Upscale Audio and Primaluna

Synopsis:

1) Kevin deal can be a POS, pushy salesman OR the nicest, technically savvy, honest and helpful guy there is. I guess it depends on his mood.

2) Upscale Audio is a reputable, class A+ outfit that sells at honest prices and provides excellent customer support OR its a sales first, customer last outfit that should be avoided. I guess it depends on personal experiences.

3) PL gear is a high end line, robustly built, sanely priced, and better at there price points than higher priced competition OR shouldn't be compared to true high end equipment (albeit more expensive). I guess it depends on your ears.

Personally, I've had good experience with PL. I wanted to buy my PL Dialogue Premium preamp direct from them but Kevin suggested I support my local dealer. I watched Kevin's video on tubes and his description of the differences I would hear between different EL34s were spot on. If you believe the videos, he only sells tubes that have a high reliability and avoids those lines that have a high failure rate. The EL34s I bought from him came matched, tested, and burned in for 72 hrs at now additional cost. I even got a 15% discount offer on future purchases. 

As far as my preamp, I couldn't be happier. Lovely, heavy remote and if you dont like the appearance of PL gear, just remove the tube cage and it'll look like almost every other tubed preamp.

J.Chip

Just purchased PrimaLuna EVO400 that was one week old. This is a well built And great sounding amp that anyone can operate. I have been at this hobby for 52 years. Regarding Kevin Deal, he is very knowledgeable. Read and watch the reviews as they are accurate. You can spend your money anywhere.

@hudo
What I wrote (in full) was:"A couple of people have pointed out that the Prima Luna amps are made by Cayin/Spark but did not mention that Cayin/Spark is owned by the Chinese government as part of the large CATIC group. Quite simply, every dollar of profit from your purchase of a Cayin amp goes directly to a government that runs vast re-education camps, oppresses dissent in Xianjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong and promotes the use of slave and forced labor in the country’s workforce."
My point was that Cayin equipment is made by the Chinese GOVERNMENT (not private individuals), which uses the money for repression both at home and abroad and also, unquestionably uses forced or slave labor. It is a bit of a myth that everything is made in China these days-plenty of cell phones like Samsung are made entirely in Korea for instance. In any case, all things being equal, I think most of us here would rather not give our money to the Chinese government when there are plenty of good alternatives,both within and outside of the PRC.
In this regard, it should be mentioned that Prima Luna products are also manufactured in Chinese government factories but is itself a western owned private concern. Prima Luna, to its credit, has been completely transparent about this, unlike some "European" companies that largely manufacture in China but obscure the fact. These are things are generally not discussed in publications like Stereophile or Absolute Sound, making audio focused websites like this often the only source of information.

I've bought from Upscale several times, VPI table, Hana cartridge, Sutherland phono pre, and Pro-Ject record vacuum. Hell, just noticed I'm wearing their t-shirt! Each piece first rate, and I'm collecting and listening to albums like I did 40 years ago... but much, much better sound. Don't own any PL,  confess to irritation by Kevin's Audio Research shade, but I buy my 6H30s from him which I believe makes him complicit..

I’ve made 4 purchases from Upscale. They can be a little pushy at times, but found them to be congenial. Even Kevin, who started grating on my nerves after 2 minutes, but kept conversing with him and found his grating comes from his passion.
I have a PL EVO 300 preamp that I bought from Upscale at the end of our conversation, and I love it.