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Primaluna EVO 300 or Carey 120S MKII?

My used Pass Labs X250 just fried. I bought it at a decent price and sent it back to Pass for repair. But at this point, I’m thinking about getting something new and selling the Pass when it comes back. Warranty and all that...

Which brings me to my question. I’m looking at the Carey 120S and the Primaluna EVO (or the legacy Dialogue Premium HP). I have a Carey SLP-05 preamp with PS Audio PerfectWave dac and transporter, plus the PS Audio Powerplant. They’re all moving through GoldenEar Triton 1 reference speakers with the powered subwoofer.  I’ve heard good things about the Primaluna. Does anyone have any experience with the Carey 120S? Which would be the best match for the system? Also, would the EVO 300 be sufficient to drive the Tritons? 
tammanyman
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,735 posts
 
I've Owned Cary gear in the past and was always very happy with it. I had an SLP 94 and SLM 100 Mono blocks (100wpc) (driving ProAc R 2.5's). that system was at the time one of the most musical I have yet to own. I still dream of sitting listening to that system. So I'd vote for the Cary Audio equipment IMO. mind you I have not heard anything new form them in many years so I can not say what their current line sound like. there are many other other options as well you should look at. 
jp-2213
43 posts
 
The 120 and the SLP05 would look great together and create "system synergy" for what it's worth.

i had a pair of quicksilver V4 mono's in the past (I have since gone to SS amplification) but the V4's were nice little amps!

to mirror Glenn...lots of good amps out there in this price range
-JP
mjcmt's avatar
mjcmt
711 posts
 
I've had Cary and their sister company Audio Electronics in the past. I have always loved the musical and large sound it produced. Definitely on the warm romantic side of things, yet w/ good detail with a big soundstage from memory. I currently own Mystere, PrimaLuna's sister company also from the Netherlands. Very detailed and more solid state sounding, with a more intimate soundstage. The integrated I have is a lower cost unit compared to Cary's separates. Both use excelent parts and have great build quality. I like PrimaLuna's auto-bias that takes the work of finding the tubes sweet spot and it will keep it there as the tubes age. It's a toss up for me.
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