Upscale Audio and Primaluna

Once I bought a rectifier Kevin advertised as a Holland-made Amperex. He was hyping these tubes at the time as the greatest ever. When I got it I checked the etched factory code on the bottle and guess what, it said it was from Barcelona. So I emailed him to ask why, if it was made in Barcelona, was he was advertising it as Holland-made? I quickly got an aggressive phone call telling me the factory code didn’t matter--he knew it was from Holland. I asked how; he said he met an old man in Holland who had worked at the Heerlen plant, and this man told him so. I asked, so I should believe the second-hand claim of an old Dutch fellow instead of the factory code? He said yes. Maybe he was right, but I have never heard another tube seller say factory codes lie.

I'm not an Upscale fan. Apart from the dubious provenance of the rectifier I mentioned earlier (and the even more dubious explanation offered by Kevin), I don't like their Prima Luna hustle. I called recently to ask about some speakers and was pitched Prima Luna. This was before the hustler found out anything about me or my systems, or even asked about my current amps. Amazing.