I own a prima Luna dialogue premium integrated, and have had it about five years and have no desire to try another tubed amp. I have owned 2 SET amps in the past but I prefer the presentation of the Prima Luna. I tried the usual NOS route and now use Ray KT 88 and Ray 12AU7. My amp has transformed into a sound I did not think was possible, very smooth and detailed but not analytical. I was just not using the best possible tubes I guess. I can’t recommend Ray tubes enough. I did not buy the reserve quality KT 88 but went with the select. If anyone tries Ray tubes, they will probably give up the NOS chase, they are that good.
Can I get my Prima Luna to sound more like a SET/300B?
Dear Audiogon community,
I am ruminating on my current state of mind with this alchemy…
I have spent the past year upgrading my main system to a relatively glorious state… details below and in my profile.
I am at times in the sublime musical hallucination I seek. However I admittedly may be coming to the realization that the sound I yearn for in my heart may be ultimately obtained through a SET or 300B type of solution. And to get there I may need a 5-9K indulgence, in order to match the Nagra Streamer, Holo Audio DAC, and Pure Audio Project Duet Horn’s.
This is something that may take a while for me to enact…
SOOOO…. In the meantime…. What if anything can I do with the amp that I currently have, a Prima Luna Dialogue Premium HP, to obtain a completely enveloping, immediate, effortless, sublime, vivid, and delicious delivery of acoustic, jazz, classical, vocals, horns, strings, cymbals…. Sublime enveloping sensual euphoria…??
Can I get my Prima Luna to sound like a proper SET or 300B amp? Even close?
Some thoughts:
-Cap upgrade… Jupiter or Jensen or Duelund or….
-Main tubes to…. Ray? Mullard E34’s? Psvane PH or UK? Sophia Electric?
(Currently I run Gold Lion KT77’s, which are very nice when they work, but their unreliability is frustrating… in 9 months two go out and one has a high frequency distortion)
Or should I bite the bullet and jump in to a serious amp upgrade?
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your brilliant insight…
Cheers to musical alchemy.
R.
Details of my system: (brief)
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- SPEAKERS: Pure Audio Project Duet 15 Horn (Mundorf Silver Gold Oil Cap upgrade and high pass filter, Anticable 4.2 Flex Internal wire)
- STREAMER: Nagra Streamer (Cardas Clear Coaxial)
- DAC: HoloAudio Spring 2 Level 3 Kitsune edition (Silversmith Fidelium RCA Interconnects)
- AMP: PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP Integrated (Gold Lion KT77 power tubes, Mullard NOS gain tubes)
- PHONO: Music Hall MMF-9 and McIntosh MP 100 Preamp (Goldring Eroica lx cartridge)
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- 36 posts total
For the price of boutique parts, NOS tubes and labor the OP can get cheap thrills YouTube/forums and some DIY skills or shop=300b magic. PLDHP is fantastic for what it is. Using mine since 2015. No amount of mod/tubes will make it approach the DHT sound. A modded PLDHP will sound like..a modded PLDHP. |
@whyrichard I hope the tube journey you are on turns out ok, trying 300b and the Ray tubes won’t do it. When you hit bottom get away from tubes..
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- 36 posts total