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I've decided to try Tubes

I have been going back and forth a while. I was thinking of the Yamaha AS2100 to replace my B&K amp (ZU audio Omen Def speakers). For some reason I now have a tube bug. I first thought about DECWARE and now thinking of Primaluna after reading great reviews. If tubes are not for me, both should be easy to resell. I have an opportunity on a Primaluna Prolouge 5 stereo power amp. It has autobias (which is a must for me) and is easy to roll tubes. It comes with KT88's which seem to have better lower end than el34's (from what I read). 35 watts per ch is more than enough to drive my Omen Defs loud if needed (101 db). 

Thought's on the PrimaLuna and ZU combo (Peachtree NOVA-PRE)? I listen to Classic Jazz, Classical and Classic - Prog Rock mostly. 


aberyclark
rotarius
431 posts
 
@aberyclark, the Primaluna Prologue is decent although the bass is a bit too loose for my tastes.  I thought the autobias feature while convenient is a bit gimmicky.  I prefer manual biasing.  The newer Jolidas are nice, don't overlook them due to posts from the past about QC.  I have a Jolida 3502 and it is simply superb.  Bettered the Primaluna in every way and I have owned it for a year without issues.  As others have said, Quicksilver amps are also really nice for the money.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,784 posts
 
We had a set of ZU Druids here for quite a while. It seems that all of the ZU lineup is tube friendly, and they are also fairly efficient, so you don't need a crazy amount of power.

If I had to guess my impression of the speaker is that its actual efficiency was a few db lower; more like about 97-98 db. They really seemed to benefit from some power, so we used them with our M-60s. They will make on special request, a 30-ohm version of the Definition, which works nicely with lower powered amps.
wolf_garcia
6,695 posts
 
I'm not going to mention the excellent Jolida tube amps again as it simply makes me look like too much of a fanboy. However, like I've said before, tube amps make you personally seem more interesting regardless of whether you actually are.
gdnrbob
4,444 posts
 
@wolf_garcia 
Don't be ashamed for being a fanboy. When we hear what we like, it is only natural to share the enthusiasm.
And, yes, those glowing tubes do make us more interesting. ;)
B
wolf_garcia
6,695 posts
 
No…I'm deeply, deeply ashamed…although I've mentioned Jolida amps exactly 10,412 times in these forums and all it's engendered is scorn and derision…and no free stuff from Jolida.

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