Primaluna dialogue premium HP tube rolling suggestions to reduce brightness


I have had the dialogue premium hp for about 6 months now, using naim preamp and proac tablette anniversary speakers.  I have been noticing some brightness in the high end, and am wondering is I might be able to switch out the tubes to cool it down a bit.  

I am running the stock el34 and 12au7. As this is the hp with 8 power tubes, I would rather not switch the el34 for financial reasons, so does anyone have recommendation to change the 12au7 tubes.  

I also think the the proacs are contributing to the brightness, but would rather not go speaker shopping again, but have not eliminated that option if you have some ideas
meiatflask

Showing 5 responses by aniwolfe

The stock Primaluna Preamp tubes in the 2 middle slots were way too bright for me. So if you want to go with new production tubes. I would suggest the reissue Mullard 12au7's. If you want to experiment with old American tubes. You might want to seek some Baldwin or Conn organ pulls for less than $30 a pair. Triode mode will help as suggested.
@meiatflask

Yes the Mullard reissues are Russian. Jared is usually my go to guy at Upscale when it comes to tube recommendations. Kevin can be difficult to get an good answer from. Just my personally experience.

Also I want to add. You shouldn't be forced to use only Triode mode with your amp. If so, then what's the point of owning it? I prefer to use UL most of the time.
@johnss

I personally don’t want to mod my amp. Have you experimented with any fuses? I wonder if there is a fuse that would help with brightness?

There are so many things that can be altered outside of modding the amp.
I disagree

You got a $4500 amp. I say try a CV4003 Mullard or RCA, Raytheonl blackplate organ pull on the cheap.

The chinese 12au7 tubes are to draw attention at first with all the high freq detail, but they are fatiguing...especially the 2 middle ones.


One of the great things about owning a tube amp is altering the sound with different tubes. Especially ones with auto biasing. All you need is 2 12au7’s to start. I would call Jared at Upscale to get his advice on what would make the biggest impact.

As far cryo goes. I don't have much experience. I would imagine it would be a subtle difference from what I have read.