The PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Poweramp is a 100 Wpc blend of tube magic and MOSFET power.
Are you a candidate for just a sprinkle of tube magic?
Many of our Lumin customers and in-house Lumin fans have eliminated a preamp in their systems after experiencing Lumin's incredible LEEDH volume option. Similarly, fans of Aurender's lossless volume, or T+A Elektroakustik's and Grimm Audio's relay-based resistor attenuation run their digital sources straight into a power amp. Many of these line-stage shunners prefer a solid-state power amp, either because they have difficult speakers or have become accustomed to the scale and grip of transistor control.
Before long, anyone who works or buys at Upscale will become tube curious, but some systems, like the ones described above, leave few places to introduce tubes and see what Upscale's founder, Kevin Deal, raves about when he talks of "tube glory".
Enter the EVO 300 Hybrid Poweramp, which brings just a sprinkle of tube magic without overpowering linear setups. In extended listening tests this week, we found that the hybrid circuit was the best way to get a good idea of what tubes can do since we weren't being distracted by the macro tube-yness of power tubes, and were preserving the immediacy of our direct-from-DAC source.
The PrimaLuna hybrid integrated amp has been out longer than the power amp and has rave reviews.
Singing in a Vacuum
So what does tube "magic" or "glory" actually mean? Here are some of our observations:
Decay trails forever. Bells, cymbals, piano notes, plucked strings... all of these sounds hang in the air and linger like smoke as they fade away. The realism is startling.
Rich harmonics. Even the quietest background sounds are fleshed out and have weight and meaning. Challenging instruments such as hi-hats, rides, and crashes are especially realistic. Listen for the assorted bells and chimes at the start of Beck's 'Dark Star' on The Information. The harmonics, coupled with the long decays, let you almost smell the brass.
Bearable clipping. Think about how your favorite Kodak print film burnishes—rather than burns out—highlights. Tubes do this with sound, making bright recordings much easier to listen to (and there are a lot of bright recordings out there).
Bass Response
Bass is where transistors rule. It's hard to beat the bass separation of powerful solid-state monoblocks. The PrimaLuna hybrid power amp goes extremely deep, but bass lines tended to "touch each other", at least in comparison with our test system's usual pair of monster choke-supported solid-state amps.
This doesn't mean the PL hybrid is a slouch. One of our listening tests centers on the bouncy, subterranean beat of Run the Jewels’ ‘Down (feat. Joi)’ from Run The Jewels 3, which has a triplet that congeals into one note on lesser systems. (It plays for the first time at 0:51 and repeats regularly after.) The PL hybrid clearly renders the three separate beats, and as your speakers are probably more light-footed on the bass than our test pair this week, this stunning amp will have you awestruck right up and down the frequency range.
While a hybrid topology isn't common for power amps, we do have a few others at Upscale. There's the Vincent SP-T700 monoblock pair at about the same price as the PL Hybrid's $7,195. At much higher price points, we have the Pathos Acoustics InPower MkII, the Pathos Adrenalin, and the T+A M 40 HV.
The beauty of the PrimaLuna is the level of build and sound quality you get at the price. See the photo above showing the inside of the PrimaLuna hybrid integrated amp, and note how it's absolutely packed with goodies.
Over the week with the hybrid, we were constantly amazed by its contrast of power and delicacy. There was Billie Eilish's nearly internal vocalizations floating over the pounding beat at the start of 'Bad Guy'. Or the crystalline bells on the Beck track we mentioned earlier. Or the Hammond on Leonard Cohen's Live in London that, even as it played gentle chords in the background, told you that this was a big analog organ voiced to fill churches.
We've come away seriously impressed by the PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Poweramp, and are excited about its ability to bring tube magic to an audience that never would have thought they'd go for tubes. Audition at the risk of opening a portal to a whole new world.