Why is there no love for Prima Luna?

One more thing..... I think it would be really great if PL would post factory tour videos and interviews.  I'd like to learn about that Cayin factory and I'd feel better about stuff if folks working there were paid well, had great working conditions, pride in their work, etc.  For now, we can hope/assume. 

I think Primaluna as a brand gets much respect in the aggregate. Maybe it doesn't get as much on these forums? --I don't know.  

I think it's fair to assume the sell a ton of their units.  Price to entry is lower than say, Mac, Jadis, Luxman tube gear.  

The build quality, while not the best possible, is really substantial for the price.  The labor they have (most likely experienced folks in the Cayin factory) is great.  If you look at the construction it's superb.  Parts quality is A-, in my mind, and is better than some big household audiophile names selling at higher prices.  

I have a few nits to pick about them--yet none is substantial.  With the same budget, could they make the units look a bit slicker?  I don't think they are particularly eye-catching or have anything special to draw the eye in--compare with Luxman, Line Magnetic, Mac.  The PL remotes look way better than their amplifiers--IMHO.  What gives?

Also, the company says XLR is not an ideal input, then adds XLR as, arguably, an ideal input when they release the EVO line.  The company uses a sales point of "we run our tubes more evenly and below tolerances so they last a long time."  Yet, I don't know if that makes a difference as re-tubing or rolling is not cheaper as you have soooo many tubes in the higher models to replace.  Also, I suppose they made design choices and found certain capacitors and parts to sound better than others, but I'd pay more for the option of having different parts options.  It would be really slick if they could make the units easy to cap roll.  I get confused about the science of their autobias.  See Doge Audio's explanation of how and why bias is checked at certain times. 

Customer service is excellent.  Sound quality is certainly superb, even if subjectively it might not make the grade in every system. 

Finally, the higher output Primaluna amps and integrated can drive many speakers--even those of arguably less efficiency.  

I bounce back and forth between a PL HP integrated and a 300B amp.  There are so many things right about PL and nothing that is truly wrong or a problem.  As far as the forums go, I haven't had much push back or adverse opinions about using a PL, but that's one guy's experience.  

China is not making just junk these days.  While I agree with much of the political stuff above, it is important to note that as incomes rise in China they have a booming hifi market. They have some really great home grown brands that deserve our attention--i.e. Kinki Studio, Doge Audio, and Line Magnetic.    I think we have to be careful about saying "Made in X = Y" and judge products and companies individually.  

@tablejockey ,  I think that photo you linked to caused me confusion before.  PL lists Mundorf capacitors yet the photo has DuRoche or SCR caps I think.  I also think PL switch from DuRoche to Mundorf at some point. 

At any rate, at one point (a year ago) I opened mine up to do some cleaning and take a look around. I thought swapping caps was tougher than it should be because the case was really stuffed with parts. Maybe I'll open it again and take a look.  

I, too, wanted to upgrade caps.  I have no issue with PL making decisions to limit part cost--they all do it.  

I would love to use these Polish caps -- they are moving into the radar out there and have gotten more expensive. https://www.partsconnexion.com/miflex.html. I think Don Sachs uses these too. 

@tablejockey,   the caps you would want to swap out are those hooked to the tube sockets.   Take a look here:  https://www.v-cap.com/zsolt-andrasy-primaluna-dialog-premium.php

The v-caps used in that mod are supposed to be great.  I know Victor of Elekit "fame" now uses them as their 300B upgrade (previously used Mundorf).  

@tablejockey,   Hey there, I just opened my PL Dialoge HP Integrated.  A slightly different layout than the amp version.  But still essentially the same. 

I'm going to leave the caps on the tube sockets alone for now. Instead, since mine has its own preamp, I'm going to pull the lower end Mundorfs from the two center preamp tubes and replace with V-Cap CuTF .22uf - Matched .5% pairs.  This is a ~$300 upgrade--in keeping with money we spend on tubes and wires.  Further, swapping these two caps is (a) likely to have the most impact; (b) the Mundorfs they replace are not high end--decent but not high end; and (c) they are an easy swap given their positioning and long leads covered in clear teflon.  

Tablejockey, I think you have an integrated too, am I right?  

I ordered the V-Caps today.  I'll get them in this week and let you know my thoughts.  

FYI--I sold my Klipsch Forte IIIs and upgraded to Cornwall IVs, but I have no idea when Music Direct will get them here. 

If anyone is interested, PM me for a photograph of the HP Integrated internal view where I've marked it up to show where each set of caps are and their values. 

@tablejockey , So I ordered two (2) .22uF V-Cap CuTF Series capacitors. They are copper foil and fluoropolymer film.

I removed the two small caps on the two center gain tubes (the center, innermost two preamp tubes). The layout on the HP integrated is clean but it’s totally stuffed into the chassis. This was a 30 minute project because I had to move slowly working in tight quarters.

I would like to swap the caps linked on each of the power tube sockets. However, they left very, very little room to do so in the HP integrated. The stock DuRoche caps are quite small --likely .5" diameter by 1" long. I cannot seem to find many options that will fit in these spots. I’m down to Audience Auricap XO, maybe Audio Note (they are all sold out) or maybe I can fit Jantzens. My first choice was MiFlex but they won’t fit without some magic. Same drill with Jupiters. But, Audience Auricap XOs are great caps and they are very likely better than the stock ones.

There are two film caps linked to each of the two massive Nichicons on the power supply. Those are the easiest swap. I’m just not sure how much upgrading these will make. I’ll try these next. I’m very much open to suggestions on make and model for these.

And yes, the V-Cap CuTFs on the preamp gain sockets sound great! I don’t like their price but I do like their sound. :)