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Primaluna Prologue 4 tube upgrades

I recently acquired this amp and at first thought it was sounded great, but was not completely happy with the LF response with my modest Dali Zensor 1 monitor speakers and nicely upgraded Dared SL2000a amp. So, I swapped some Siemens 12AX7 and 12AU7 tubes into the unit for the stock Chinese tubes and holy hell, this amps is really quite fine! It has great control of the LF now and I realize that a veil of grunge I was hearing has vanished! I might swap some better power tubes in for the stock PL (Chinese) EL34's to see if that improves it even more. Or roll some Gold Lion KT88's into it. The amp has the unique feature of auto-biasing the tubes, which was always a hassle with my HK Citation I and V amps . Honestly, I have been thinking about upgrading to PL's high end integrated amp, but from what I hearing today, I might just stay with this set up. BTW, I have had a long series of far more expensive monitors in my system, yet these Dali Zensor 1's are the best I have had. They are thoroughly musical.
whitestix

Showing 2 responses by mechans

mechans
3,048 posts
 
I think there is an active community of people who have rolled tubes in the Prima Luna amps, and I am surprised no one has responded to you thus far. I really like the Gold Lion (Ru.) KT-88s and think you will like them as well. It can't hurt to get the advice of Mr. Deal on the matter, but I know he has advocated for them in the past.
mechans
3,048 posts
 
The 7316 is a direct sub for the 12AU7, ECC82 etc, pre amp tube. It is selected for low noise and high reliability and has been made with more than one architecture. The were intended for fine instrument and computer use. They are, if real, my strongest favorite sub for the 12AU7. You are more likely to get a real one always Heerlen Amperex with Ct# date code for late 50s and early 60s with a computer company logo like Hewlett Packard.
So you ask what's the tube sound like? It is a tube that is capable of crystalline highs without being piercing and creates an almost surreal technicolor three dimension soundstage, pure mids and again very dramatic frequency range digging into the bass- and getting out a clean non muddy bass. Beyond that I just like the way they sound.
If you get a 7316 that sounds like crap it either isn't a true 7316 or is well past it's prime, keep hunting. Unfortunately there are some dishonest or ignorant sellers who are giving their better 12AU7s the 7316 name. Make sure there is the right triangle acid etch indicating Heerlen Holland. That alone separates much wheat from chaff. If all else falls write me privately.
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