Tube amps under $7500


Ready to experiment with combinations never before (or not recently) tried. Step one requires a tube amp. Now looking at Prima Luna EVO 400 which sells for 5K. Any other tube amps I should consider in this price/feature range? Must come in silver with balanced input. For pairing experimentally with various tube and SS preamps. Efficient 4 ohm Legacy speakers (and the room/setup) are the constants.

 

hickamore

I had a Rogue ST-100 for a minute. It sounded terrible on my speakers, which are extremely accurate. I understand that Rogue overdrives the power tubes so you must constantly replace them at about six months.

I have two Prima Luna Dialogue Premium HP, the non-balanced pre-cursor to the EVO's. I loaded the HPs (I run them as mono-blocks) with KT150's. That gave me just below 200 watts for UL and nearly 100 for TR mode The PL is easier to work with as all the controls are accessible while playing. The auto adjust bias is a godsend as I don't worry about having the tubes adjusted properly.

I've had the PL HPs for six years now and I'm still running the same tubes. They must have lost something, but I still can play anything very loud with no fatigue. That's the best test I know for an amps usability. I had to stop listening to the Rogue after it was in use for an hour. I didn't keep it a month. Don't buy a Rogue.

@hickamore 

Like you I would naturally incline to KT150s and wonder why the unit costs $400 less with these vs. stock EL34. 

Are you in the U.S.? If so, I'm not sure where you're getting those prices. At Upscale Audio — the natural place to buy PrimaLuna because Upscale's Kevin Deal is the brand's U.S. importer — the EVO 400 is on sale for $4,995. That's with 8 EL34s. With a set of KT150s, the price is $5,715.