I went through a 'hate em/love em' phase with the tubes.. at first, the KT150s gave me the punch that was missing with the EL34s...  but I lost the holographic midrange. After a few dozen hours everything balanced out nicely; the midrange still isn't as lush as the EL34S, but its 85% there... with the added dynamics and bottom end that was missing. Kevin told me a few weeks ago, and I have seen, they really need some hours on them before you can judge. I also replaced the two main input tubes with Mullards and that was a huge improvement.... the only word of warning is 8 Kt150s is basically a space heater.. no joke. a LOT of heat comes off them. This is my bedroom system, and that may in the end be the deal breaker.
Hey PL enthusiasts! I had a PL Dialogue Premium HP integrated with Focal Aria 948's for a while. The speakers didn't do it for me (i rolled lots of different tubes, but eventually could not overcome persistent brightness); Long story short, moved to Dynaudio Contour 60s, that are 4 ohm 87dB bad ass speakers that really come alive with top notch SS amps (I do think top notch tubes would also do it but that's a TON more to worry about and also more $$$); I am tossing around the idea of a Pass Labs X250.8 with a PL Evo 400 preamp. I understand that the way PL implements balanced signals is by transformers, totally cool, and the best way to drive Pass gear. I KNOW the amazingly musical and awesome potential sound from modern PL gear; Since this IS a thread about EVO stuff do you also see the synergistic potential here? Thanks!!
PrimaLuna at AXPONA, 12-14 April 2019Posted on 10/04/2019 by beheerder

Shared by Upscale Audio.

PrimaLuna’s new EVO Series of Tube Electronics will make its North American trade show debut next week at AXPONA, 12-14 April, at the Renaissance Schaumberg Hotel and Convention Center, Schaumberg, IL. PrimaLuna will unveil this innovative new product line in the Inspiration Room, on the main floor. Kevin Deal, President, and Anthony Chiarella, National Sales Manager, will be on hand to demonstrate the product and answer questions.

It has been nearly a decade since PrimaLuna has introduced an entirely refreshed product line and PrimaLuna fans will find the new EVO series shares the previous line’s DNA. The new products feature upgraded transformers and internal components, improved aesthetics (rounded faceplate edges, Roll-Top tube cages on all models, etc) and an enhanced feature set including headphone amplifiers on all integrated amplifiers and true-balanced, transformer-coupled XLR inputs and outputs on upper-end models. Just as important is what hasn’t changed, including the meticulous hand-assembly, point-to-point wiring, superlative build quality and cutting-edge Adaptive Auto-Bias (TM) circuitry upon which PrimaLuna has built its reputation.


I inquired about the sonic differences between the Dialogue Premium preamp and the new EVO 300 preamp...Upscale Audio’s response was as follows...

"I wanted to write you about the EVO 300 and the Dialogue Premium..... Sonically, I don’t believe that you will hear the difference between them. The reason for the hike in price is the new model line and a few different components that are changed within. We feel it’s not worth the upgrade as you already have an amazing preamplifier in the Dialogue Premium ." <End quote>
Interesting post, aolmrd, because the 300 preamp and 400 should be the same, except no balanced section. I asked Upscale today if there is any difference between the balanced and unbalanced outs on the 400 and got two answers from two different people: negligible unless if everything from source to output is balanced, and probably little even then (Jared); and no, not unless the power and/or IC run is long (someone else). The latter is the same answer I got from Lampi when I asked about the difference between their balanced and unbalanced outs.