Considering switching from Audio Research to PrimaLuna, troube with VS115 amp

I don’t think I need to address build quality. Or how they are built, or what "qualifies" as point to point.

I don’t mean to be a stickler, but respectfully Kevin, I think you do, since it’s in your advertising collateral.

What I meant is it's been well recognized in literally every PrimaLuna review that they are built better than most any tube brand on the market regardless of price.  Most any brand.  Most any price. It's been written about over and over by the most technically adept magazine reviewers. Dick Olsher, John Atkinson, Art Dudley, Herb Reichert, and many others. Hence our latest magazine ads called "Preamp Fairy Dust" and our suggestion to customers to use Google images before dropping a dime on ANY HiFi purchase.  

Tube amps and preamps are simple and benefit most from point to point construction.  Having said that, there are some protection circuits we have that MUST be PCB.  Adaptive AutoBias is a big, complex  board  but it's not in the signal path. Our CD players and soon to be released DAC will of course have some PCB's and some point to point.  No way around that.  Our upcoming phono stage will most likely be the same way.     

High end audio prices are arbitrary and in many cases have zero to do with engineering and build costs.  Some big names charge as high a price as they can without losing sales, others that are new hope to build credibility by having a price so high it defies logic.  Wow!  It's expensive.  It must be good.  That, my friends, is the absolute truth.

I met with a manufacturer Tuesday that wants me to sell their product at Upscale.  They have raised their prices 25-30% every time they come out with something new while internally they are cheaper by my parts count.  I looked at them and asked "What's your next move?  When does this stop?"  Why not a small increase and better product?  

There are others that see that in the long run our industry is not doing itself a favor, and they hold the line and still make a decent living at it. Quicksilver, Rogue, and a few others.    Look at Klipsch Heritage speaker series as an example. They should be applauded and held up as a standard (FYI I don't sell them .... but I should)

My wife Laura says I'm grumpier with my graying hair.  She's probably right. I think I'll go yell at some kids to stay off my lawn.   
   

Your points are well taken, Kevin and I see that we’re basically counting angels on the head of a pin.

I agree with you about the arbitrariness of pricing in many instances, and would love to see Prima Luna whup some of the big names (withheld to protect the guilty).

High end audio prices are arbitrary and in many cases have zero to do with engineering and build costs.  Some big names charge as high a price as they can without losing sales, others that are new hope to build credibility by having a price so high it defies logic.  Wow!  It's expensive.  It must be good.  That, my friends, is the absolute truth.

This is a touchy subject I’d rather stay away from, because it’s something that really makes me grumpy.  Early in Galibier's history, we weren't taken seriously due to our value pricing.  Of course, that was a time when we were learning the ropes - priced far too low to make a profit with our turntables.  We had no clue as to the real cost of running a business ;-)

Quicksilver is another one of those brands which should be applauded for their value. Some of it is a matter of Mike Sanders pricing fairly, and the rest of it is due to him being a master at procurement (cost containment).

The VAC gear is circuit board is it not?

Hi @grannyring, I know they use at least some turret boards in his construction. I haven’t peeked under the hood in a while however.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier Design

I've been thinking of trying a pair of Klipsch Heritage Heresy IIIs (I have a pair of RELs so the 60hz low point bothers me not) which cost less than 2 grand a pair new (1500 or something "open box" shipped), they're made in the USA, and should be a great match for my Dennis Had Fire Bottle SEP "HO" (a HO...it's a HO) which has turned out to be the best sounding amp I've owned in 5 decades…a hand wired gem of an amp that cost around 1200 clams (actual clams, which I thought was a little strange), and is utterly a hand wired masterpiece of unobtainium (really…gotta grab 'em on Ebay when they show up, snooze you lose).

Kevin,

When is the Primaluna's DAC coming out?  What's the price range and how does it compare to PS directstream?  Thx.

Allan

our suggestion to customers to use Google images before dropping a dime on ANY HiFi purchase.

With nothing but respect, I humbly disagree. Let me throw out two extremes. Back in the heyday of BAT, consumers IMHO were looking at the fancy round-cased transformers and impossibly complex circuits filled edge to edge with various parts and buying/perceiving based on the visual more than the audible. I don’t mean to comment that BAT was bad or overrated but instead on consumer behavior.
The other extreme is this; https://www.stereophile.com/content/croft-acoustics-phono-integrated-integrated-amplifier
It looks humble/ugly, it has a paucity of parts, it does not measure well. But good heads/ears love the sound.
I can’t think of a single other hobby in which-to such a large degree- the consumers buy with their eyes and not their ears/brains. Particularly with loudspeakers. I too am guilty. You can’t judge with your eyes. Period.