Looking to move to a Tube Integrated setup


I'm moving from solid state class D to a Tube Integrated amplifier and have narrowed it down to (2). The Ayon Scorpio II w/KT150's and the PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium HP w/KT120's. Does anyone have any experience with either or both of these they can share. Recommendations? Others I should consider in the $3K to $6K range? My speakers are relatively efficient at 98dB.

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You may want to consider a pre - owned Rogers High Fidelity tube integrated amp they offer direct w/ their full lifetime warranty. They offer a free home trial too. I compared their EHF 200 Mark II to the top Prima Luna & it was in a completely different class in every way & bought it. It’s big, heavy & built extremely well but most importantly sounds excellent! I have no experience w/ Ayon. 

Of the two, despite the beauty of the Ayon, I would go with the Prima Luna's. There are a lot of good points made by Kevin in that video. I've heard my friend's Prima Luna Mono Blocks on his JSE Infinite Slope Model II's which I helped him get/setup (I owned/loved mine for years), and on his current speakers which he prefers, I forget the maker, but they sound terrific, we both prefer tubes to his prior SS. 

Running them cool for long life combined with the adaptive auto-bias dream feature, makes me want one, my early Cayin has manual and dangerous internal bias adjusters. 

Spare tubes should always be on hand, you would only need a few, I gather that they will come with KT120's. As it is a major shift to Tube sound, I would encourage you to buy (now or eventually) a batch of EL34's, and compare them.

Break in new tubes: on, no input needed, just leave them on for around 60 hours is what Brent Jesse advised me to do.

With speakers at efficiency at 98dB I  would go low watt.

 

I run a 4 watt Decware with a 92db Ref 3A de Capos and the sound is amazing

 

my second system has a 2/6 watt Grommes PHI-26 with 97db Klipsch Quartets and damn does that sing. 

 

With your speakers you have lots of options for low watt tubes

After many years (decades, really) of being a dedicated solid state guy, a few years ago, I took the plunge and picked up a Prima Luna Evo 300 Integrated Floyd. After about a year, I got curious, and rolled the very respectable stock 12AU7 tubes to NOS 1960s (for the signal pair) and 1970s (for the 4 gains) RCAs. I've been really happy with the tube front end / SS back end, and the sound with the NOS tubes is just sublime.

I know there are other, more rarified and more modest choices out there, but for me, the Prima Luna really hits the sweet spot, and represents a solid value for the money. Happy hunting!