2. amps-preamps
  3. 148020-130676

PRIMA LUNA AMPLIFIERS

Hi 

I,m thinking of buying a Prima Luna amplifier but worried re reliability, and what you do in the UK if you have problems.

Would like to hear what owners think about reliability, tube changes , tube upgrades, potential problems,
And what happened if you had problems re after sales repair and support.



i,m going to use them with Proac D20 r floorstanders .

 Thanks in advance for your help 
goldfish2a
mozartfan
2,143 posts
 
I can't speak to the Cayin, which I have heard is made at the same plant, but the unconfirmed rumors are that Cayin uses differently sourced parts  and is not just a PrimaLuna with a different name slapped on it.

Correct, Both are made by Spark Labs,, both look simliar in design,, but  that does not at all mean they will present music as  equals. 
I am going with the Cayin SC6 pre vs the PL Evo 100. 
I have a  cayin cd17 Mark 1  past 15 years and had no issues, built like a  tank, with nice resolution,,although i did spend $$$ on new Mundorf Caps and Sparksolab Descrete opamps,,I plan to add a  new PL cd player next year. 

ksubrama's avatar
ksubrama
8 posts
 
@ shahram - missed answering your question:

“Slightly off topic, but how does the EVO 400 work as a daily driver? How fine are the volume adjustments via remote?”

It is working great so far. Much more heat compared to SS, but I leave it on about 4-5 hours at a stretch, give at least 30 minutes between power cycles, and avoid rapid power cycles. Takes a minute to warm up and tubes are fully charged in 5 mins or so. I will admit that I feel nervous when the PL is on with no music playing, almost feel a compelling urge to turn it off.

As far as the remote goes, it is superb. No power on/off obviously but the analog volume control is very responsive. No steps as such but a single press on the remote gets you 1-2 degree turn on the volume dial. Very slick and responsive.


shahram
115 posts
 
Thanks for your comments. This is super helpful!
ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
There is a switch on the side for low and high output tubes. EL34 being low output, and KT120, KT150 etc. are considered high output.
The switch is for EL34 or KT-88 bias. The KT-120 & KT-150 are a whole different tube than the KT-88. The 120 & 150 use up to 25% more heater current. Unless the amp has a regulated heater supply capable of supplying the increased load, an un-regulated supply may struggle with the extra current. If the amp can supply the current for 150's with an unregulated supply, then the heater voltage for the EL34 and drivers is way too high.

Power is determined by the power supply. Adding a beefier tube does not increase the power. Sonics may change depending on the design and transformers.

Additionally, general tube rolling advice is not worth the bits to transmit. Tubes from the same batch vary widely. Tubes change continuously. What is golden in one amp may be less than stellar in another.
andysf's avatar
andysf
269 posts
 
"
I can't speak to the Cayin, which I have heard is made at the same plant, but the unconfirmed rumors are that Cayin uses differently sourced parts  and is not just a PrimaLuna with a different name slapped on it.

Correct, Both are made by Spark Labs,, both look simliar in design,, but that does not at all mean they will present music as equals. "

One distinction to be made here is that Cayin is completely owned by the Chinese government (part of the the CATIC group), while Prima Luna is only manufactured in factories owned by the Chinese government.  So with Prima Luna, you are making less of a contribution to the cause!  Not an issue to most probably but something to keep in mind when making a choice between the two.
More to discover