PrimaLuna ProLogue Three Preamplifier & ProLogue Five Power
Contents
1. frequencies are sweet and smooth and completely without sugar coating They too are clear and true Indeed this is the clearest treble ProLogue Three Preamplifier have heard The transients of cym bals and bells are so shimmering so swift in onset and decay found myself looking around to be sure the tuned wind chimes by the window were tied down for the duration The midrange where the main body of music lies is rich powerful and again simon pure If have one tiny itch about these units it is that the upper regions of this range may be to a small degree emphasized This could be a feature of recording tech nique unnoticed even on beloved recordings till now note especially in another great local musician CD Sweet Sunny North Shanachie recorded throughout Norway that it seems to be the featured player hardanger fiddle jaw harp or singer on that disc who is a touch forward rather than a slice of frequencies The ProLogues soundstage is grand in all senses of that word In just Page 20 AVguide Monthly SEPTEMBER 2005 Sallie Reynolds two days of break in it reached satis fying proportions and has such good height didn t think about it till it sud denly occurred to me that the players heard through the ProLogues sounded as tall as real human beings do Reason three If you think you don t like tubes if you dub them tubby too sweet too comfy you ll find in these the preci2. hundreds or PrimaLunas sold in North America We know people are busy and that this is supposed to be the fun stuff Kevin Deal Upscale Audio MANUFACTURER INFORMATION DUROB AUDIO BV www primaluna nl DISTRIBUTOR INFORMATION UPSCALE AUDIO 2504 Spring Terrace Upland CA 91784 909 931 9686 www upscaleaudio com SPECIFICATIONS ProLogue Three vacuum tube stereo preamplifier Number and type of inputs Four stereo pairs line level via RCA jacks Type of outputs Three stereo pairs line level two mains one tape via RCA jacks Dimensions 15 5 x 11 x 7 5 Weight 23 5 Ibs shipping weight 27 9 Ibs Price 1295 ProLogue Five vacuum tube stereo power amplifier Number of channels Two Power output 36Wpc Number and type of inputs One stereo pair line level via RCA jacks Dimension 15 5 x 11 x 7 5 Weight 37 5 Ibs shipping weight 41 9 Ibs Price 1295 ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT Spendor S8e loudspeakers Musical Fidelity kW500 amplifier and A5 CD player Monster 3500 power line conditioner Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cables and interconnects Page 21 AVguide Monthly SEPTEMBER 2005
3. Luna invites you to send us a review of your experience with the amplifier So wear yourself out Copyright 2005 Absolute Multimedia www avguide com Equipment Review FREE AVguide com is now FREE Packed with news reviews user forums and expert recommendations on the latest in audio and home theater equip ment Avguide com has all the informa tion you need to put together the per fect system MANUFACTURER COMMENTS On behalf of Herman and me we would like to say thank you to Sallie Reynolds for such a wonderful review With Sallie having so much industry experience and ears to match we are honored should mention the amplifier sounds the way it does due to our proprietary Adaptive AutoBias circuit which will keep the power tubes operating in an optimum range not only as music plays but as they age and never need biasing The preamp breathes life because it is a true dual mono with two toroidal transform ers tube rectification and uses the Alps Blue Velvet potentiometer can t think of a pre amp at anywhere near this price that offers these features When Sallie mentioned reliable readers should know both products have a SoftStart circuit to all but eliminate thermal shock to internal components and tubes when units are turned on This along with extensive use of point to point wiring and not stress ing components means a long life As of this writing we have zero failures in the field with
4. Sallie Reynolds PrimaLuna ProLogue Three Preamplifier amp ProLogue Five Power Amplifier Tube gear that blows minds not budgets he PrimaLuna Prologue Three preamp and Five power amp are at the top of my list good sound good value simplicity They are also good fun if you like playing with tubes the power amp is built to accept many types of tubes including the EL 34 but you don t need to play with tubes You can be a complete tube neophyte and enjoy these units They fill the room with exquisite sound from the whisper of a stroked cymbal or muted violin to the foundation thunder of a great organ That s the key The ProLogues make music they make it simply they make it well And they are tough something don t expect in tubes These 1980s looking units with their metal cages housing small fierce eyed beasts were delivered in good shape by UPS along with some other boxes and placed in a stack at my gate Before could get to them a jackass about whom no more shall be said had knocked the top box nearly four feet to the ground and had eaten the cardboard So well packed so sturdy are these units though that not only was no damage done to the inside box or the outside of the unit but when hooked the ProLogues up to check for puts on the ProLogue Five The 8 ohm taps won the day and haven t touched the units since except to turn them on and play music And what music In an outdoor mark
5. er and Richards Paint It Black Daluka plays with subtlety and extraordinary speed and yet with Page 19 AVguide Monthly SEPTEMBER 2005 Sallie Reynolds great feeling his mandolin driving the song Occasionally Blankenship will pick up a line and then sweep into tin kling transformations on his electrified xylophone He will make you gasp Through the ProLogues this music was as clear and immediate as it was on the lawn maybe more so sans crowd But that feeling of real people playing for real people is the draw of this kind of music Buy this CD And play it on the ProLogues which you really should hear before you buy a preamp and amp Why Well reason one If you like organ music and don t believe any 36Wpc amp not in the price range of a trip to far galaxies can impart the whole body shaking experience you need to hear this pair The Great Organ at St Mary s Cathedral Reference Recordings is one of my toughest tests for any equipment The only amplifier I ve had here that can reproduce its sensations and range from the sweet ringing Carillon of Westminster to the pedal note of Clarke s Trumpet Voluntary is Musical Fidelity s big kW500 integrat ed which is a hybrid tube transistor unit but one whose tubes are discreet ly concealed not up on display in their own little go go cage which costs 7000 The ProLogues at about 2600 the pair give the MF a pretty good run They not only produce the
6. et recently heard a group of three astonishing young musicians If you like organ music and don t believe any 36Wpc amp not in the price range of a trip to far galaxies can impart the whole body shaking experience you need to hear this pair internal damage had instead glori ous music in under five minutes It would have been under three minutes except was in a quandary about whether to hook up the Spendor S8e speakers to the 4 ohm or 8 ohm out Copyright 2005 Absolute Multimedia www avguide com calling themselves Sneakin Out am a devotee of local musicians they play for the moment and from the heart they play for their souls and for ours Their music reflects what is in front of them and inside us with an immediacy Equipment Review ProLogue Five Power Amplifier of emotion and sound that never get from polished distant stars no matter how complex the composition and playing skills Dave Daluka the man dolinist playing an electrical instru ment and D Louis Henson Blankenship percussionist are among the best players have ever heard in jazz and pop sat on the grass enchanted while folks around me gorged on berries and tickled dogs and babies Yes Sneakin Out has a CD Train Wreck www sneakinout com that fea tures as does their live music a mix of jazz pop and folk much of it written by the group and all of it interesting and wonderfully played My favorite is a take on Jagg
7. notes but like the kW500 let the the ProLogues But the ProLogues are surprisingly good with this music Eugene Gigout s Scherzo is a beau tiful intense and surely difficult piece It s almost enough just to do it to mis quote an old horse chestnut but to do it well surpasses expectation Here it is quite lovely and moving was hearing details in certain ranks of pipes in ways hadn t before And again the immedi acy was magical The ProLogues soundstage is grand in all senses of that word In just two days of break in it reached satisfying proportions and has such good height I didn t think about it till it suddenly occurred to me that the players heard through the ProLogues sounded as tall as real human beings do organ melodies develop rich and warm in the swelling storm of the organ The kW500s of course get the whole organ more fully and richly but since it is about 10 times more power ful it can and it should drive power hungry loads beyond the capacities of Copyright 2005 Absolute Multimedia www avguide com Reason two If you like tubes you ll find the ProLogues warm rich sound most wonderful And there is bass true clean deep tight bass didn t use a subwoofer on the Spendors in this review and didn t need one Largely owing to the extension of the Equipment Review speakers of course but I ve found that sometimes a sub props up an amp s flagging bass The high
8. sion of the best of solid state units plus like vinyi an added musi cal soupcon that no one has satisfac torily explained to me Because of inherent potentials for distortion nei ther vinyl nor tubes should sound as much like music as they do Incidentally though the Three does not come with a phonostage a ProLogue PhonoBoard moving mag net is available for 159 and can be installed in the unit Reason four If you ve been afraid that tubes were frail hard to set up hard to keep biased forever going on the blink rest easy The PrimaLuna designer Herman van den Dungen has done what good designers every where should do He has created ProLogue Three vacuum tube stereo preamplifier and ProLogue Five vacuum tube stereo power amplifier STRENGTHS Clarity power transient speed and accuracy across the frequency range fantastic Reproduction of instrumental subtleties and soundstaging addictive Ease of setup and use sturdy construction almost unmatched and comforting WEAKNESSES A possible slight exaggeration in the midrange that may be from other sources revealed by the ProLogues wish had time to ask the distribu tor for a set of upgrade tubes excellent sound with top grade parts and design at a reasonable price in units that are reliable easy to use and seemingly indestructible Finally if you have always wanted to be a reviewer but never dared you can live out your dream Prima
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