2. amps-preamps
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Received new Primaluna preamp and amp

I posted this to another website but thought this may be good to post since nobody has seen them here that I have seen.

I wanted to post my first impressions as I have not seen anything on these here yet.
I bought them sight unseen based on what I read on the integrated amps. First I opened the box to find two more boxes inside, so packing is the best I have seen. Both came with white gloves. The manuals are exceptional and well-written and are signed/serial numbered.

The color of the chassis is different from the website pictures I saw. On the website they look almost black. In reality thay are a very dark dark dark blue with a hint of grey. They look much better than the pictures so I suggest to Upscale Audio they get the pictures taken again because I think they missed the target. I was suprised how nice they look.

I looked in the amp and was impressed by the neatness of assembly and quality. For $1295 per component I feel like I got a great deal.

I have Vandersteen 2CE speakers so was concerned that 40 watts would not be enough power, or it would be too soft. The combo is very open and fast. The bass is full and really has more feel than my Aragon 28k and amp I replaced. While the Aragon I think will play louder this combo sounds more dynamic at the levels I listen at. I don't know if the word dynamic is what I mean. The voices sound like they are another layer from the music. It can really give goosepimples.

I am much more happy with this sound. But will say the Aragon did a great job for me and represented to me a great value in solid state. My intention was to keep them for rainy days. But now that I have tube sound the old faithfulls will most likely go.

The speaker will stay as always. Superb buy. I can afford more expensive gear than this. But I am impressed by value more than ritzy expensive stuff. This is impressive.
chrish6952
6 responses Add your response
mario_b
147 posts
 
Chrish,

We Luna owners are here, we're just back benchers. We hold forth only when called upon.

Actually, I just received mine as well. Packed and looks just as you said. Decided to hold off putting it online until I solder in the phono stage which comes in tomorrow.

Glad yours seems to cruising and that we have another Luna voice on the back bench.
mario_b
147 posts
 
Chrish,

I realized a little late that my self-mocking attempt at humor might well be mistaken by high-enders as a dig. I've yet to master the subtle nuances of the sideways winking smiley face.

To be clear, the vast majority of participants in these forums are extremely helpfull no matter what the price tag of the gear is.

There is also a nice review of the Prologue II in Audiogon's member review section.

Be Well, Mario
chrish6952 OP
1 posts
 
No worries. I now have some time on them and while I have had the newness wear off with new purchases in the past, it is not the case here. I am emotionally attached to music more than I have for years. I can't really put a value on it.

If I paid $10,000 for a couple of the evenings I have spent with the PrimaLuna it would be a bargain. It is even better now that it is broken in, and works flawlessly. The build and finish is BMW quality.

I bought a CD player with remote volume and all is perfect.
pscialli
80 posts
 
I have the Prologue 1 which I wrote about in the REview Forum. It's on a secondary system and I'm incredibly happy with it. I moved it over to my main system and like it so much, I'm going to get a Primaluna power amp for that system to replace an aging Musical Fidelity amp. In fact, I wrote to Kevin at Upscale audio concerning my concern that my Nautilus 803s, while not extremely power hungry, might be happier with more power. NOt to worry, later this year, Kevin tells me, he will be retailing a new monoblock version of the KT88 amp from Primaluna. They will be 70 watts per channel and should be dynamite. Price for the pair, I think, is not completely set, but it should be under $3k. Count me in!

Peter
its_sani
7 posts
 
Greetings,
I have pair of 2ce signature. I really have a hard time matching them with an map. I am considering getting a PrimaLuna 2.I use to own Jolida 302b that was modified to take KT88. I hated it. My concern with PrimaLuna is that might be too bright and weak bass like Jolida. I listen to all kinds of music.
Please advice
Thanks
Sani
mario_b
147 posts
 
Hi Sani,
This may be all relative to "hearing what I want to hear", but after six months with the Luna Prologue II, I find it outputs bass with a great deal of authority. But this is not the omni-present booming slam that one might find in raw output rigs. (Though it seems quite capable of reproducing deep booming bass when the signal dictates).
This is a more controlled bass output, which I gather is the result from its "on the fly" Adaptive Bias Board which purports to greatly reduce typical tube bass distortion. Some purists, however, would say it also robs transients. Can't say on this - haven't A/B ed enough new gear offerings in comparative tests. Have done some A/B with vintage tube amps and the Luna trounces them - to my ears.

If you do get the Luna II and opt for their internal phono stage mini board, be prepared to live with tepid sound for its lengthy 200 hour burn-in.

Also recently rolled in some Valve Art KT-100 (KT-88 Genolex new production copies at $28.95 per) power tubes after a couple of the the stock Luna tubes flaked out. I'm told by Upscale that my tube failures are among a very small minority. The VAs once burned in (about 50 hours) have come on strong and seem to plumb the bass depths a tad stronger than the Luna stock tubes.

Hope this helps.

- Mario
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