Primaluna Prologue 5 power amp

[Ian]

I have a Primaluna Prologue 5 as a possible purchase - any views at all please, it'd a blind buy. The pre would be the trusty Croft 25R and speakers Falcon Q7 or Harbeth P3ESR.

In a nutshell, I know little of these but am curious, they look great and I'm interested in trying a more powerful valve power amp with my speakers, and in particular the Falcons. The price would be right (if the chap decides to sell it !) and I know it's past (it's virtually unused) so an attractive buy and not a lot to loose. Cheers.

 

[JANDL100]

It's a great amp, I kept mine for over a year despite being a bit of a box swapping fiend.
I liked it so much I then upgraded to Prologue 7 monoblocks.
Tbh not much gained, in fact, the 5's tonality was a bit brighter and livelier which worked well for me.

And it's great that it's plug and play with a large range of valve types... Kt88, KT120, EL34, 6L6, 5881,6550.... and more.

If the price is right, go for it!

 

[Ian]

And it's great that it's plug and play with a large range of valve types... Kt88, KT120, EL34, 6L6, 5881,6550.... and more.

And potentially wallet emptying

 

[JANDL100]

Haha, yes, true.

But it needn't be so bad.
You can actually mix valve types. So have, say, two 6550 and two 6L6.
I read somewhere that it was OK to do this, and I tried it myself with no problems.
I particularly enjoyed mixing KT120 with 6L6. Quite different sounding valves, but a good synergy.
..... At your own risk, of course!

 

[The Bish]

Hi Ian,

I tried the prologue integrated with P3s. Very quiet and responsive to valve changes and great on vocals, but I found it to be a touch bright and ‘clangy’ on things like acoustic guitar so ultimately wasn’t a keeper. Might have been the pre section that made it a bit bright but thought I would mention it. The 5 power has high input impedance so will be a good match for the 25r in that respect, it also has a quite high input sensitivity so you won’t get much travel on the Croft volume pots.

 

[Ian]

Thanks each, any further posts are respectfully requested to be positive only as he's decided to sell and I'm picking it up tomorrow

 

[DomT]

@Rockchild didnt you have a Primaluna recently?

 

[Rockchild]

@Rockchild didnt you have a Primaluna recently?

I had The Prologue Premium Pre amp and loved it.
I think the smaller Prologue 5 poweramp is good from past memory but DONT use silver coated cables. It’s a dynamic amp with transistor like qualities. My preference was EL34 valves.

 

[JANDL100]

> It’s a dynamic amp with transistor like qualities.

I agree, it boogies and it sure isn't dull.
Although a lot does depend on what valves it's kitted out with.

I look forward to your thoughts on it.
I'll have a look in my valve drawer if you like, I'd be happy to loan you some if I have any of interest!

 

[Ian]

> It’s a dynamic amp with transistor like qualities.

I agree, it boogies and it sure isn't dull.
Although a lot does depend on what valves it's kitted out with.

I look forward to your thoughts on it.
I'll have a look in my valve drawer if you like, I'd be happy to loan you some if I have any of interest!

That's really kind, thank you. I've just had a chat with the chap who's selling, and I'm having a set of Genelex GL KT66 from him too. It also comes with the PL .KT88. I also have some Mullard ECC 83, so all a decent start !

 

[JANDL100]

The PL KT88 are very good.
I was a bit disappointed when my Prologue 7 monos arrived with them, I had been kind of hoping they would come with something "fancy". But researching them, they are carefully selected and turned out to be very hard to beat! A nicely transparent and quite feisty sound. You should be good to go with them imo.

 

[Ian]

Just plugged this in, and you'd have no idea this was a mid priced valve amp. It's a stunner.
The Falcon Q7 do like a valve !

 

[Ian]

Just to conclude on this, I've been listening a lot to this, and it genuinely feels like the missing link between the Croft and Falcons in achieving, for me, perfection.

So, first of a let me acknowledge my unfounded, un-evidenced and wholly ill informed prejudice against Chinese made equipment. Okay that's that done !

Secondly, this is great with the stock PL valves (KT88), but with Genalex Gold Lion KT66 and a couple of Mullard ECC83 in, it heads heaven bound.

Just looking to source a couple of NOS 12AU7 to polish things off.

I think these would be considered mid-price in the context of what we pay, but sometimes things just outperform the cost.