? 25K? 50K? 100K? Etc. etc.

I've got my eye on this http://www.khozmo.com/ "Stereo with input selector" and was wondering what you folks think about the value needed to work best with the Job 225.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Steven

Wyred4Sound STP-SE reportedly works well with the 225.

I believe Job is coming out with their own preamp sometime this year, so you may want to wait and see what they'll be offering. I've though about picking up a 225 but am waiting on the preamp myself to make the final decision.

Also, you may want to look into a simple but quality passive pre/volume control.

Khozmo Acoustic's Passive Preamp:


Aum Acoustics's LDR Passive:


Goldpoint SA4:

I just purchased a Job 225 (lightly used) and it will be here probably next Thursday. I plan on running it with my Luminous Audio Axiom 2 passive with craddock resistors.

Mine was built by Luminous for use with a 2v source input (my DAC or CD player are both 2v) into a tube amp I had that needed .675v for full output. Since the Job requires only .75v for full output I think it will be pretty good.

Looking forward to seeing what all the hype is about.

- Woody

Trhee: That is the exact model Khozmo that I'm looking at pairing with the JOB 225. I saw in a thread on another forum a JOB preamp which might have been an older production pre. It seemed to be nothing more than an Alps blue velvet 10K pot and an input selector. I'm curious to see what their new releases for 2014 hold.

ictwoody: I am looking forward to hearing how your Job 225 stacks up on your Tekton Lores. Any idea what value your Axiom is?

StevenZ said:

I am looking forward to hearing how your Job 225 stacks up on your Tekton Lores. Any idea what value your Axiom is?

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Heres a link to my for sale thread when I was trying to sell it. Pics of the internals. Looks like a 100K pot.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=7462128

- Woody

I think the Job 225 is a nice little amplifier-or I say I like the concept and pedigree, have not heard it. I am interested to see what their preamp will be like if indeed they do bring one out. I liked their older gear too, was just as simple, but appeared to be well made stuff.

Oh the gear I would love to just have lying around when the mood struck, but am trying to maintain somewhat of a minimalist setup for the time being.

What about the one from Placette?
http://www.placetteaudio.com/

I've given up on Khozmo as an option. Everywhere I read folks are unhappy about quality issues even on his most recent attenuators.

Tortuga Audio seems to have a couple nice offerings using LDR. Always wanted to hear an LDR passive

StevenZ said:

I am looking forward to hearing how your Job 225 stacks up on your Tekton Lores. Any idea what value your Axiom is?

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I sent a message to Tim Stinson at Axiom yesterday to check if I needed to send my A2 back in for a resistor change. I am thinking Ill keep my 300B's/Juicy Blueberry Xtreme 2 setup with the Lores, and the Axiom 2/Job setup I'm gonna run with my V-518's.

I originally had the Axiom setup to use with those speakers (92db/1w/1m) and my Cary SLA-30. When Tim responded he told me I'd need the 4.9K Resistor option for the setup... Which is what mine Axiom already is! So I now I'm super glad I didn't sell it cause it is the exact passive I would have needed for my 2v sources (dac direct out or CD player) and this amp/speaker combo. I guess that's Karma.

I will try it with my Lores too if for no other reason to see how quiet it really is... 98db/1w/1m will show off any noise in the system.

It can't get here soon enough!

- Woody

Wonder what its low impedance capabilities would be like?

Mine has been running since November with the Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE first with Vandersteen 2CE Sigs and now with Vandersteen Treo's. This is a great little amp. Basically a scaled down Goldmund Telos in a plain gray wrapper instead of Stainless and Gold.

davidro said:

Wonder what its low impedance capabilities would be like?

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Well from all the reading I've done they say it makes way more than the listed 125w into 8ohms, more like 180-190wpc. But it doesn't "double down." You only get into the low 200wpc range on 4ohms.

I don't remember where I read it, but it seems like the 8ohm speakers are still generally preferred.

- Woody

It's heeeeerrrrr!!

- Woody

Woohoo!!! Tell us how it sounds! I'm so anxious to order one for myself.

ictwoody said:

It's heeeeerrrrr!!

- Woody

Click to expand...

The suspense is killing me! Hahaha! Anything to report yet?

StevenZ said:

The suspense is killing me! Hahaha! Anything to report yet?

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Haha. I've been so busy with work and watching all THREE Kansas D1 teams in the tourney I haven't actually hooked it up yet. I'm thinking tomorrow afternoon will be my first chance.

I will report back! Promise!

- Woody

*crickets*

Yea, I'm all over this.

seminole54 said:

Mine has been running since November with the Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE first with Vandersteen 2CE Sigs and now with Vandersteen Treo's. This is a great little amp. Basically a scaled down Goldmund Telos in a plain gray wrapper instead of Stainless and Gold.

Click to expand...

I'm curious. Have you compared this to any other "class D" amplification? Did this replace something else in your lineup?

StevenZ said:

*crickets*

Click to expand...

I've listened to my Job a bit, but probably only about 10hrs at this point, split between my Tekton Lores and my ShengYa V-518's. Setup as follows. This is sorta a temp setup.

Teac PD-H600 > Luminous Audio Axiom 2 Passive with Craddock Resistors > Job 225 > Speakers. Cables are Morrow MA1 interconnects, and Clear Day Shotgun Speaker Cables. The Job has a Shunyata Venom 3 plugged directly into the wall, the CD player is using a Grant a Fidelity PC1.5 power cord also plugged directly into the wall. The GF cord has many hours on it, the shunyata is brand new and will probably get better.

The Job has a Hifi Tuning Silverstar fuse in it.

Initial thoughts:

• Very black background. Of course I've been listening to tubes for the last year or so, so that could be exaggerated a bit... But it's VERY quite. Even with the passive's volume all the way up and with the 98db/1w/1m Tekton's there is just a teeny teeny bit of noise when I put my ear to the speaker.

• Very fast and accurate and detailed. The pluck of a bass string, acoustic guitar, or drum kit is immediate. Transients and detail are superb. The instruments have texture. You hear the frets, the wood of the stringed instruments, the brass of a sax... The spit of the sax player. It does all this in a completely non-fatiguing way.

• Extremely neutral and easy to listen too. Vocals sound very natural and real. It is very transparent... I know when the recording is bad or good. The Job doesn't sugar-coat anything.

At first I was feeling there should be a little more edge, that instruments like trumpets that should have a bit of a brash edge weren't. I was using an old pair of WireWorld interconnects from the passive to the amp and a Audioquest Jade IC from the CD player to the passive. Swapped them out for the Morrows and it was solved.

Even with the solid conductor lowend Morrows and the solid silver Clear Days this setup is in no way bright or fatiguing.

I really liked it with my Lores, but I love it with my ShengYa's. They just have a fuller and richer sound. I'll probably keep my 300B monos setup on my Tektons and use the Job with the ShengYa's.

I'll report more as I listen more.

- Woody