Let me share my experience. I have an older cornwall powered by Primaluna (telefunken tubes, the brimars were bright for my system). When I changed all the crossover caps to Mundorf mcap evo oil, that tamed the highs. Then I recently bought Cornwall IV, I noticed that the highs were bright. I have room treatments so the 1st thing I did was changed the amp to marantz 2270. The brightness were gone with the tone controls even at high volume. The next thing I did was bought gold lion 12au7 from upscale for the 2 fronts and that tamed the primaluna/cornwall IV combo. I am happy with how it sounds right now.
Can the top end of a PrimaLuna Evo integrated be tamed w/tube rolling?
This weekend I have a PrimaLuna Evo 3 as a house guest to compare with my Supernait 3 solid state integrated. Both are about the same price, basically tube vs solid state. I am a big fan of the Naim PRaT but I also find the depth and transparency of tubes very engaging. The Evo integrated on its own lacks the rhythm and pace of the Naim but it does have transparency and imaging in spades.
So the idea is maybe run an Evo 3 preamp instead along with a Naim 250 (or just use the amp section of the Supernait).
But one problem I cannot get over is that there is a very fatiguing high end to the Evo 3. Cymbals, snare drums, top edge of distorted guitars, etc are pretty harsh at any volume higher than background music. To compare, my vintage Luxman valve preamp into the SN3 does not have this quality (but it lacks the refinement of the PrimaLuna).
It would be ideal to do some tube rolling to get the best of all worlds... is there a tube selection that could work with the Evo preamp that would tame the harsher high end and smooth out the sound a little bit on top? Or is this just a part of the PrimaLuna signature?
So the idea is maybe run an Evo 3 preamp instead along with a Naim 250 (or just use the amp section of the Supernait).
But one problem I cannot get over is that there is a very fatiguing high end to the Evo 3. Cymbals, snare drums, top edge of distorted guitars, etc are pretty harsh at any volume higher than background music. To compare, my vintage Luxman valve preamp into the SN3 does not have this quality (but it lacks the refinement of the PrimaLuna).
It would be ideal to do some tube rolling to get the best of all worlds... is there a tube selection that could work with the Evo preamp that would tame the harsher high end and smooth out the sound a little bit on top? Or is this just a part of the PrimaLuna signature?
Showing 6 responses by audiophile168
@decooney Yes the GL reissue tamed it. The Brimars are already bright before I even bought the GL. So I did not bother putting it in the system. So it was just the Telefunkens, Primaluna stock tubes and GL reissues. I did not put them all together in any mix. Just the two fronts are being replaced at a time. No change in cable as well. Item B above describes what I just did. Just 2 GL infront and the rest are stock PL tubes. |
@decooney oh yeah.absolutely. here's another experiment I did. Scenario 1 = Cornwall IV/Primaluna/Gold Lion 12au7 Like I said above, the highs got tamed. Primaluna Volume at 9 o clock. Scenario 2 = B&W 683 S2/Primaluna/Gold Lion 12au7. This set up has zero harshness or brightness to it. Just warm sound and beautiful. I even increased the volume to 11 o clock. I can't do that to the Cornwall IV. It goes bright again. But I lose bass and details on mids and highs in this set up.
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I stopped logging in hours at 150. I think I have 200 hours on the GL 12au7s. It is noticeably quieter than the telefunkens. Regarding your comment above, I lost the details and bass because of the speaker, not the amp. When I switched back to the Cornwall IV, I heard the beautiful highs and bass again. I just need to stay below 90 to 95 db to enjoy it without being harsh. So sometimes it's not just the amp, it could be the speakers or the room itself. I would suggest the OP to try out a less sensitive speaker to confirm if it's really the Primaluna that's bright in his system.
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@erik_squires I can attest that mundorf is indeed neutral and not bright. I have also had the clarity caps in my Zu Audio speakers and they are not bright but more crisp. |