PrimaLuna Prologue 8 CD Player Sound

I wonder if the Stereophile reviewer had an upgraded unit.

Jimbobtex, go figure, the Prologue 8 review in TAS is in stark contrast to the review in Stereophile. Stereophile is quite negative about the player

In the August issue of TAS the Primaluna 8 gets a fantastic review. A giant killer.

Actually (upscaleaudio)
there were at least two that were sold for around $1500.
I know becase the seller refuse my offer just to sell it for less two weeks later. The second piece went for auction and was sold by the same seller for about the same.
I did not bit on that one because the seller pissed me off and I bought Opera Drople CDP from the dealer that I usually do business with. At the end , it was close.......and I almost end up with PL8 .......which I am sure would complement my rig just as well as Drolet......just a little different.

Cheers
Mariusz

Well, I have one. Running thru the Prologue 2 integrated. To me, it sounds fantastic. I may have bought the one that Kevin was referring to.......

Don't know how the Primaluna sounds but don't think it's ugly.
I have to agree with Foster_9 about the Raysonic.I don't exactly know how his sounds compared to the fully modded one I bought but after experimenting with 6 other players in the last two years this baby is extremely nice.Tube rolling brings it to another level.

Best of luck in your search.

Bob

And I have the ProLogue Three in my system and have recommended it to many people. BTW I ended up doing the Mac Mini based media server thing instead of buying a cd player anyway.

Upscale, did not intend to disrespect Primaluna in anyway, if anything, everything I hear about Primaluna/Upscale is classy & top notch!

Just that primaluna founders are people who tweaked Marantz CD players (Ah Tjoeb)...is it really then Marantz OR Ah Tjoeb player...we both know that answer.

Is a "Barabas" Mercedes (highly tuned Mercedes) still a Mercedes...we both know that answer also.

And with Primaluna & Cayin sharing same OEM...well you know what I'm getting at...one cannot help but to wonder.

Anyways, regardless of origin, you guys offer a great product.

The price of the PL8 since day one was set at $2499. It was never implied that the price would be $1500 or even $2000. Upscaleaudio (Threads | Answers)

Upscaleaudio, in a blog posted about the Prologue Eight by Wes Phillips and Jon Iverson of Stereophile, either they made a big typo in the price they quoted of $1,395, or one of your people gave them that price. Now I know the prices given at the shows for new gear do not always come to fruition in the market, but the huge price difference was notable. Like Synthfreek, I distinctly remember reading that Stereophile blog because I was very interested in the Primaluna Eight and was scouring the net for any piece of information on it I could find. The low price of the Prologue Eight Wes Phillips quoted on the blog was discouraging in light of the price that it became when introduced on the market. The price in the blog was radically different than the market price.

The link to the Stereophole blog with Wes Phillips comments from CES 2007 on the Primaluna Eight and the price can be viewed at the link below:

http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2007/107cdpri/

"At least that's what Kevin Deal called the $1395 PrimaLuna Prologue Eight CD player."

This is straight from Stereophile's site. This was in reference to the 2007 CES Show.

As the North American distributor of PrimaLuna, I feel I must chime in on this thread and would like to answer everybody’s question by name...

Blazen69: You can make the sound of the PL8 go in any direction you like by swapping tubes, as well as one of the two plug-and-play I/V op amp upgrade kits we have available. One kit even allows the most experienced audiophiles to use their favorite bypass and power supply caps right on the op amp board.

Foster9: I wish I could comment on Raysonic, but I’ve never heard the name in any way shape or form up until this post, but I’m sure it’s a great product. By researching I see the Raysonic player you mention has been on the market twice as long as the PL 8, however the ProLogue has already received rave reviews from some of the biggest magazines in Europe, and will have reviews from the biggest magazines in the U.S. hitting the shelves very soon. There is a longer lead-time for reviews in the U.S. and many companies never even get considered for review.

Mrjstark: Thank you for saying you feel it’s a great CD player. I tend to agree, but I must correct you on a couple points. The price of the PL8 since day one was set at $2499. It was never implied that the price would be $1500 or even $2000. In fact, in Europe the retail price is well over $3k (they include VAT in their published prices), and they are selling very well over there. There has only been one PL8 for sale by a private party on A’gon classifieds. We had to use Google’s cache system in order to find the listing. Where most players will drop in value by as much as 50% when re-sold, this seller had his PL8 for sale at $1999, and sold in 2 days. A few months back a dealer who we no longer do business with was closing out their stock, and they sold their ProLogue Eights very quickly.

Bonger: I do not know you, and I don’t think you have an axe to grind, but your statement that the PL8 is merely lifted & slapped together from Cayin products is simply un-true. This player is a ground-up design, as are all the PrimaLuna products. The only common thread PrimaLuna used to share with Cayin is the chassis. Cayin stopped making amps using that chassis because we asked them to. We sell more PrimaLuna worldwide than they do Cayin under their own name, and the Cayin factory did not want to lose our business.

In the world of CD players, with the hundreds of models made by hundreds of manufacturers… there is only a handful of transports, DAC chips, op amps, and upsampling chipsets to choose from. It is not uncommon to find the same transport in a $1000 player as you find in a $10,000 player. What is truly unique about the ProLogue Eight is our SuperTubeClock and our Super I/V op amp kits. Both features utilize technology never before used in CD players, and both are truly incredible.

You can read more about both features at http://www.primaluna-usa.com

If you really want to know about Primaluna go here

www.primaluna-usa.com

Can't vouch for the some being good or bad...however, not so inspiring looks due to fact this CD player's parts were lifted/slapped together from various CAYIN products.
Check out Prima's OEM's website: www.sparkaudio.com

I've owned one for 7mos now and am happy with it. I don't find it over emphasizes or puts an edge on any sound it produces. It simply doesn't draw attn to itself. Remove the tube cage and add some dampening rings and things get even better. I have very satisfying presentation and soundstaging. I'm running it into a Conrad Johnson CA200 and a pair of Thiel CS 2 2 speakers that I've had new since 1993...which will soon be replaced by something from DeVore Fidelity. Will this be my last player? No more so than this will be my last pair of shoes. As long as I'm enjoying the music, the Prologue 8 stays. So far, I see no reason to part with it...at this time. On another note, when I read comments here, I wonder if the write is a dealer. So I declare I am in no way, shape, form, or fashion benefitting from or affiliated with PrimaLuna its dealer network or its product line. I'm just an A'goner providing feedback to fellow member's inquiry.

Very industrial looking....yes.
Some may find it atractive.
I do.
Besides, ones you turn off the lights all you are going to see is sexy glow of tubes and beautiful sound.
$1500 used or demo is a steal.IMO
If you are in that price range and like fast transparent and a bit tubey sound.....get it, and you will enjoy it for a long time.

03-13-08: Mjcmt
I think the Primaluna Prologue 8 cdp is not hitting it big because it is butt ugly IMHO. I looks like an amp. For $2.5K let's put some style into the design. There is no creativity to it at all. Send their industrial designers back to school.

To each their own........ I personally think it looks much better than the typical "box" that most cdp's are packaged in....... I'm just waiting for a black faced one to show up slightly used, or, until I can pay cash for a new one. In the meantime, I'm picking up a gently used NAD C542. Anything will beat the Sony Discman I'm using at the moment........ :(

Synthfreek - you are right.
Original projected MSRP. was around $1600 then $1999 and end up at 2.5k.
Is it worth that much...? I leave it to you. However it would be a KILLER AT $1500....up to 2K.

Regardless of price, it is a fine, details fast and in the same time musical and not to edgy cdp (a lot of CDP under 2K
are ether edgy, colored, laid back to hide imperfections - very few strike home run. Those that came with winning formula are well known within the circle).

I was verrrry close and almost purchase Prima Luna 8 but also could not fully swallow full price. At the time, there was non on AgoN listings......So when given a right price for Consonance Droplet, I didn't think twice.

I think the major problem is that it was supposed to be $1000 cheaper than what it eventually retailed for. All the prices I read about led me to believe that it would be less than $1500 when it came out.

I have seen at least 2 or 3 in the past month. I am not sure but I think he was also a dealer.

Mrjstark, it's easy to miss a piece in the classifieds that rarely shows up in the used market, but I've not seen one for sale here at the Gon. I must have missed that one. And, what dealer that you are aware of sold a demo for $1500? That would be a great price.

Go for it.
For 1.5K used or demo , it is a great cdp.

I think the Primaluna Prologue 8 cdp is not hitting it big because it is butt ugly IMHO. I looks like an amp. For $2.5K let's put some style into the design. There is no creativity to it at all. Send their industrial designers back to school.

In these forums as well as the others this cdp has barely made a ripple on the high end audio pond. I thought it might get big but it didn't. However, as far as a tubed cdp without overly warm bass, look no further than the Raysonic CD128. I own one so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I think it is detailed, with powerful bass and smooth extended highs. It won''t cost you as much as the Prologue 8 will either.