The only tubes I’ve enjoyed bass from are KT88 and KT120. I owned and sold a Prima Luna integrated because of this lack. Oth the PassLabs XA25 had vice like grip on my PMC Twenty26 speakers at the time.
Primaluna EVO 400 Amps/Preamp lacking bass impact
We have Primaluna EVO 400 preamp with 2 EVO 400 amps running monoblock. Focal Kanta No3 speakers.
We were hoping for a bit more bass impact. rolling the tubes in both amps might be out of the range we would invest here.
Mostly music but sometimes used in HT setup with SVS SB-4000 sub. since the sub has full bass management we could add that leaving the Focal full range and setting the sub for 50hz/24db.
As long as it is okay to have both balanced and SE outputs from the preamp hooked up at the same time? always wondered about that.
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The amp damping factor could be a significant source of this lack of bass definition. From a Hi-Fi World review of the EVO 400: "Output impedance measured This low damping factor would result in less control of the speakers at low frequencies compared to an amp with a higher damping factor. The NAD M23, for example, has a damping factor >800.
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I have no skin in the game to respond to this ask. I would however like to give major props to @jimmy2615 for offering such a thoughtful reply. There are really some wonderful folks helping each other out. I’ve always been interested in the Primaluna gear and love the way it sounds in my friends listening room and that’s the reason I dropped into this thread. I have Focal’s in my main room and really enjoy them. I hope the OP can sort out what he’s looking for. Good luck and cheers. |
Thank you Rick. I appreciate most when people can offer comparisons of different gear they’ve tried, otherwise you have to try it for yourself or you’ll never know. That’s one thing (of many) that’s sad about the demise of the B&M stores …. A good dealer should be able to tell you what works with what. Good reviewers also - for example, I appreciate when someone like Herb from Stereophile reviews an amplifier. He’ll report on how it sounds with each speaker he has. |
Thank you @jimmy2615 Since I posted, we tightened up the stands that were a bit loose and moved the speakers back to 30" from the wall and bass is better. the only issue with using the RCA preamp out to the SUB, is the LFE is shared, so would have to unplug and change cables for movies. unless I am missing something. they sound better and most likely will not bother with the sub for music listening..
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