PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium Preamplifier. DESTROYS SPEAKERS!!



A few months ago, bought TWO of the above mentioned preamps. ( I have 2 stereo systems)
Within 6 weeks of the purchase, the power supply of my speakers burns out!
I purchase and replace the power supply.
Three days later, the second newly replaced power supply is burnt out!
After much investigative work and heartache, I discover that the Pre amp is the problem.
It is defective and puts out DC. which burns out speakers.
After, testing the second unit, I find that it is defective as well, EXACTLY the same problem.
I return the units to my dealer, who returns them to Prima Lune.

I received a phone call from a Mr. Kevin Deal, big cheese at PrimaLuna.
Told me that the capacitors, on BOTH units had failed and the units were putting out DC.
He even THANKED me, for being a guinea pig, and discovering the flaw in his units.

He offered me a pair of tubes, as "compensation" for my troubles!! What a joker!!

WOW, a pair of tubes for blowing my $30,000. speakers!!

The height of arrogance and total disregard for the consumer of his product.
To all audiophiles, do yourself a favour, STAY AWAY for this brand, unless you want your speakers cooked.

TOTAL lack of quality control, MADE IN CHINA junk, what more needs to be said.


Mr. Deal, WAKE UP, and STOP selling defective products!!


If, you are using PrimaLuna, and your speakers fail, check the amp or pre amp.

George


Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
thorloki

Showing 7 responses by fsonicsmith

I find the OP suspicious too. A grand total of two posts, both of which are the same. Why does a guy buy a $2500 preamp to match with 30,000 speakers. What speakers are they that cost that much and have "power supplies"? What the heck is a speaker power supply? Does he mean the amp portion of self-powered speakers? Perhaps a power supply for some type of planars? I realize this is fairly inconsequential, but between the lack of posting history, equipment disparity, and odd nomenclature, I am suspicious. There are thousands of PL owners out there and this guy just so happens to be the first to report not just one but two defective PL preamps. 
Mr. Deal is bound to chime in any moment. If the output caps were truly defective and passed DC, I would be surprised if he did not offer to do something more to assist including offering to pay the cost of the "power supply", whatever it might be-I doubt it was $30,000. 
I will give the OP one thing-he gave me reason to sit back and eat some popcorn. 
Gee, could it possibly be that Stereophile routinely writes/repeats whatever market-speak they get from the manufacturer and only refute the mumbo-jumbo if JA happens to discover the discrepancy on the test bench-which is often hit and miss? But of course the main point is not the integrity of Bryston's designs or product but PL. At this point I will assume that the OP is legit since he has not retreated from his post and KD has not joined in. The OP still made some bone-headed equipment matches. 
Well George, what do you have to say now? Let me guess; you will continue to insist that it was all PL's fault and not Bryston's. I must admit not understanding why-as mentioned by Kevin, ML would handle this under warranty-how is this a failure on their part? I find it interesting that you are quick to be jingo-istic if not downright xenophobic about China and you are Canadian and just where is Bryston made again? Funny too that Bryston eschews DC protection in some of their amps "for the sake of sound quality" when let's face reality, Bryston builds nice gear with great warranties but has never been known for great sounding amplifiers. They are on the dry side which is likely why you went to the PL preamp in the first place, either consciously or subconsciously. The reality seems to be that as I have said earlier, you suffered from a series of compounded failures, part of which is attributable to PL, part to Bryston, and part to your strange allocation of resources. I bet you are not the original owner of those ML's and paid a mere fraction of the $30K you kept spouting about. 
I am not looking for my $30,000. speakers to be replaced, I am NOT looking for compensation for my time lost and aggravation.

I have never, during this whole episode, asked for ANY KIND of compensation from PrimaLuna.

I understand, what happened here, was not intentional, on the part of PrimaLuna.

However, PrimaLuna, as well as other manufacturers, need to understand that they bear some responsibility for CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES!!
Surely I am not the only one who sees this blather as self-contradictory. OK Thorloki, what the hell are you asking for? A public flogging? A product recall? You are the most absurd self-sanctimonious weirdo I recall ever posting a beef on this Board, and that is really saying something.
No matter who you slice it or dice it, your OP was calculated to be defamatory (not in the legal sense but the practical sense) and intended to extract some kind of revenge. You have accomplished nothing other than to provide entertainment to many of us. Stricter moderators would have and should have deleted your inflammatory post. You might as well have posted "Kevin Deal stole food from my childrens’ mouths!".

Putting out defective pre amps that blow up speakers and then offering to
REPAIR their DEFECTIVE product is NOT acceptable.

I would ask, that the posters who disagree with me, to consider, how they would feel, if this happened TO THEM??

I am asking for ONLY ONE THING, for PrimaLune to take care of it’s customers.

More bizarre blather. What is it you want PL or KD to do for you? I would love to know what you do or did for a living because there is no way it involved logic and reason; perhaps a literature professor or circus performer?
All of this drivel without one shred of proof that one other PL customer has ever suffered any remotely similar experience. Incredible. You are a universe of one, like the children’s story, "The Little Prince".

I am asking that PrimaLuna, issue a recall of it's products, verify them,
and repair/certify and return the products to the owners.

If, as Mr. Deal says, he changed the caps on his units in stock, why then,
do the pre amps in customers homes, not deserve the same treatment?

If PrimaLuna, does this, then my faith is restored, and all is good.

Here we go, you have finally indicated what you have picked out in your imaginary world of wishes. Sure, why not ask the Canadian treasury to recall every denomination of Canadian paper tender to check it for authenticity or perhaps Wrangler should recall every pair of jeans ever manufactured because one guy with a fat butt had his pants split at the derriere while bending over to ties his shoes. 
Awwww geez louise where does the madness end? This "lbocquin" has come here with his very first post and splintered English and confirmed we do indeed have a sea of defective products out there just waiting to combust our draperies and homes. But now the problem is not of Chinese origin but a high-end problem from diverse artisanal producers. The answer is clear-don't buy high-end gear and instead limit your purchases to Best Buy offerings! Be forewarned! The parts manufacturers have dropped the ball-that's the answer. 
I am not defending PL. I don't own an PL gear. I think it fairly clear that KD is acknowledging a problem with the OP's preamps. My protest is with respect to the over-arching demand that every piece of PL gear be recalled and inspected. Chicken Little is screaming that the sky is falling down. Name just about any complex product known to mankind-cars, refrigerators, and yes, audio gear, and there are defective samples. Look how often the gear sent to S'Phile for review demonstrates a defect! Shite happens. My 2017 VW Golf GTI has a drivers side mirror plagued by excessive wind noise and a windshield that is badly distorted on the passenger side. I am not calling for VW to do a product recall over these two defects. They have enough problems with recalls :-).
btw how picky on placement do you find the 0/93s -- how far out from the wall -- how far apart - anything between
I should check my Monroney sticker, but yes I think so. It replaced a 2014 Golf TDI built in Germany and other than the windshield and the poor design of the mirror (which should be the same as yours-they now fold in an upwards direction and it is the crevice/joint slanted upwards that causes the unintended windnoise), I have yet to notice any difference except that my GTI is far more fun to drive than the TDI. I have owned six VW's and have never had anything but great luck. My wife still drives our 2004 Touareg which is built like a Panzer. 
My turntable, preamp, amp, and speakers are all built by hand in the USA, a VPI Prime, ARC Ref 6, ARC Ref 150se, and DeVore Orangutans. But I have no idea where my AMR DP777 DAC is built, my Aurender N100H was built in S. Korea, and my Thorens TD124 was built in Switzerland. If I had my way, ALL my gear would be built in Switzerland. But ARC is close with middle aged women from Minnesota doing the hand-assembly. Lets face it-no country is immune from hung-over workers assembling stuff on Monday mornings. China has workers from the remote villages out in the country who live in dorms without their families desperate to make money much like US chicken factories that recruit poor Somali workers from all over this country to live in their dorms and do dangerous work in crappy conditions. Impose all the QC you want, without good workers who are happy (enough) and of clear mind, you get sloppy work. Chicken nuggets anyone?