Hey Skyhawk. I own a Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP Integrated Amplifier and I love it. I'm 57, an ex night club DJ of many years. I've loved Valve amps since I was a kid and I own a Leak Stereo 20 fully restored. Kevin Deal was reluctant initially to put his name to an amp that couldn't be made totally in the states! I live in Melbourne Victoria Australia by the way. The build quality of the Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP Integrated is beyond reproach. Point to point wiring, toroidal hand made transformers, an Alps motorised volume control, a remote control that weighs about half a kilo......it has everything. No printed circuit boards here and you have a switch on the side to select either EL34s or KT88, KT120 or KT150 tubes. It has 6 12AU7s for the input and 8 power tubes with fully ventilated sockets. They're mounted to the chassis so theres no flexing unlike circuit boards which will eventually fail. The big thing here is full automatic bias. No multi meters here. As the tubes age this circuit which is not in the signal path keeps the push pull mode in its perfect sweet spot which minimizes noise by at least 50% more. It has AC offset to kill unwanted mains noise. It also has hermetically sealed relays controlled by the selector knob to kill input crosstalk which can stand being switched open and closed 50 thousand times. The headphone socket is selected by another switch to stop the socket from being a weak link in the audio chain. The speaker binding posts have no hole to insert cable to improve sound quality and all RCA inputs are gold plated. I'm running a turntable but even though you could've had a preamp installed, I bought a Cambridge Audio preamp to keep the unit stock. Vinyl sound through this amp is stunning and CDs are clean and warm. If a tube fails, a red LED lights up telling you which tube is faulty. Replace it, turn the power back on and forget about bias adjustment! I'm running a pair of Wharfedale speakers and using the stock EL34s, this amplifier just sings whether it's Enya, Pink Floyd or dance music. It has a Home Theatre through selector and it handles this function well. It's a heavy amp 30 kilos, but there was no compromise on build quality......10 out of 10. You can get them as stereo power amps or mono blocks and boy they kick some serious arse. Primaluna have just released a 5AR4 tube rectified stereo preamp and even though I don't need one, I will be getting one as soon as I can order it. The only downside is that if you want to run KT150 tubes, you can't fit the protective cage over them because those tubes are too high but 88s or 120s provide plenty of power but you can use KT150s without the cage! Primaluna are a young company but man their gear makes you drool. Google their internal pictures. No cheap components here. I love my Primaluna amplifier. Both them and Macintosh are my favourite amps but the Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP Integrated wins hands down! Cheers Andrew Peter Collins, Melbourne Victoria Australia!
Considering switching from Audio Research to PrimaLuna, troube with VS115 amp
Hello everyone, I have question that I hope some of you either can answer or have an opinion on. Ever since I was 17, I have always wanted to own Audio Research equipment. I’m 56 now, and finally was able to fulfill my life long dream. My first acquisition was an ARC LS15 pre-amp bought here used in mint condition. I paired it with a Vincent 331MK hybrid amp also bought here used in mint condition. The resulting sound was impressive. After that, I started looking for an ARC amp I could afford. The resulting search found me an ARC VS115 amp also here in used, awesome condition. This is where my problems and my doubts started. Upon hooking up the amp to my system, a tube in the left channel arced and blew a resistor. I had to take the amp to an ARC dealer and he installed a new resistor and suggested I buy all new tubes from ARC for the amp. I did and when I got back home, I again hooked up the amp and immediately upon turning the amp on, I started to hear thumping sounds coming from my left speaker, then, two left channel output tubes started to glow a very bright orange, and then white smoke started to rise from one of the tube sockets. I immediately turned the amp off. I called the dealer and he suggested I mail the unit back to ARC. I did and I am now waiting to see what they say.
During this time, I started to search out other brands and came across one called PrimaLuna. I have watched their videos and seen them compared to ARC equipment. Their build quality seems to be superior to ARC and the reviews are over the top. I am looking at their Dialogue Premium HP amp and their Dialogue Premium pre-amp. For what they cost, considering how they are built and supposedly sound compared to units costing 3 to 4 times their price, they almost seem too good to be true. Anyway, my bubble has been burst, and in simple terms, I am considering jumping ship and going with another company instead of ARC, despite all those years of drooling and waiting.
My main question is this, is there anyone out there that either owns PrimaLuna or has had experience with the equipment and can give me their opinion on owning and using it. Then, my second question is how does PrimaLuna really compare to other high end equipment such as ARC. Kevin Deal in his videos on PrimaLuna makes a very compelling case for the equipment. In one video, he compares an ARC LS17SE to the PrimaLuna pre-amp.
My last question is in regards to my ARC VS115 amp problems. Anyone have an opinion on what is going on with my amp or a VS115 in general. For those of you who want to know what else is in my system, I am using KEF 104ab speakers, a Cambridge Azur 752BD Blu-ray player as my CD player, Morrow Audio Cables and I am considering getting the Sony HAP-Z1ES music player for my digital files.
I greatly appreciate all who take the time to comment and give their opinions. I will be glad to answer any questions you may ask or provide additional. Thanks for your help. Steve.