Upgrading from Primaluna


Recently went down the front end upgrade path and am running a nice table and phono now. I'm curious as to what the weaker link in my system is between my Primaluna Dialogue Premium Preamp and my Dialogue Premium Hp Power Amp. I'm considering swapping out the amp to a Ps Audio BHK250 for the summer to avoid heat, but am curious if I would be better off dealing with the heat and moving up to say an Allnic L-7000/Arc Ref 3 for the Pre. I'm happy with tubes on the front end, but curious if I'm running out of gas with 88DB efficient speakers and a single chassis tube amp. Which amp would you upgrade first and what benefits would you expect?

128x128j-wall

I have Sopra 2 running off BHK 250. I had a Krell KAV2250. Both are rated for 250x2 but believe it or not the PS Audio has way more power and slam for big hits. I bought used for 4000. Have not tried rolling tubes yet for sound changes but looking into that once the tube market settles down 

@j-wall

 

Thanks for the additional info. Photos would help also. From what you say of your room… even more the reason to work on room treatments, definitely. You want dampening behind you speakers… dampening along the side wall at reflection points, tube traps in the corner. You have tremendous opportunity to improve what you have.

 

If you post some more photos, we can perhaps be more helpful. Corner diffusers are really cheap… could also help.

How much heat can it possibly make? Is it appreciable enough to even worry about or to make much of a difference in room temp? I own a class A Amp that gets quite hot, but I mean I'm not sitting on top of it or near it. I use it year round...no idea why some make this an actual issue..it isn't. 

" 10ft width and 15ft length so 6ft between speakers and 2 ft from side walls is all I've really got."

With not much to work with other than it is a dedicated space, it suggests almost nearfield setup and those Sopras need to be pushed out 4.5ft away from the front wall, and your already sidewall is near "right"(depending how your measuring)it's actually CLOSER together.

http://www.cardas.com/room_setup_calculators.php

Using the 1/3  it would be around  5' or Cardas calculation above. You should have your chair distanced accordingly.

Rack needs to go either behind you or somewhere on the side.

Depending how those speakers react THEN, is what you're faced with. The DSP thing with a mic to "tell you" what your ears are "missing."  wouldn't invest in anything until you compare results and consult with the room acoustics companies.

You have a Sopra 1 and subs room perhaps to some. IMO, you still will  get the Sopra 2's to "work."

How loud do you like it playing?
If you are not playing it loudly and clipping, then more amp is not going to do a lot.

You might have less distortion. Whether than matters or not is a different question.