PrimaLuna Tube Bundle Offer

Buy an amp and save on KT120 and KT150 Tubes

The PrimaLuna EVO 300 Tube Integrated Amplifier with cryogenically treated KT150 power tubes. Note, the tube cage cannot be used with KT150's as the tubes are too tall.

With PrimaLuna's new offer, you don't have to be a high roller to be a tube roller.

When you buy a tube amp, it's really tempting to also load up on different tubes and get into the hobby of "tube rolling." But this quickly takes the budget to a different level.

Now, PrimaLuna is recognizing the irrepressible tube roller in you and offering quads and octets of KT120 or KT150 cryo-treated tubes at a very special bundle price when you buy select PrimaLuna amplifiers. But first...

Why Tube Roll?

Tube rolling refers to changing the small-signal and/or power tubes on your tube gear to tweak the sound according to taste, mood, or even season.

Are you going through an industrial techno phase with, say, Surgeon's 'From Farthest Known Objects' on repeat? Pop in those KT tubes to get that deepest bass extension, top-end sizzle, and dynamic slam. Or perhaps, after listening to trad blues on the EL34 for a while, you've moved into some modern, well-recorded blues rock such as Tedeschi Trucks Band, and are ready for "the big, bold EL34" that is the KT150, according to Kevin.

Or, your tube amp is in an office or other workspace and is on for long periods, often with nothing playing. Swapping the EL34 for the KT120 makes sense because, as Kevin says, "In a PrimaLuna, they might live longer than you do."

Just cruising along at 24 W, a KT120 in this situation brings nice bandwidth, incisive delivery, and a very long life.

After a few months with the KT tubes, maybe it's crooner season, and your playlist dreams of a white Christmas, so you go back to the chestnutty warmth of those stock EL34 tubes.

Don't forget, though, tube rolling isn't about upgrading your amp or making it "better." PrimaLuna was dreamed up and voiced around the EL34's legendary musicality. Changing out the power tubes is akin to tweaking your daily commuter sportscar's suspension for track days.

Some people are happy to live with stock tubes, others see a large canvas ready for experimentation. Here, a PrimaLuna amplifier with cryogenically treated KT120 power tubes.

If you've been thinking about a tube amp, but are worried about tube availability and reliability, PrimaLuna is the answer to tube audio in 2023 and beyond.

First, PrimaLuna runs its tubes at low plate voltages, which means far greater life and reliability. Though the power output might seem lower than amps that run tubes hot and hard, not only is 40 W a lot of power, but when combined with PrimaLuna's huge output transformers, you get eye-opening bass and presence.

What's the Deal, Kevin Deal?

From now, buyers of PrimaLuna integrated and power amps (essentially, the models that use power tubes) can add cryo-treated KT120 (+$200 retail per quad) or cryo-treated KT150 (+$360 retail per quad) to their amp purchase.

Bought on their own, a set of four KT120 would cost $400 retail, so that's a 50% saving. A set of four KT150 would cost $560, so that's a 36% savings.

Series EVO 100 buyers can choose the cryo-treated KT120 add-on. (KT150 tubes will not work with the EVO100.) Series EVO 200 and EVO 300 buyers can choose cryo-treated KT120, or cryo-treated KT150.

Series EVO 400, with its two sets of power tubes, means that buyers can choose cryo-treated KT120 tubes for $400 more, saving $400. Or they can choose cryo-treated KT150 tubes for $720 more, saving $400.

Some points to note about the PrimaLuna Power Tube Program.

• The tube cage will not fit over KT150 tubes. Remember to tell the cat.
• As always, PrimaLuna amps will ship with the PrimaLuna EL34 set installed.
• Bundle-price tubes will not be sold separately, they must be purchased with a PrimaLuna amp. They are not available for previous PrimaLuna purchases.

Snapshopts from Our In-Store Event

"Correct!" says Lenny Mayeux (above) from MoFi to one of our sales team who answered an arcane question about AC versus DC turntable motors. Lenny kept the questions a little easier for the guests at our October 12 event and the prizes a little better, too. "I can sign it 'Elvis' if you want," said Lenny to the customer who won a MoFi pressing of Blue Hawaii. "Okay, just let me know when you leave the building," shot back the customer.

Lenny stands in Sound Room #2, where the sources were a Dr. Feickert Volare (with Origin Live 4 Silver tonearm and Hana Umami Blue cartridge) and a HiFi Rose RS150B streaming DAC.

Amplification came from a MoFi MasterPhono phonostage. HiFi Rose RA180 integrated amp. The speakers were the MoFi SourcePoint 10, and accessories included the Isotek V5 Aquarius power conditioner and Finite Elemente Pagode Signature MKII rack.

Andrew Jones (above) led a demo in the same room, and when a customer who came in late asked, "What are we listening to?" it was great fun to see Andrew grin mischievously and say, "My speakers."

He was referring to the MoFi SourcePoint 10, and more than one of us thought how lucky we were to hear about beautiful products straight from the person who'd designed them.

"I need to know how fast 'fast' is."

If John Hunter (above, right) hadn't posed this question to a genius electronics designer all those years ago, a six-pack of subwoofers might sound like one of those cars at a traffic light, a deep booming drone that goes into your head and turns the entire world into an extension of your reverberating skull.

The focus on the speed of input filters rather than brute force means that REL subs keep up with the finest loudspeakers in resolving initial attack, mid-signal body, and decay. Lesser subs are simply not fast enough to process that first impulse, or refined enough to resolve decay. As a result, higher end REL subs can be stacked three high per side and bring entire churches, stadiums, and studios into your listening room.

The Carbon Special six-pack's dance partner in this particular room was the amazing Focal Sopra No.3, separately demoed by Donald Locke of Focal Naim (below).

Electronics were by T+A Elektroakustik: an MP 200 player, DAC 200, and PA 3100 HV integrated amp.

It was great to meet so many of you at the event, and we look forward to having more of these.

Go Cutting Edge By 2024

NAD, purveyors of affordable, cutting-edge, great-sounding audio, have an enticing bundle offer running until the end of the year.

If you're looking to build a complete system, NAD's bundle offer will get you set with a digital source plus amplifier, just add speakers. Until the end of the year, buy an NAD power amp, such as the C 268 or C 298, and get $500 off the matching C 658 BlueOS streaming DAC/preamp, originally $1,999, bundled at $1,499.

The C 268 ($999) offers 80 Wpc and can be bridged to output 300 W. The C 298 offers 185 Wpc, which can be bridged to an amazing 620 W. (Bridging means that you can convert the amp to run in mono mode and add a second amp to your system, increasing power, of course, but also improving dynamics and separation since you have way better headroom and separate power supplies.)

Both amps use NAD's sophisticated class-D technology, which offers the low noise, nearly absent distortion, and high bandwidth of the technology, along with a musicality that's sometimes missing from newer amplifier topology.

NAD C 658 DAC / Preamplifier + NAD C 268 Power Amplifier $2,498.00	NAD C 658 DAC / Preamplifier + NAD C 298 Power Amplifier $3,898.00

Kevin Unboxes the REL Classic 98

Watch Kevin open up the new REL Acoustics Classic 98 subwoofer. Coming soon, a full product video on this reimagined mid-century modern classic with REL's owner and chief designer, John Hunter.