Prima Luna 5

Anthony

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Davewhityetagain wrote:

George 47 wrote:
Anyone any first hand experience of the Prima Luna 5s?
Is that the mono blocks ? if so one dealer I know loves them the only forum member who might have heard them will be Lawrie
i think it's the KT88 power amp. Haven't heard them though, but have the KT88 integrated which I am absolutely loving. Supposedly these just give you more of everything when paired with the Prologue 3 pre. My amp was second hand because the owner decided to go for the pre/power instead of the integrated and got a p/x.

think there was a review kicking around recently, but not sure which mag it was.

 

Davewhityetagain

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Anthony wrote:

Davewhityetagain wrote:
George 47 wrote:
Anyone any first hand experience of the Prima Luna 5s?
Is that the mono blocks ? if so one dealer I know loves them the only forum member who might have heard them will be Lawrie
i think it's the KT88 power amp. Haven't heard them though, but have the KT88 integrated which I am absolutely loving. Supposedly these just give you more of everything when paired with the Prologue 3 pre. My amp was second hand because the owner decided to go for the pre/power instead of the integrated and got a p/x.

think there was a review kicking around recently, but not sure which mag it was.
I have the three and four in my collection have also used the one and two yes going pre and power is a big jump

that said all the range are well built and sound great

 

Anthony

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hi dave

how would you describe the difference b/w the integrated and the pre/power? Do you think it's worth the extra money?

 

Davewhityetagain

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Anthony wrote:

hi davehow would you describe the difference b/w the integrated and the pre/power? Do you think it's worth the extra money?
The differance is quiet a bit most people I have spoke with who have had a demo of both say the differance is "big" pinning it down and putting it into words is hard because none of the amps sound bad

this review does a good job

http://www.davewhitter.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/prima_luna.htm

 

Anthony

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would be intrigued to hear a demo. maybe an upgrade for me in the future if I find anything decently priced 2nd hand. happy with mine for the moment so only thinking 2 years ahead.

george - have you found a prologue 5somewhere?

 

George 47

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Anthony wrote:

would be intrigued to hear a demo. maybe an upgrade for me in the future if I find anything decently priced 2nd hand. happy with mine for the moment so only thinking 2 years ahead.george - have you found a prologue 5somewhere?
No, having been switched back to valves by Lee I am looking at these interesting set of power amps. I suspect I might prefer KT88s to EL34s hence the question.

I have seen the reviews by KK and HifiWorld with the HFW review being somewhat cool to the amp and marking it down as far as bass response was concerned. KK loved it.

These amps seem to be changing the valves firmament.

Previously there were the lower cost UK amps (£1,000-1,500) which tended to be low power , then the US amps (ARC/CJ) in the £2,500-3,000 range. Then obviously the super stuff involving 300Bs etc.

Now the Chinese amps having turned this 'world' upside down and no one in the UK is likely to be making economically minded hard wired EL34/KT88s with these sub £1K amps around. So the Chinese valve amps abound.

However, where do the Prima Luna seperates sit?: above the integrateds (probably), above the ARC/CJ amps (probably not) (or why would Absolute Sounds sell them)

Why am I interested when I am having a ball with the World Audio ? Well, I just am but not so much to go all out of shape as I can easily live with what I have.

 

Davewhityetagain

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George 47 wrote:

Anthony wrote:
would be intrigued to hear a demo. maybe an upgrade for me in the future if I find anything decently priced 2nd hand. happy with mine for the moment so only thinking 2 years ahead.george - have you found a prologue 5somewhere?
No, having been switched back to valves by Lee I am looking at these interesting set of power amps. I suspect I might prefer KT88s to EL34s hence the question.
I think if you get to demo the EL34 even with less power has the edge

the Chinese amps having turned this 'world' upside down and no one in the UK is likely to be making economically minded hard wired EL34/KT88s with these sub £1K amps around. So the Chinese valve amps abound.
If you have 90db speakers look at the croft kit or the Polish stuff from Walrus great bargins

 

Anthony

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one advantage of the prologue 2 integrated and prologue 5 power is that you can pop el34s in there as well. from what i've been told, you can't put kt88s in the integrated or powers that come with el34s. the manufacturers also suggest other alternatives and are happy for people to swap tubes.

it just gives more flexibility if you want to experiment with other valves. I hope to get some el34s in the future just for variety.

 

jonjin

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Have you tried the 6550s? Sylvanias will do I am told
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JJ

 

Anthony

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haven't tried them yet, they are on my list.

feel i need to live with the KT88s for about 6 months to really get used to them, then I think I will start dabbling.

seems such a great way to tweak without having to shell out for new equipment.

 

lilolee

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Everybody I know who has used them think they are the best modern KT88/6550. Shunghang are developing a GEC KT88 clone, but are having reliability problems. The absolute best are NOS GEC KT88 or Tung Sol 6550 but be prepared to spend £££

 

Anthony

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thanks lilo lil

added to my list of things to try in the future, think i will get a set of el34s first.

any tips on which el34sare good. i like having decent performance across the whole frequency range - some i think have particularly good mid range but don't dig too deep or extend too high.

think dave whitter previously suggested mullards or svetlanas.

 

lilolee

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For Svetlana, you must go for the "Winged C" logo ones. Harder to track down as they are older, but they apparently sound better.

I personally use JJ E34L, which I think sound more accurate, at the expense of sweetness.

Mullard EL34 are over rated. If you must spend £££ on EL34 then it is the metal base Philips you must go for.

 

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