PrimaLuna Preamp Upgrade Question

j-wall.

As stereo5 mentions,you may want to consider addressing the overall sonic concerns first before blowing cash here and there.

I'm in the speaker placement/room acoustics camp. I've head those 936's sound great with the PL. Optimal placement of your speakers is a game changer. Spending time with the speaker placement archives may be helpful. What's going on the room is very influential to the speakers presentation.

The speakers should sound close to great out of the box, but they may sound better after a few hours of playtime. Setup is paramount. Are you able to get them out in the room?(4-6ft from the front, 3-4 from the sides)

Since the you're in a rental, the PP or PLC(AQ Niagara)may be a good "finishing touch" for your setup. Not until your ears determine you've placed the speakers in their best position, relative to your situation. 

There are more knowledgeable members with speaker/room interaction you may want to pose speaker  positioning  questions later. 

Trust your ears.

Moving to the separate preamp is a Huge upgrade.  Not subtle at all.  I had the previous line (dialogue premium) integrated.  I did not try just adding a preamp but went right to the separates.  The preamp adds so much more detail, transparency, etc.  The integrated is muddy in comparison in my experience.  I read plenty of general comments here and elsewhere about how going separates was always better, but I was skeptical as to how much difference it could make.  In this case with PL it was very much worth the extra cash.  I was using Tannoy loudspeakers at that point.

I read plenty of general comments here and elsewhere about how going separates was always better, but I was skeptical as to how much difference it could make. In this case with PL it was very much worth the extra cash.

Funny.  The loudest voices on this forum believe you'd have to be a moron to favor separates.    I disagree....separates win but you can get "good enough" SQ with an integrated as well, and at a cheaper cost.  It's all about your musical priorities and if you desire flexibility down the road..

I'm a Primaluna Dialogue line user.  I have the integrated model. 

I think it would likely be an upgrade to go separates all around. But tablejockey is very right in his words of caution/disclaimer.  

One thing that I would personally consider if I was doing what you are looking to do is listen to preamps with 6SN7 tubes.  Primaluna is married to the 12AU7.  They are a good tube, but I do like the 6SN7 sonic signature more.  Some folks think the 6SN7 is the most linear small signal triode around.  I do think it sounds a bit more at ease than its smaller cousin the 12AU7.  It may be more prone to microphonics though--I'm not sure.

Take a look at this preamp-- http://www.dsachsconsulting.com/custom%20line%20stage.html

I haven't heard the EVO line yet.  I would think PL would engineer these to sound better when using its separates--otherwise why spend more for another box? I'm generalizing and giving PL the benefit of the doubt as they have a decent record of providing quality at pricepoints. 

I have the dialogue Premium HP integrated, and what I did was to buy 2 Evo 300 poweramps and run them  as mono amps with a Herron Audio VTSP-2 preamp which is the best of both worlds. And the Primaluna integrated I put into my office system.
So if I was in your situation I would get  2 PL Evo400 power amps and run them as mono amps along with the preamp of your choice and sell the Evo400 integrated