EVO 400
$4,995 single, $9,990 pair
EVO 300
$3,995 single, $7,990 pair
evo 200
$2,995 single, $5,990 pair
evo 100
$2,595 single, $5,190 pair
Poweramps Features Comparison
EVO 400 |
EVO 300 |
EVO 200 |
EVO 100 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
Price
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 Don't Overpay!
We want you to know our prices. PrimaLuna represents the best value in the industry. Compare us to anyone. |
$4,995 single $9,990 pair |
$3,995 single $7,990 pair |
$2,995 single $5,990 pair |
$2,595 single $5,190 pair |
| Stereo to Mono Switching | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| XLR Input | ✔ | ✔ | ||
Swiss Made Wiring
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 Swiss Made Wiring
EVO 300 & EVO 400 models use Swiss-made, silver-plated, oxygen-free continuous crystal (OCC) copper with a Teflon dielectric in the critical signal path for superior signal speed and increased clarity. |
✔ | ✔ | ||
Takman Resistors
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 Takman Resistors
If you bought a lesser amplifier, you would pay hundreds to make this upgrade. Easy to identify through their pink color, these premium resistors from Japan are popular with those who rebuild and upgrade their gear. "Modders" love TAKMAN for their low noise, linearity, and musicality. |
✔ | ✔ | ||
AC Offset Killer
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 AC Offset Killer - A PrimaLuna Exclusive
AC Offset Killer is about goose bumps. The ones you get when music comes out of a background so quiet, you may say to yourself “Just how is this possible?” PrimaLuna custom-winds our own massive toroidal power transformers that are low in hum and EMI. But we wanted more. Our engineers designed the AC Offset Killer to lower transformer noise to a place no other manufacturer dreams of going, regardless of how bad your electricity is. The result? Sense of space. Texture. The resonance of an acoustic guitar or violin string that seems to trail on forever. The AC Offset Killer will amaze you. |
✔ | ✔ | ||
Triode/Ultra-Linear
Switching
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 Remote controlled Triode/Ultra-linear Switching
Do you have some classic rock albums you used to love so much that have now ended up left on the shelf, un-played for years? How about jazz or classical recordings from the 60’s? Every audiophile has albums that they used to play, but stopped because they are harsh, brittle, or bright. There is a solution. Triode and Single Ended Triode (SET) amps are popular for their warmer, fuller, and easy to settle into sound. But triode amps have limitations! Ultra-linear has more extension on the top and bottom, not to mention greater power. They have greater “pop” with a bigger difference between light and dark, and loud and soft. Having triode only is VERY limiting. The best option is to have both triode and ultra-linear. PrimaLuna engineers in Holland designed an ingenious circuit that lets you change from triode to ultra-linear with a push of a button on the supplied remote control. No need to get up and stop the music. Make an instant comparison while you listen and choose what you like best for that song or album. |
Remote Controlled | Remote Controlled | ||
Adaptive AutoBias
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 Adaptive AutoBias What most companies call Auto Bias is actually "Cathode Bias"- A commonly used method that is cheap to make, and often found in guitar amps, but also $20,000 high end audio amps. It reduces the available power of the amp and runs the tubes hard, meaning shorter tube life and failures via "shorts". PrimaLuna's Adaptive AutoBias is a true, smart technology employing an array of sensors to monitor tubes and make adjustments seamlessly in real time. Adaptive AutoBias is completely passive and NOT in the signal path. The result is low to no maintenance, long tube life, and the lowest possible distortion for amazing sound. |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
KT150 Compatible
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 KT150 Compatible
In 2006 PrimaLuna introduced the original DiaLogue series; the first amplifiers designed to be as close to being future proof as humanly possible. Back then nobody imagined a tube like the KT120, let alone the KT150, which combines the sweetness of a 300B with bass and control never seen before. Now other companies are scrambling to make a product built to handle the demands of this incredible tube. EVO 400, 300, & 200 poweramps and integrated amplifiers are built with huge power transformers and filaments supplies needed to run KT150 tubes. And the ingenious design of our exclusive Adaptive AutoBias circuit means that PrimaLuna buyers from ten years ago don’t have to sell off their system to enjoy new tube developments. |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
Point-to-Point Wiring
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 Point to Point Wiring
You spend a lot of money on interconnects. So why have the signal go right from the RCA jacks or speaker terminals into circuit boards with copper traces so thin you can hardly see them? What’s high-end about that? PrimaLuna employs Point to Point Wiring on all products. The entire signal path, including resistors and capacitors, is painstakingly hand wired with heavy-gauge cable by craftsman. |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Bad Tube Indicator
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 Bad Tube Indicator
A small LED in front of each power tube lights up if the tube goes bad. The circuit then puts the amp into protection mode. With other brands, this may be when you have to break out the soldering iron to replace a plate resistor, and replace two or four tubes because your amp requires matched sets. With PrimaLuna, you just replace the bad tube (no matched tubes required), and turn the amp back on. No hassles, no headaches. |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Wide-Bandwidth
Output Transformers
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Wide-Bandwidth Output Transformers 250 watts of power will have no top and bottom extension if the transformers don't have enough bandwidth. We use lower power to extend tube life, and bandwidth to give you slam. Our output transformers are custom wound in-house for deep and tight bass extension, an extended top without even a hint of grain, and our famous PrimaLuna midrange. |
Largest | Largest | Larger | Large |
Toroidal Power Transformers
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 Custom Potted Toroidal Power Transformers
Unlike standard EI transformers, toroidal transformers don’t radiate a magnetic field, which can is easily detected in preamp circuits as low-level "hash". Although expensive to manufacture, PrimaLuna power transformers are built huge and rated for 200% of their duty cycle. PrimaLuna transformers are also potted and enclosed to protect the windings from moisture and deterioration forever. |
Largest | Largest | Larger | Large |
Poweramps Specifications Comparison
EVO 400 |
EVO 300 |
EVO 200 |
EVO 100 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $4,995 single $9,990 pair |
$3,995 single $7,990 pair |
$2,995 single $5,990 pair |
$2,595 single $5,190 pair |
| Power: Ultra-linear (8Ω, 1% THD) |
70 watts x 2 (EL34) | 44 watts x 2 (EL34) | 44 watts x 2 (EL34) | 40 watts x 2 (EL34) |
| Power: Triode (8Ω, 1% THD) |
38 watts x 2 (EL34) | 22 watts x 2 (EL34) | ||
| Mono Power:
Ultra-linear (8Ω, 1% THD) |
140 watts (EL34) | 85 watts (EL34) | 88 watts (EL34) | 82 watts (EL34) |
| Mono Power: Triode (8Ω, 1% THD) |
82 watts (EL34) | 45 watts (EL34) | ||
| Outputs Stereo | 4, 8, & 16 Ω | 4, 8, & 16 Ω | 4, 8, & 16 Ω | 4, 8, & 16 Ω |
| Outputs Mono | 2, 4, & 8 Ω | 2, 4, & 8 Ω | 2, 4, & 8 Ω | 2, 4, & 8 Ω |
| Standard Tube Complement | 6 - 12AU7 8 - EL34 |
6 - 12AU7 4 - EL34 |
4 - 12AU7 4 - EL34 |
2 - 12AX7 2 - 12AU7 4 - EL34 |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 15.2" x 8" x 15.9" | 15.2" x 8" x 15.9" | 14.4" x 8" x 15.4" | 11" x 7.5" x 15.9" |
| Weight | 68.2 lbs | 66 lbs | 50.6 lbs | 37.4 lbs |
Our Monoblock Difference
Dual Output Transformers
The design team at PrimaLuna faced a formidable challenge: How to match (or exceed) the sonic signature of its integrated and stereo amps, in a set of monoblock amplifiers with twice the power. This was no small feat because the stereo amps possessed a natural and highly engaging midrange, outstanding soundstage, extended and articulate bass and highs, and a musicality reminiscent of live performances. As many designers can attest, it’s quite easy to take a step backwards rather than forwards when creating a more powerful amplifier.
While many designers may opt for larger transformers to double the output power, the PrimaLuna team decided against that approach knowing big output transformers sometimes don’t behave as well or sound as good as their smaller brethren. They opted instead to use two discrete audio channels in one chassis, and paralleled them at the loudspeaker terminals. Building an amp with two output transformers per monoblock amp is almost unheard of due to one simple reason. Cost. (Note: We know of one company doing it in their $15,000 per pair amps)
The sonic benefits are significant. This design adds a 16-ohm tap to each transformer, which when paralleled in this circuit design, resulted in an 8 Ohm output. You now have three sets of speaker taps: 2 Ohm, 4 Ohm, and 8 Ohm; to get a perfect "handshake" from the amps to your speakers. The ability to drive planer and ribbon speakers is unmatched.
This approach created other challenges. You risk a percentage of power from one free-running transformer pushing into the other, due to output voltage differences caused by circuit tolerances and tube aging. To deal with this problem, the team developed a specific cross-coupled positive/negative feedback scheme to balance out both channels perfectly, while distortion is lowered significantly in the slipstream. In addition, newly designed pre-stages improved the drive capacity to the power tubes, resulting in even lower distortion levels, without the need for extra negative feedback. The circuit was inherently more stable and virtually immune to drive imbalance and the distortions that accompany tube aging.
This innovative twin-channel-summing approach with cross-coupled positive/negative feedback not only resulted in surprisingly low harmonic distortion, further pushing the envelope of performance of all PrimaLuna mono amps.