Primaluna?

I have an EVO 400. During a very hot summer with the air conditioning broken, I turned off the amp then turned off the rest of the components.

By mistake, I thought that I had forgotten to turn off the amp and I turned it back on again. Instead of reheating the tubes, the amp went immediately into protective mode...with all red warning lights on all tubes lit up. 

I immediately turned the amp off and waited 10 minutes for everything to cool down...the amp was ready to go. No issues.

So far haven't blown a tube in the 2 full years I've owned it.

Also, I have the Primaluna power amp. I didn't get the integrated amp because I wanted a stepped volume pot...something a bit better than the Alps unit the that comes with the Primaluna integrated. The Alps pot is a good enough unit but I just wanted a bit more.

I use a Don Sachs preamp which has a very nice stepped attenuator...it's a very good match with the Evo 400 power amp.

I did compare the Don Sachs Kootenay against the Evo 400 and it held its own. They sound different. The Kootenay is a little drier, cleaner...almost SS like...while the Primaluna is warmer, with more body and tube-like.

You’re gonna need to do better than that Don. Speaker terminals sticking out of the box means all the popcorn shifted to one side and the only thing protecting them were 2 pieces of cardboard.

My point is that to hear an amp, it needs to actually turn on.

It did have a very silent noise floor when it didn’t turn on...I’ll give you that.

Hi Don,

The reason I didn’t listen to the Kootenay very long is because it died on me after a one week. Remember? It also arrived a bit damaged. It arrived with a nick on the chrome transformer covers too. Since it still had the blue protective film on the transformer covers, I let that one go.

The amp rattled a bit when I unboxed it. When I opened it up, all the capacitors had broken through their zip-ties. I had to retie the caps and that’s when I noticed all the mismatched screws and the weird angles they were screwed into the chassis. It looked like you were in a hurry.

Every screw on the top of the deck was loose as well. That’s when I noticed you were using shallow countersunk screws on holes what weren’t dressed (countersunk) for them. Half the screws on the rear panel were loose too.

The amp was blowing fuses. That’s when I returned it. It was not a good ownership experience to say the least. I can go on and on about the carelessness of your build quality on this amp. I took many pictures...let me know if you want to revisit this.

Still, you ran this amp for 20 hours before shipment, I put another 30 hours on it. It did start to sound a bit better. But I wasn’t expecting a miracle. Also, the first moment I listened to the Primaluna, I knew I was probably going to keep it. It was close enough to the Kootenay with 50 hours on it, that I wagered it would keep me happy.

Also I was running the Primaluna via my Don Sachs Preamp. Which has been very reliable and sounds amazing. Good job on that!

BTW, I didn’t say the Primaluna sounded better either. I simply stated that it didn’t give much away to the Kootenay. It was only slightly less detailed but just as holographic and more warm. It was more ballsy in the bass. And, the build quality was spectacular. Most of all, it worked...and is still working.

Don, if you’re going to make something....make it great. The little things count. Like using the right fasteners in the right place. If you’re gonna talk the talk...you’re gonna need to walk the walk.

Also, when you make a mistake, admit it...don’t blame UPS for your poor boxing. I waited so long for that amp. I paid you good money. The UPS box wasn’t is bad condition at all...just 2 holes where the speaker terminals had punched through. The speaker terminal were bent badly. That’s your fault. You needed to own that and you refused to admit any fault. That’s when I soured on you. I need to believe in the people I buy stuff from. And your behavior led me to not want to own your amp.

BTW, did you notice the way I packed the amp on it’s return to you? I did that to show you how an amp should be packed. I packed it with the utmost care cost be damned. And I paid for shipping. You’re welcome.

Every design is a compromise...Primaluna gets you close enough to the best but makes concessions to reliability. It's one of the reasons I went with this brand. After a bad experience with a Don Sachs Kootenay, I decided that I didn't need the drama. The Kootenay sounded a little better when it worked. 

Primaluna has 'adaptive autobias'. So not at all the same thing. So many people here like to say autobias has been around forever. But it's not the same animal.

Try putting a kt150 next to an el34 and every other kind of tube in between. Can't do that with other designs. Look at the autobias boards in a Primaluna...not the same animal.