Call Kevin Deal.
Straight out of the box doesn't work.
Just received my new Prima Luna EVO 400. Heavy thing, looks good. Took the foam off the tubes, only on the power tubes. Nothing on the small tubes. I'm new at this, don't know what they are called. I did notice some of the tubes were a little crooked so I seated them in a little better. However ( you new that was coming) two of the small tubes on the right kind of wooble. Did I spell that right? What the hell plugged in and red light on the right side. It doesn't work right out of the box. Going back tomorrow. Just wanted to let ya know. Going to go through the recommendations again. Good night.
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PL puts on a good show but bottom line: made in China. From the way you describe it, "some of the tubes were a little crooked" sounds like they ship with tubes installed. You're new so won't know this is a bad idea. If you ever have to ship this please do the right thing and pack each tube individually in its own padded box. At this point I would be looking to exercise the no-questions return policy that I would have secured as a purchase prerequisite. For this very reason. If they can ship new tubes and you are willing to wait for that, fine. If the amp has to be shipped back, even better, as this is the ideal way of getting out of this deal. Then with your refund you can buy a Raven Nighthawk that is made in the USA and with better tubes and better sound and be supporting some serious audiophiles right here in America and not you know who over there instead. |
My bets on the AR. The heart of any tube push pull is it’s output transformer. And history shows Audio Research have always had only the very best output transformers in their amps. Some of the Prima Luna models have had sometimes ringing a little in the ultra sonic frequencies, (sharp rise in FR above 20khz) which is usually the transformer.. From Stereophile on that PL transformer ringing But with the tap matched to the load, this peak was associated with a significant amount of overshoot on a 1kHz squarewave (fig.2), though a 10kHz squarewave revealed that the consequent ringing was critically damped (fig.3), the amplifier maintaining its stability. Cheers George |
For that kind of money it should be tested before it ships, also tubes never should be shipped in the amp ,all tubes should be matched pairs , and numbered where is there location , not very well thought out at all. I bought Ayon Integrated amps ,as well as Jolida , as described above tested before shipped and tubes in a secure location not in the amp. very unprofessional. I sold Audio for years ,common sense ,makes sense !! |
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As unfortunate as it may be, it is not the end of the world or you. Similar things have been known to happen. I am not sure is it only with tube equipment. "Well Bryant at the factory packed my Blackhawk out with defective tubes and when I fired it up well smoke came out of the thing." REVIEW: Raven Audio Blackhawk Integrated, Soniquil Cables.... | Audiogon Discussion Forum Call the seller and voice your concern to her/him. We cannot help you here at this point. |
Is it just 1 red light next to a particular tube or are all the red lights on next to all the tubes on the right side of the unit.If it is only 1 red light next to a specific tube, turn off amp then remove that tube and also remove 1 of the other same size tubes and switch their places if the red light follows the original tube then that tube is bad.If the red light stays on in the same place after switching tubes then either the socket is damaged or there could also be a problem with a bad connection wire inside.I cannot see the amp getting damaged in transit since it is triple boxed, if the boxes were not damaged when you received the amp then it is most likely one of the above causes. |
I may be mistaken, but I believe the red indicator light on the front panel on the right side means the amp is operating in ultra linear. That is the normal default when powering on the amp. Try switching the amp to triode and see what happens. I expect the right red l may go out and a green light appears on the left? That’s how my Dialogue Premium operates, lights are just in a different location on mine |
a lot has been said already that needed to be said to the op i would just add/reiterate the following points: - the pl amps are extremely heavy and the weight (like many powerful tube amps) is very asymmetrically distributed... so its likely the amp in box (which sounds like you bought new) was dropped on its side a few times and hammered a good bit in transit - pl amps ship with all the tubes in place... it is their packaging design... ok but hardly ideal... new pl amps have very tight tube sockets... the tubes may have been knocked askew but they should not ’wobble’ once reseated vertically - the fact the tubes were askew tells me the trip was a very rough one - the front panel red light is ok... it denotes ultralinear operation, not a malfunction - op did you try to fire the amp up, once tubes were properly re-seated in their positions... did it not play music? you didn’t say... anyhow, you are getting a new one, hope that one survives the journey and it will be different when you open that box audio research is very high quality stuff... primaluna is very good, excellent value, but you cannot compare a mazda to a mercedes - the quality is just at another level - they are both built by talented makers to particular price points but one is just much higher than the other you will hear the ref75 against the evo 400... you can tell us what you think... if the rest of your system is good, the answer will be fairly obvious (especially with the stock pl tubes in place) good luck |
How was it sent? UPS? Fedex? The problem may lie there... <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It is NEVER the shipper it is ALWAYS the PACKER. If it was labeled correctly and packaged correctly "THIS" would have never happened.. You NEVER send anything with tube installed UNLESS the have a bonnet (hold down) on the valves. The packing will show if it was handled improperly. The inner box will show contact with the outer box. It CANNOT move inside the boxes. Tight is right. loose is a REPACK... Peanuts are a "Return to sender" at the DOOR.. No exceptions... IF there are any breaches either way it was tossed to hard. The inside meeting the outside, OR the outside meeting the inside, (forklift blade). I packed VERY expensive equipment for 45 year to ship overseas.. Never lost another to improper packing (ONE TIME WAS ENOUGH). The package should be packed as if IT were returning to YOU, not THEM... UNDERSTAND. I had tubes and a pre sent to me from Schitt. The tube weren’t checked in the unit they sold me.. It almost caught on fire, within the first hour. Cost them a sale... Great customer service though.. Bad packing, bad deal.. BUT let patience prevail. Regards |
In my experience as a dealer, IT HAPPENS. Period. The manufacturer will make it right if you speak to him/her. Sorry for the inconvenience; maybe they will give you a perk or something to make up for their error. Never hurts to ask, and be polite. No one WANTS to ship a DOA product...although I don't know that specific manufacturer. If this is the biggest problem you have in life, you are pretty lucky these days. Cheers! |
I was Going to suggest prima Luna as a possible choice for integrated amps. I’ve heard them and I really enjoyed the sound for the money. Not now. There’s nothing more aggravating and disappointing to order new equipment and have it malfunction. Personally I’ve had no luck with Chinese products. Quite the opposite. Bad luck. I hope you get the issue resolved in a manner that is consistent with good business. |
Is Chinese made okay if it suits your purpose - 30 Chinese Wavecor tweeters in American built Tekton Moab speakers , Chinese built Shumann Resonators, Chinese Nobsound springs? And a Melody i880 amplifier made in China. http://www.melodyhifi.com.au/melody_dealer CHINA (Manufacturer) Melody Hi Fi (Sheng Zhen) Pty Ltd (麦力迪音响（深圳）有限公司) 6th Floor, C Building, Shuang Huan New Tech Industrial Zone Bao Long Industrial Zone, Long Gang District, ShenZhen, CHINA Phone : +86 (755)-8952-9002 Email: info@melodyhifi.cn Website: www.melodyhifi.cn |
