Prima Luna Dialogue 2 or Cayin A100?

Saki70 - I also wonder whether there might have been something wrong with the Prima Luna unit I had, such as a faulty component. If so, perhaps Dramapsycho's unit has a similar problem.

My Prima Luna looked so nice, was in minty-new condition, and I bought it for under US$1000, and with all its raving reviews it was hard to return to the shop, but my wife and I both found it unpleasant to listen to and I was too busy to fiddle with blind tube swapping via mail order or room tweaking within the month at-home trial period I had for it.

In retrospect I regret having returned it. At the price I bought it at, I probably should have kept it longer and tried a few things, even taken it to a repair shop for a components check (very expensive here), and then sold it later on eBay or somewhere for a profit later if all tweaks failed to improve the sound.

I have to agree with Saki70. I have used my PL2 with BW 602 s3, Triangle Comete (bright speakers) and just installed De Capo I, and bright is not the word i would use with any of these speakers and the Primaluna. I do have warmer tubes but even with KT88's it was always smooth and non-fatiguing. We listen for hours on the weekends and never want to turn it off.

WOW! Thanks for all of the suggestions. Here are the changes that I made and -- for now -- my problem of "brightness to an extreme" has been solved.

I shared my problem with Brent at audiotubes.com and he suggested I insert NOS Telefunken 12AU7 smooth plate tubes and NOS Sylvania 6L6 power tubes. This move was costly but I figured that I wanted to make this tube change once with noticeable results.

The outcome is fantastic. The harsh high end is gone, the bottom is better supported, and the mids . . . oh, the mids are awesome. Add to this, the 3D sound stage and instrument placement is to die for. My Sonus Faber Cremona Auditors vanish in the room and I am left with a very VISUAL musical experience. In particular, disc 1 of the new stereo re master Beatles White Album and all of Abbey Road is a completely new experience. As is Rene Olstead, Bluesquest, Alison Kraus, and many other SACDs in my collection.

So, thank you to everyone who chimed in to help me. You are the reason that I frequent Audiogone.com.

Good for you, Dramapsycho - It makes me deeply regret having sold my Prima Luna, which I had such a great deal on. The chance of finding one in that condition at that price again in Japan is probably about nill.

As some sort of compensation from the Gods, however, I just upgraded my Ah! Njoe Tjoeb CD player with the upsampler and Siemens 7308 gold pin tubes, and now I am totally happy with the sound of my system, and don't feel I need a new amp anymore, so long as I only play CDs.