Integrated Tube Around $1000

I've listened to the Jolida 502 and the Primaluna Prologue 2, but not side by side. I think both amps will be able to drive the Totems. I listened to the J502 with Maggie 1.6s and the P2 with the Audio Physic Virgos. Neither speaker is terriby efficient. Despite the power ratings of the amps, the P2 seems more powerful than the Jolida. Some of the posters above assume that all watts are equal. The quality of those watts will also make a difference. Both amps are very good, especially for the money. As noted, the P2 has better build quality. It's easy to use for the first-time tube user and should put out great music for a very long time. Based on all my auditions, I think you would need to spend double or triple the price of the P2 to get significantly better sound. I ended up getting the P2.

Rich, about the relative loudness of your Prologue 2 vs the NAD 320BEE... do you mean that's a measure of the ability of these amps to play loud, or simply that the Prologue has more gain at a lower volume setting?

I have the 320BEE on a short list for 4 systems, each one with different-efficiency speakers, which is why I ask.

Wes

I'm curious about your Totem experience. Was the problem that you were not getting enough volume with 30watts? Did you still get a full range of sounds?

Scottz

Could you explain a bit more about your comments re. not all watts being equal?

thanks

matthew

Rich - I wasn't referring to your mention of 85dB. Same number but different comment.

Also, I think some people confuse forward sound with increased volume. A more forward presentation will sound louder at the same volume as a more laid back presentation. The power used is the same - only the personal impression changes. This has often been my experience with tube amps and leads many people to say "not all watts are equal" which of course can't physically be true. Arthur

Matthew,

I normally drive the Totems with a Levinson amp that puts out 200 watts at 4 ohms. I was trying to give the little Music Reference every chance as I really wanted to justify buying a RM200. Now I did not take db readings but I did try to keep levels matched. As soon as I hooked up the tube amp there was an immediate huge reduction in volume. I was kind of suprised because at the level I had it either amp should have only been using a few watts. I thought ok suprising but let's keep going. Sat down to listen and noticed the amp really seemed to be struggling to power the speakers, dynamics seemed restricted and the highs had a bit of a glare to them (this is not normally a trait of this amp). Now I'm kind of bummed and I get out my rat shack meter, with my preamp contol wide open I could barely hit the 80db mark and it was freaking me out to have my volume control set that high. I then tried wiring the amp from the 8 ohm taps and I was able to get a bit more volume but the sound suffered even more. I considered upping the internal gain switches on my preamp but as this would have required a good bit of work and I wasn't too thrilled with my experiment so far I opted not to.

I think theTotems are even more difficult to drive than I suspected and I was probably over taxing the power supply on the 30 watt tube amp. Also, now that I think about it when I got the Totems I spoke with Vince and he recommended sticking with my Levinson amp as I was considering tubes to drive them then.

Scottz, if you were referring to me there aren't many 30 watt amps I would be hesitant to put my Music Reference amp up against, certainly not a Chinese made Jolida or Primaluna.

Wes