Ultralinear and Triode. What's the difference

Gnugear ; as stated earlier , it depends on what type of sound that you desire . Personaly I prefered ultralinear for my rock and blues music . It just has more oomph ! (How is that for an audio term ?)

It is corerct that the two amps , Prima Luna and Cayin , are manufactured by the same company .
But that is where the similarity stops !
It is my understanding that Prima Luna dictates the parts that are to be used where as Cayin farms it out to the lowest bidder . Also , there is supposed to be a quality control rep , from the Prima Luna company , overseeing the production process .
Sales hype or not ? I don't know . However having owned both , the Prima Luna Prologue 2 and the Cayin A 88-T , they do sound quite different from each other !

Philefreak ; very informative , I was not aware of that ! Just for my info , can you list some common examples of pentode tubes and triode tubes ?
Man I love this forum !

Tvad ; the two integrated amps were used in exactly the same conditions .
If you have heard the Cary SLi-80 you will know what the Cayin sounds like . I A/B'd them and could not justify the added exspense of the Cary . I am relatively new at this but would describe that sound as traditional tube . Warm mids and rolled off at the extremes . Given that Cayin outsources their parts to the cheapest bidder , it is quite possible for one batch to have a slightly different sound than another batch due to the varying components used .
The Prima Luna , on the other hand , has much better extension especially in the high end . The lows are a little better and the mids are not nearly as warm . The P.L. also shows more detail with a greater amount of air and resolution .
I would really like to get the warm mids of the Cayin incorporated into the P.L. , kind of like the best of both worlds !
I intend to call K. Deal to see if that can be accomplished by rolling some different tubes . I don't want to loose any of the other attributes though .
I hope that this helps .

I was given this information by Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio . He is the N.A. distributor for Primaluna .

Tvad ; as I stated in my first response , "Sales hype or not ? I don't know ."
Please report here , or p.m. me , with the results of your research . It could be quite informative , in more ways than one !
Thank you .

Upscaleaudio ;
I fail to see where I stated that you made a negative statement about Cayin's parts ! Perhaps you misunderstood my comment . What I stated was what you told me and what you stated in your reply !
"Cayin and Spark's design are done to their standards they buy parts like any other business."
"In most Chinese factories they will change out parts on you in a minute if they run put of the one you spec'd out for. They may do it because theu think it's going to help you or because they make ten cents, or they don't want idle hands even for ten minutes. "
"I have seen prducts where the schematics that came with the amp didn't match the gear. Out of a 5 watt resistor? It will probably work with a one watt value. The feeling in the culture there is to get the product out."

I then reiterated what you told me about Primaluna as you eluded to .
"I have been at the Spark factory in China and Herman or PrimaLuna representatives are there for weeks on end, and in fact Primaluna and Herman have bought a residence very near the factory. "
And
" The whole operation could be moved to another factory at the drop of a hat if we felt they were not maintaining standards that Herman and the PrimaLuna heads in Holland felt were needed. "

I have worked in the medical supply field for many years . I am quite aware that some manufacturers use the cheapest available parts in their process , to save part of a penny per unit , and of a few that will not allow this practice in order to maintain quality control and reputation . This is a reason for the many recalls that we see today . What you told me , and what I reiterated above , is quite well known in the industry and is not derogitory in any way .

I fail to see the reason for your concern , your above post or email to me after two months. However misunderstandings do occur !

Good luck .