PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium

"06-28-15: Tswisla
I guess that this board should cease to exist and all of the audiophile magazines should fold because everything discussed is too "subjective"."

The comment about the magazines is a good idea. People rely way too much on them, and end up making a lot of mistakes because of it. This thread should stand, however. Hopefully someone will read the magazine comment.

Tswisla...I own the Primaluna Dialogue Premium preamp and in "my opinion" you would have to look long and hard for a better built and sounding tube unit. I'm not saying you could not find a better sounding tube preamp or something that would better suite your likes and needs,but for me,and my tastes,I'm very happy with what the Dialogue Premium brings to the table. Good luck with your decision.

The PrimaLuna / XA 30.8 combo would sound significantly different compared to the INT 150. IMHO, the PrimaLuna / XA30.8 would be the way to go, but it would help if you would tell us what speakers you are using, how your system sounds to you and what kind of improvement you would like to hear.

The PrimaLuna is an excellent preamp. I know of no other preamp/amp/integrated components at this price level that have gotten the number of awards and rave reviews that the PrimaLuna products have. The raves come from owners as well as reviewers.

Many times when we try to upgrade our systems we get a sideways move instead of an upgrade. It sounds different but not necessarily better. So for now I'd hang on to the PrimaLuna and see if you can listen to the Pass amps to determine if one or the other is what you want.

Reno HiFi will let you buy Pass amps (including used amps) with an option to return, but it does cost money to return an amp (shipping and restocking fees). It is one way to hear the amps in your own system, though.

Tomcy6, thank you. I deal exclusively with Reno HiFi for my amplifier. Mark is the best in the business! I am using Super HL5 Plus speakers. My system sounds really great, but I am always looking to improve. Well, I want to really take it easy for a while and want to settle in with something great. That is why I am asking for some advice. I have read such rave reviews about the Dialogue, it is almost too good to be true, which is why I am asking others who have heard/compared it. I really want to slow down and just listen to music like I used to rather than changing/upgrading all of the time. It is wearing on me. Thank you for the input, it helps tremendously.

Tswisla, You're welcome. I think you have a really nice system and I would just enjoy it.

If you still get the urge to tweak it now and then, you could try a little tube rolling. You probably know that Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio is the distributor for PrimaLuna and also has a great stock of NOS tubes. You could check with him and see what tubes he might recommend as an upgrade to the stock tubes.