Primaluna Dialogue Premium preamplifier vs Conrad Johnson ET5 (or CT5) preamplifier

For me there would be absolutely no hesitation, I own and previewed PrimaLuna and have lots of experience with Conrad Johnson. CJ’s sound is natural and musical... the epitome of  this type. Prima Luna is fine, hard to complain about... but lacks the magic of real music. 

If I did not go down the road of Audio Research... upgrading over decades to top of the line ARC. I would have gotten Conrad Johnson and upgraded over time to an all CJ system. 

Lots of folks as they become more experienced with high and audio ( and older) realize it is about the music not the sound spectacular and are drawn towards ARC, CJ, Vac and a couple more. 

@ghdprentice 

I use a Motif MS 1001 power amp, which despite being over twenty years old sounds great. I think it will be a great match for the ET5.

I completely agree with ghdprentice.

I've had several pieces of Prima Luna equipment since they entered the industry. Most recently as pair of EVO 400 amp which I used a s monoblocks. Vintage tubes certainly helped improve the sound quality, but it never reached the level of musicality which my CJ equipment provides. As you can see in my signature photo, I am using CJ LP27M monoblock amps, CJ GAT S1 preamp, and a TEA1 S3 phono stage. I have no intentions of changing any of those out.

@awise1961 Certainly the comparison with a GAT and a pair of LP275M is merciless and impossible for any Primaluna product, being in any case very distant also in terms of price ranges and market segment. I was wondering if even with a less valuable Et5 the argument of Conrad superiority remains valid.