PrimaLuna Amplifiers(or other suggestions)

Randy

Parts Connexion is having a 25% off sale which should include the GL KT-88's. Shoot Chris an e-mail and verify as you won't do better than that. Read their info on the checkout page as what is shown in the cart is not the price they invoice you for. The discount is in the invoice you get by e-mail.
 
jdandy said:
Randy.......You made a comment earlier about not being too excited about gear made in China. I held that same feeling for many years. In the past ten years there has been a major shift in the quality of goods coming from China. This includes audio equipment, especially gear that is designed and engineered in the USA, Canada, the UK, and in the case of PrimaLuna, Holland, then assembled in China factories. With rigorous oversight and testing, high quality internal parts, and ingenious design PrimaLuna has brought to our shores some truly amazing audio components. When I auditioned the PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium integrated amplifier and wrote a review several years ago I found my "Made in China" bias fade away. The PrimaLuna integrated amplifier was meticulously manufactured to a very high standard. The overall craftsmanship was excellent as is evident in the photos earlier in this thread. The performance was well above its price point. I was impressed. Things get even better when one moves up the product line to the PrimaLuna DiaLogue preamp and HP amplifiers. These are serious audio components worthy of considerable attention. That they also continue to deliver performance well above their price points makes them strong contenders in any sound system. Where they are actually assembled has become a non-issue in my opinion.
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+1. For my PL gear, the last thing I am concerned about is build quality. These are some really fine pieces of kit.

I love the fact that I can try many different types of tubes and not have to worry about biasing. From KT150's to EL34's to 7581A's...I can try them all. Great fun!
 
I owned a Prologue 5 and later a pair of Prologue 7 mono blocks. I also owned a Prologue preamplifier. Well built and I liked their simple look and small foot print. Never had any problem with them except maybe the factory installed tubes were a little flaky. I went through several on warrantee until I got a set that were stable (at least for a year or so). They did perform well and responded well to upgraded tubes. Off subject, but the factory phono stage for the preamplifer is at best OK. I would not waste money on it myself.

In the end, the speakers I had at the time sounded better with SS amps but no fault of the PrimaLuna amps. Personally, I have learned to avoid tube amps. Don't get me wrong, they can sound great with the right pair of speakers depending on the tubes and circuit. I demand tubes in my preamplifiers and phono stages (also my DAC has tube power supply and outputs), but I'm pretty settled on a good SS amplifier these days.
 
I am getting a full set of KT150's delivered on Saturday for my Dialogue HP monoblocks. It will be a very interesting comparison to the stock EL34's. Once they have broken in and I have some time to compare, I will post my impressions.
 
Excellent Kevin. Looking forward to your thoughts and opinion. I've always wanted the full Primaluna setup. Should be fun.
 
4N6 said:
I am getting a full set of KT150's delivered on Saturday for my Dialogue HP monoblocks. It will be a very interesting comparison to the stock EL34's. Once they have broken in and I have some time to compare, I will post my impressions.
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Ouch, that is 16 tubes... that had to cost a pretty penny :)...
 
Got the KT150's yesterday and installed them right away. Out of the box the sound was thin and sterile...just as I expected. I let the system run for most of the day, and after about 6 hours of burn-in the sound was much richer. From that listen, I could tell that the KT150's were better at space, detail and soundstaging than the stock EL34's (all run in triode mode). The EL34's still has an advantage in tonal richness. Despite the KT150's reputation for better bass, I really did not notice that much difference.

I will keep burning them in and see where it takes me. So far I am pleased with the sound so any further improvements with break-in will only be additional icing on a great sounding cake.
 
Excellent Kevin! Thank you for the write up. I loved the KT150's in my Jolida. My brother loved it too he went home with it :)

Let us know of any changes. I am sure by 50-100 hours they will be all settled in.
 
Okay, listening session #2. The KT150's are terrific. The bass punch and definition is very, very good. Most striking, however, is the increased amount of detail and improved sound staging. Reverb and the acoustic space around vocalists is much easier to perceive. I had listened to Rebecca Pidgeon sing "Spanish Harlem" a hundred times, and until today had never heard the amount of reverb in her vocals. I had no idea it was even there. Also, the three dimensional space in Lionel Ritchie's "All Night Long" is amazing. When the party starts about halfway thru, there is a whole room full of people. Crazy.

Yes, I am happy with this purchase. :)
 
Kevin.......Thanks for the update on the KT150 power tubes. Joe is correct about the actrual break in time. I found on my KT88's in my MC2301's that at about 60 hours they settled into their permanent voice. I believe your KT150's have more to give and additional hours will reveal more improvements in sound stage and micro dynamics. Looking forward to your impressions as the hours pass.
 
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