Post by sub on Oct 19, 2018 16:39:50 GMT 12
Rapollo newsletter hit my in-box the other day, seem they are now stocking a wide range of Primaluna tube amps.
what piqued my curiosity, was the note that a Primaluna amp had been purchased by our very own deano1974
so do tell deano1974, which one did you buy, and what does it sound like?
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 19, 2018 19:47:06 GMT 12
FWIW AudioEnz was sent a Prima Luna Prologue Classic amp, back in 2014 & I reviewed it.
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 22, 2018 12:20:31 GMT 12
This was the PrimaLuna Prologue Classic that I auditioned in 2014:  
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 22, 2018 12:33:31 GMT 12
Some excerpts from my subsequent AudioEnz write-up: PrimaLuna’s design brief, initially for the USA market was: good sound, good finish, affordable pricing and reliability. Low maintenance was essential for the American consumer.
Their answer was special circuitry to minimise or even eliminate adjustment and servicing. Additional complication arguably, but potentially user-friendly, plug and play, tube amplification. Although China-manufactured, PrimaLuna highlight their quality control.
Many of PrimaLuna’s low maintenance features appear in this model – eg. their ‘Adaptive Auto Bias’ to eliminate manual tube biasing, a ‘soft start’ delay and transformer-protection circuits. There is also a convenient switch for swapping to KT88 tubes (40wpc).
Chassis finish is excellent – heavy gauge metalwork with automotive-style, lacquered, metallic blue-grey paint (five step, hand-polished, they say). Internal circuitry appears solidly and neatly hard-wired (a PCB is used only for the aforementioned ‘Auto Bias’ circuitry) and employing a sprinkling of ‘audio-grade’ parts (eg. Solen film caps, an ALPS volume pot).
Oodles of harmonic richness, ‘ambience’ – which could be a heavenly match for speakers that do not excel in these areas.
Bass-lines are strong, plucked guitar and horns have density of tone and voices have ‘body’. Unsurprisingly then, this amp loves string bass and kick drum. Warmth, reverb and breathiness of vocals can be ravishing (eg. Lindi Ortega, Tin Star).
Possibly the lowest octaves are not quite as authoritative and at the other, high-frequency extreme, cymbals and brushes seem a little dimmed (Jarrett/Gabarek, Personal Mountains). However, this could be just the sweetening antidote for systems afflicted with brightness or a touch of ‘digititis’.
The heart of the PrimaLuna Classic is in the mid-bass and lower midrange – not a bad thing. This provides a rich and rhythmic foundation, warmth of timbres and a sense of ‘scale’. The top end bandwidth especially, has mildly less presence – possibly some economies were necessary at this end of the product range.
On balance, an integrated tube amplifier, at arguably reasonable cost given the build quality and user-convenience features, that is capable of very satisfying results when suitably matched.
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Post by deano1974 on Oct 23, 2018 19:02:43 GMT 12
Rapollo newsletter hit my in-box the other day, seem they are now stocking a wide range of Primaluna tube amps. what piqued my curiosity, was the note that a Primaluna amp had been purchased by our very own deano1974 so do tell deano1974, which one did you buy, and what does it sound like? Evening Sub, I purchased a pair of Dialogue Premium HP Power Amplifiers switched into monoblock configuration The model is as below I audition the Intergrated version before hand and used the HT pass through via my LDR preamp and was literally gobsmacked by the resolution and dynamics and the massive control of bass And that was it, I ordered the next day 😉 
Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI
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Pundit
Post by cartridge on Oct 23, 2018 20:45:05 GMT 12
Deano - one-upping since aaaages ago.
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