Prima Luna EVO series amps/preamps now available...

Well there is an ocean of difference In sound quality between The Dialogue Premium power amp and the Evo 400.

I bought the Dialogue Premium (DP) 2 weeks ago and put about 150 hours on it. Day one: It sounded good...great bass, good dynamics and lush. But my previous 2 amps had much better detail/resolution. Still I gave it a chance rolled some tubes in there. Today and 150 hours later...I drove it down to Upscale Audio and traded up to the Evo 400.

I looked online to see the internals of the DP and DP/HP. There’s a lot more ’pink’ in the HP...meaning way more Takman resistors in the HP and slightly better coupling caps. I also compared the insides of the HP to the Evo 400. There are only subtle upgrades. The Evo 300 shows the biggest upgrade from the DP. Still, I didn’t want to make this trip again...so I decided to go up to 8 power tubes.

From the very first note, the Evo 400 had much better resolution...micro details. My previous amp was a Don Sachs Kootenay...and the DP just couldn’t cut it. The Evo 400, I can live with it. I may decide to upgrade the coupling caps after I break this amp in. But right now, there’s enough there there.
My system:
2 dedicated audio lines>Technics 1200G>Audio Technica VM740ML>Project RS Phono Preamp>Don Sachs Model 2 Preamp>PrimaLuna Evo 400>Salk Songtowers

The only weak link in the PL preamps is the slightly-better-than-average volume attenuator.
While not bad...it would be better to have a high end stepped attenuator.

@sandthemall What preamp would you say has a better volume attenuator thatn the Primaluna? PS Audio BHK, or Rogue audio RP-7?

Sorry for the late reply! But that answer I don’t know. I do know that my Don Sachs Preamp has a very nice stepped attenuator. I have no experience with PS Audio or Rogue. I did own a NAD preamp with an Alps Blue Velvet attenuator as in the Primaluna...they’re fine and completely analogue. But at this level, a nice stepped attenuator is what you want.

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)...

Hi @dpac996,
I am new to tubes and am considering pairing some new Focal 948s with a PL EVO 300. One of my concerns with the pairing is the brightness you mentioned. Unfortunately none of the shops near me have this set up, so I am really putting a lot of through/consideration into the potential purchase.

Anyway, I recall hearing that ultra high end wiring (i.e., platinum and silver) can sometime accentuate that bright characteristic in the Focals. Would you mind sharing what wiring you were using in your set up and if you think that could have been a factor? Sounds like you test a lot of different solutions.