Primaluna separates or Integrated?

You will find the following thread to be of interest:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/primaluna-prologue-integrated-help-needed

As you’ll see, the OP in that thread had a problem using the PrimaLuna ProLogue integrated amp with his GoldenEar Triton Two speakers, in the form of a "throb" at about two beats per second that occurred when the volume was raised beyond a certain point.

Like your Triton Three his Twos have internal amplification for the deep bass, resulting in an impedance that rises to very high levels at deep bass frequencies. And it turned out that the amp wasn’t happy working into a load that was essentially absent at low frequencies. The result being what is referred to in electronics as "motorboating."

I suggested that he try putting suitably chosen load resistors on the output terminals of the amp, and that resolved the problem.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

 I have the Prima Luna Dialogue premium HP integrated amp.
When I ran it into a pair of Dali Helicon 400 floorstanding speakers with ribbon tweeters, the mid range in the top end were the best I have ever heard on those speakers. but the base was too soft. 

But since you have Active subwoofers and you don’t need to amplify them, I would concentrate on an integrated amplifier that just provides the juice for the mid frequencies and high frequencies. 

Meaning that the nonHP Integrated primaluna would likely provide enough power for the mid/highs on you 90dB/8ohm Tritons. And provide beautiful depth, resolution, and timbre. 

To be honest I think the pre-Maluma prima Luna amplifiers are a step above the Tritons, even though the Tritons are very good.

Consequently, I would just pick up the PL nonHP Integrated, and keep your leftover $500 to buy NOS tubes for the PL. Particularly NOS PreAmp tubes, which seem to have the largest impact on final SQ. 

When you graduate from the Tritons and move up the line, then I would consider separate PL preamp and amplifier.

 The most effective and efficient upgrade after the integrated will be to install the NOS tubes. After that, when you upgrade your speakers, then maybe consider Prima Luna separates. 

incredible!  I can not thank you enough almarg for bringing this phenomena to my attention!  You are a great example of why these forums are so valuable to the home audio enthusiast. Im not an electrical engineer, but I did take a EE course in college and have had a healthy respect for them ever since.  Do you know if all the Primaluna lines would be susceptible to "motorboating" or do any have a more robust stability when dealing with high current at high impedances in the low frequency range of GoldenEar subs? 

@ezstreams...………………

I run my Golden Ear Triton Reference speakers with a McIntosh power and pre. 150wpc going to the mids and tweeter is plenty of power. I can easily hit 108db in my room (don’t recommend it though your ears could suffer from too much volume) and the sound is deep and tight,

@ezstreams,

Thank you for the nice words :-)

I have no way of knowing if a similar problem would arise if a different PrimaLuna model than the OP was using in the thread I linked to were to be used with your Tritons. But it wouldn't surprise me if there is enough design commonality among PrimaLuna's various models for the problem to arise.

On the other hand, though, should that occur it seems to me that the resistor solution would be a good one. The only downsides I would expect are a slight reduction in the maximum amount of power that could be delivered to the speakers, and perhaps a tiny increase in distortion due to the slight reduction of the overall load impedance seen by the amp. I'd be very surprised if either of those effects were great enough to be audible.

I should mention also that if you were to go with one of the higher powered PrimaLuna models the 47 ohm 12 watt resistors that were used by the OP in the other thread with his approximately 40 watt amp may have to be different in one or both of those parameters.

Good luck, however you decide to proceed. Best regards,
-- Al