PrimaLuna QC and build quality is better than most any brand at any price, and the proof of that is from well-read,technically adept, independent reviewers that have stated that over and over. And it's backed up by a 3 year warranty that does not include hidden charges like certain other brands.
Read what Stereophile's Art Dudley said. He knows tube amps. His words: "the amp is far from ho-hum: the quality and care with which it's made. Apart from the above-mentioned AutoBias circuit and the logic bits for the remote control, the DiaLogue Seven is completely hand-wired, point to point—and I've never seen a better-built amp. Wires were neatly trimmed and dressed, with no strand out of place. I spent a long time trying to find a single bad solder join, and could not: Someone made this as if it mattered."
Or Stereophile's Herb Reichert who has modified and serviced countless tube amps including restoration of venerable vintage amps like tube Marantz. He reviewed the ENTRY LEVEL PrimaLuna and said:
"When I removed the ProLogue Premium's bottom plate, I was instantly impressed by the quality of parts and labor I saw. I've serviced countless tube amps, including some of the world's most expensive, and have never seen better-crafted point-to-point wiring or more intelligent layout. On their website, PrimaLuna makes a big deal about their tube sockets being bolted directly to their steel chassis. This is because it is a big deal—it makes their products more durable and trouble free than those of competitors who attach tube sockets directly to circuit boards. The latter strategy saves space, labor, and money, but every time the user removes or inserts a tube, there's a danger of irreparably damaging the board. Over time, that danger becomes a certainty."
"Likewise with those volume controls and selector switches I was talking about. Many of the biggest high-end names use a $4 chip, a DS1666 Audio Digital Resistor, as a solid-state potentiometer to control volume; PrimaLuna uses a motorized Blue Velvet potentiometer, made by Alps in Japan, that costs at least ten times as much. Expensive, Japanese-made relays are used for the source-selector switch."
I have no doubt that Rogue and most other brands have great QC. PrimaLuna has safety features not found in any other brand to keep it out of the shop ten years later. Every tube amp on the planet can break....especially those that run tubes hard. PrimaLuna is made to be used every day. And they are.
