PrimaLuna Amplifiers(or other suggestions)

Randy Myers

Randy Myers

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Joined
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I am looking for some information and opinions. Down the road a little I am thinking about upgrading my tube amplifier. I will probably be keeping the First Watt at that point because it is such a sweat sounding amplifier.

Basically I am thinking that the new Audio Research amplifiers may not be in my price range in the near future. I have been hearing good things about the PrimaLuna.

So a few questions. I am not a huge fan of Chinese manufactured equipment, however if it is that much better quality and value than others in their respective price range then maybe it is worth considering.
  • Are there other tube amplifiers in similar price ranges that may be a better value.... Conrad Johnson?
  • Are these new amplifiers going to be noticeably better sounding than my current Audio Research VT50?
  • I know the PrimaLuna is much more flexible in tubes that can be used, while the VT50 is limiting. Upscale Audio told me that for the VT50 tubes should be gotten from Audio Research directly. So, how important is this factor?
  • Reliability? How reliable are the PrimaLuna or other amplifiers of this level?

Basically I am trying to determine if this type of move would be a good decision and move forward in my system. I very much value other forum members opinions. In many ways this is the best source since there are no dealers near me and being able to actually audition amplifiers is almost impossible.

Thank you!
 
I am not a huge fan of Chinese manufactured equipment
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Well if that's the case you might need to rid yourself of almost everything in your home not to mention the car parts (electronics that are made in China). Most everything even items so small make up alot of what we have in our homes or for that mater what we wear to the thread to dye etc..

PrimaLuna is pretty top notch gear and you save a considerable amount of $$ in lieu of new AR or CJ gear.
 
Chris... you are funny... I know everything we own has various parts sourced from all over the world :)..

The small point being made in that statement was I do prefer US companies (i.e. ARC, CJ, Mc, W4S, etc.) over Chinese companies...

I very much value opinions and inputs from friends here on the forum.... and it sounds like you are saying some of which I have been thinking. Do you feel that I would noticed fairly large SQ improvements over my VT50?
 
Hi Randy,

Even though I have never owned PL gear, I want to. I respect the great reputation that they have developed. I love the fact that PL has their unique auto-bias feature so they are as close to plug and play as possible.

You know that I am a huge CJ fan. I love the sound of CJ, more than even ARC or most others. Biasing CJ is extremely easy and individual tube bias negates buying matched pairs/quads of tubes.

I believe tube life on PL is very long and you know exactly which tube needs to be replaced should a problem arise.

I think Upscale will offer a trial period on their gear so it might be extremely valuable to experience it for yourself and compare it to your VT50.
 
Four years ago I reviewed the PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium integrated amplifier. I was mighty impressed with the sound, the build quality, and the many premium parts like an Alps Blue Velvet motorized volume control, Solen and Nichicon capacitors, and many 1% tolerance resistors. Point to point wiring was very well done, neatly routed, and solder joints were clean and solid. Overall craftsmanship and attention to detail was top notch. I was pleasantly surprised to find such high quality in the PrimaLuna amp. The sound of this integrated amplifier was excellent. In my opinion the price to performance ratio of PrimaLuna amplifiers is remarkable.
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Upscale's return policies are 7 days with 15% restocking fee. On PL it is 14 days 10% restocking fee. Also shipping both direction. Therefore if you return an amplifier that is $3800 for example, including shipping it would cost you at minimal $650. Unfortunately, this seems rather high to test out an amplifier :(...
 
i hear good things about primaluna from folks i know . are they not auto biasing? which eases ownership perhaps

the arcref75se seems reasonable s/h and also has some very happy owners
 
Randy Myers said:
Chris... you are funny... I know everything we own has various parts sourced from all over the world :)..

The small point being made in that statement was I do prefer US companies (i.e. ARC, CJ, Mc, W4S, etc.) over Chinese companies...

I very much value opinions and inputs from friends here on the forum.... and it sounds like you are saying some of which I have been thinking. Do you feel that I would noticed fairly large SQ improvements over my VT50?
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I guess the first question, why get another amp, are the one's your using not providing you with the musical enjoyment you are seeking, or is it, "I want to know"

With tube gear say the DiaLogue Premium, you can roll tubes till you get to some happy place in sound tailored to fit you personal requirements and it even supports the KT150's. There are reviews all over the net and all appear to be positive.
 
More or less wanting to know if a new amplifier, such as the PrimaLuna would be better sounding, improvement over the 15 year old ARC that I own. With my recent upgrade in Rectifier tube for my Woo Audio headphone amplifier and seeing how much of an improvement it truly is I do feel it might be fun to experiment with rolling some. From what I have been told and read tube rolling on the VT50 is not advised and not worthy of doing. It sounds like many of the newer amps, and especially with the PL, tube rolling is a viable option.
 
Randy Myers said:
More or less wanting to know if a new amplifier, such as the PrimaLuna would be better sounding, improvement over the 15 year old ARC that I own.
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Randy, this is the million dollar question. I am wanting to change gear also but finding what I can afford does not blow away my early 90s gear. It would only be New and Different and not necessarily Better The only real way to find out is to have the gear in your room. And yes, the cost of shipping back and forth along with restocking fees takes auditioning gear out of reach for people who don't have that kind of cash to waste on a 15 day trial. I am in the same boat, I want to hear a Pass Int, but there is no dealer in my local with one, nor are there any people local my dealer has sold to to hook me up with. So I cannot drop $10K on something that I have only read about.

Good luck with your search.
 
Shadowfax said:
Randy, this is the million dollar question. I am wanting to change gear also but finding what I can afford does not blow away my early 90s gear. It would only be New and Different and not necessarily Better The only real way to find out is to have the gear in your room. And yes, the cost of shipping back and forth along with restocking fees takes auditioning gear out of reach for people who don't have that kind of cash to waste on a 15 day trial. I am in the same boat, I want to hear a Pass Int, but there is no dealer in my local with one, nor are there any people local my dealer has sold to to hook me up with. So I cannot drop $10K on something that I have only read about.

Good luck with your search.
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Brian same here. PS there is a INT-150 on AC (a later serial #) for a decent price. When I look at gear, I always wonder will it sound the extra $$$ that leaves my pocket better over what I own. I let the weeks go by and let the urge pass then ask myself should I or shouldn't I, 99% , ain't happening.
 
I agree, "better" is so subjective.

CJ will definitely give you different, from ARC. I like to say CJ breathes soul into the music, really nice PR&T, can also lean warm. I dealt with Spearit Sound with CJ, no restock and they were good to work with.
 
Thanks for all the input everyone... greatly appreciated... I know CJ is easy to bias (not as easy as PL or the new ARC, but not like my VT50). How is CJ for rolling? I also wish that Conrad Johnson offered black cases... but the gold is not terrible....
 
Randy

I think I would try a set of Genalex KT-88's in place of the 6550's to see what that change brings before shopping for amplifiers. If that change doesn't do anything the tubes would work in another amp so you lose nothing. Other than rare and expensive cases many of these tube amps are variations of time tested circuits at different price points. Newer is not always better just different.
 
Hey Jack, that sounds like a great idea. Any suggestions on good place to buy them? These are the Golden Lions, right? They are $59.95 each at Upscale Audio.
 
Randy Myers said:
I am not a huge fan of Chinese manufactured equipment
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I think Prima Luna likes to promotes themselves as: 'Dutch design with Dutch after-sales service with Far East manufacturing under European control'. The Chinese part is just there to keep things affordable. It shouldn't influence the quality or sound character I would think.
 
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