PrimaLuna Preamp Upgrade Question

Re speaker set up, it’s really not possible to suggest a set up starting point as you have not really described your room, however tablejockey’s recommendation for the Cardas calculator is a good one as a starting point. Overall your end result will probably be optimum with your speakers further out into the room (mine are 5 1/2 feet) your listening chair well out from the back wall (mine are 4 feet) set up in a equilateral triangle or something close thereto (mine are 9 feet apart and my chair is 10 back from the plane of the speakers). The speaker are toed in substantially to reduce side wall reflections (but it seems you have plenty of space on the sides already). Another consideration is whether to put you speakers on a long wall or a short wall. I’ve always found the short wall better, but if you can, try both.

There, that you keep you busy. Getting your room right takes quite a bit of time. Although room treatments can be helpful, I would recommend that you get the fundamentals right before you start on ’treatment’. FWIW.

@tablejockey awesome thanks for the link. I'll do some reading. I followed the basic guidelines in the focal manual but I'm always open to trying different. 

And I've heard the PL input tubes make the "biggest" sonic impact. What I may do is start with the flanking tubes and let them burn in to see if I experience anything. I greatly appreciate the input. I think the experience is what I'm ultimately after and maybe not the major $$$ I was originally considering. 

J-Wall
This is a hobby and we do what we want or think is best to improve our listening enjoyment. I’d like to offer another route to consider.
I looked at your setup and you have a turntable. Is analog your main source of enjoyment? It’s certainly mine! I stream from my phone to a 1987 DAC. It sounds good but can’t touch my analog particularly if I’m listening to a killer pressing! It’s night and day! When I sit down for a serious listening session, my analog system takes me on a journey.
So may I suggest this: In an analog system, two of the most important components in the chain are at opposite ends of the system. The cartridge and the speakers. The cartridge turns mechanical energy into electronic energy; the speakers turn the electronic energy into mechanical energy. That’s probably an oversimplification but those two ends are a good place to start. But alas, the 936’s are already part of your system (I also own a set). You could put 20k worth of components in your system, but without a decent cartridge, you’ll never begin to reap their benefit.

I have the PrimaLuna Dialogue. Cost slightly less than your EVO. To put things into perspective- I have about 12k into my turntable, tone arm, cartridge, and phono preamp. The first time I played a killer pressing (white-hot stamper), I got teary-eyed. I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing! And that’s before I upgraded all of my power cords, interconnects, and power conditioner.
Lastly, don’t underestimate a decent album cleaner. That’s another story. Couldn’t live without one. Night and day in most cases. I have a friend who is a picker and has an antique shop. He lets me go through his albums; I’ll take 30 or so and clean them before playing them. I’ll cherry-pick the ones I want to keep and return the rest. I kept about 15 of them. the criteria I use to decide is: 1. Does the music speak to me and would I want to listen to it again. 2. Condition of the album. Scratches, ticks, pops, etc 3. Quality of the pressing (sonic quality) Not often, but some albums I’ll keep just because they are killer pressings.

The third batch I got from him I figured I’d save some time and listen to a couple of tracks or even an entire side before cleaning it. Sadly, the first three albums went into the "return pile". Even though they were in perfect condition and were albums I would certainly want to listen to again, the sonic quality of the pressings was very poor. After placing the 4th album in the return pile, I figured I’d immediately clean it and give it another listening to see if it made any difference. Again, after cleaning it, I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing! Night and day.
Sorry for the ramble.

I'm currently running a Clearaudio Concept Wood with Carbon Fiber Tonearm, Hana EH cartridge with Audioquest Big Sur interconnects (had Transparent Audio interconnects on lend, but honestly could not tell they a difference). Phonostage is a Musical Surrounds Nova III with the outboard Linear Power Supply. Evo400 power cable has been upgraded to an Audioquest NRG-4. 

I strictly listen to vinyl and keep the digital for in the car as digital is less involving for me and enjoy the human experience with records.