PrimaLuna Dialogue Preamp = emotionless?

"...if this pair is well matched..then.. the addition of an active preamp will likely be degrading. Ok, will inescapably be degrading."

I have nowhere near the hands-on experience you have to disagree with this statement but I think this is true if measured performance is the only yardstick used for making the comparison. The actual listening experience may or may not always agree with this assertion. The end-to-end synergy among all the components from source to speakers, including all the cables in between create an audio "ecosystem" that is somewhat unpredictable when measurements are more locally optimized. This could include certain elements such as added colorations which can make a system "sound" fantastic but measure poorly given the parameters used in those measurements. My 2 cents.

@ aolmrd124   I'm afraid you missed the jist of the OP and discussion. I didn't say the PL is emotionless, but that contrary to expectations the one I'm listening to is and wondered if I was missing something, along with asking about alternatives (in case this one doesn't work out). Thanks for the suggestions about tubes. I have listened to the NOS Brimar 5Z4G rectifier, a different tube, in a Lampi Atlantic TRP dac. I found it euphonic and very good all around, but had this sense that it was sedating rather than enchanting me. It turned out I wasn't alone in that thought. Certainly not all Brimar tubes sound the same, to wit the CV4003 I've added, although warmth seems to be part of Brimar's makeup, if user and dealer comments are to be believed. Any thoughts about how the 5RGY would be different than the 5Z4G?

@teo  I don't know what to say except that if you read what my OP to say that I found the PL addition worse, you missed it by a long shot. I said that it was a great addition, really a fantastic addition, in all respects but one, and I posted here to get help figuring out about that one. Speaking generally, of the roughly 10-15 preamp developers, same-dac users and others that have offered advice about adding a preamp, only two, including yourself, have argued against it. Even Paul McGowen of PS Audio, after decades of believing that a direct dac to amp connection is best -- it's even in the Directstream manual! -- has in the past week or two admitted on his blog that he's been wrong all this time, after finally doing some comparison testing with one good preamp or another. So yes, I know it's counterintuitive, contrary to a belief I had been operating on for several years out of keeping it simple and logic, but then so is a lot in audio.

Sorry high stream...after re-reading your post... I now see what you were saying.
Never listened to the 5Z4G so I can not comment.

Thanks for the suggestions. Twenty-five hours in, the Brimar CV4003’s have improved a lot but like the Brimar rectifier I mentioned, have turned the preamp into sounding pleasant, which is not a recommendation. Maybe a matter of placement? Have to play around and wait awhile as they burn in. The Amperex 7316s don’t come cheap. From what I’ve been able to find, the aura around D-Getters has more to do with that characteristic happening to be in tubes people have liked, rather than the type of getter having something specifically to do with it. The Brimar rectifier sell for a lot less, so will give it a try. The PL tech suggested the PL 5AR4, which I have, or what some customers have liked, the JJ GZ-34.

I’m going to re-verify that 10K ATC amp impedance, as a few people have commented about it seeming unusually low.

Actually, on second look, the Brimar recti doesn’t sell for a lot less. I’ve seen a pair for as much as $699, although most are in the $130 each range + shipping from the UK.