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I am by no means a hi-fi/home theater equipment reviewing journalist. I live in the real world where kit is not delivered to my door from the distributor for the latest issue of hearmystuffissocool.com or hifioverthetopcostnooption magazine. I am a student using all my savings to buy bang-for-buck new, second-hand or demo hi-fi kit. I love the hobby, but more importantly, artists create incredible musical performances that bring a tremendous amount of spiritual satisfaction and healing which good kit can bring to life, true to the original artist's intentions. As international members contribute to this forum, I'll be using SI units when needed and I'll qoute prices in South African Rands (R). Be reminded that all equipment costs 50% less in the USA compared to the rest of the world. E.g. Amp = US$100 in USA, then it will cost US$200 in the rest of the world.
Also, be aware that the objectives of this review are not to highlight the strengths and the weaknesses of the amplifiers, but to highlight the qualities of each.
Coverstion factors:
1US$ = R7.10 (rands)
1GBP = R13.70 (rands)
1euro = R9.30 (rands)
1m = 3.23 feet (ft);
2.54cm = 1 inch (in);
1kg = 2.20 pounds (lb)
The Amplifiers:
I've been blessed to audition two amps. One I own and the other I was allowed to audition before I make the deal. The one I own is the 11kg Japaneese designed, Chinese built, 130W/ch Rotel RB1070 (R7800) solid state power amp and the one I auditioned is the 18kg Dutch designed, Chinese assembled 40W/ch PrimaLuna Prologue Two integrated tube amplifier (US$1395).
Associated equipment:
Source: Shanling CD-T80 (stock standard) - R8900;
Interconnects: QED Qunex 2; Transparent The Link 200 - R450/meter;
Speakers: Dynaudio Focus 140 (200W/86dB) - R19800; Boston Acoustics VR2 (200W/93dB) - R9200;
Speaker cable: Transparent The Wall (R200/meter); IXOS gamma-geometry bi-wire(R50/meter);
no power conditioner/regulator;
stands are sand filled to about 5/7ths of volume;
The Room:
length = 5.2m;
width = 3m;
height = 2.5m;
speakers are placed firing across the width of the room as opposed to down it's length.
measured from tweeter:
right speaker (front baffle): 86cm from back wall; 1.4m from right side wall;
left speaker (front baffle): 86cm from back wall; 1.9m from left side wall;
height: 98cm;
seating postion: 2.1m from speakers perpendicular to front baffle plane and dead center between the speakers;
Set-up:
In this excersice, I will only be giving my impressions of the Shanling/PrimaLuna PL2 (or) Rotel RB1070/Dynaudio Focus 140 setup. Though I have pushed in the Bostons at some stage, it makes the whole post too long....as it is already very long....
Power
The PrimaLuna boasts 40Watts of power whereas the Rotel hits 130Watt(claimed). Driving 4ohm speakers, I would reckon the Rotel putts out about 170 - 180Watts max, and if we were to go by the "rule of thumb" the PrimaLuna will push out 120Watts of "solid state" watts into 4ohms. What amazed me here was the way in which these "watts" were delivered to the speakers. The PrimaLina sounded very much "cleaner" than the Rotel. It sounds as if the PL is running off a power conditioner as oppossed to the Rotel. Though the Dynaudios are 86dB sen. rated speakers, with no msuic playing, the "hiss" off the Rotel was audible from about 1m away from the tweeter. The PL was dead quite in this regard even with one's ear very close to the tweeter. The rating of power confused me alot and what I then relied on was to listen closely to the definition of the highs when there is deep bass sections in a recording. With the Rotel, the highs would "decay" very quickly and be rather soft, whereas the PL seemed to keep the definitions very comfortably.
Imaging and Soundstage
Now I must admit that I am prepared to sacrifice for better imaging and soundstage. With neighboors practically meters away from me, I have to listen to music rather softly. The PrimaLuna is extremly good in delivering a very rich and detailed soundstage at low volume. There is practically no loss in bass definition or bass depth when the volume knob is below the 9 - 8 o'clock position. When the volume is increased the soundstage widens and of course music get louder. Added to that depth increases as well. With regards to the Rotel, depth increases significantly when the volume is increased. Also, the Rotel images better at high volumes, but there is a limit where music starts to become very entangled. The PrimaLuna maintains the imaging up to the max I've pushed it which is at almost 5 to 12 on the volume dial.
Midrange
Now it is claimed that tubes are kings when it comes to the mid-range. I will have to dissappoint tube fans here, as the PrimaLuna sounds more ss-like rather than tube-like. Having said that, it is a sound that I like very much. The mid-range is well defined and crisp on the PL and the Rotel. However, the PL is much better in defining different purcussion and drum instruments. Coupled to the excellent imaging of the PL, the drums roll round brilliantly from left to right (or vise-versa) as the drummer plays them, whereas the Rotel tends to present them either through the left speaker or the right speaker. Where the PL shines is with horns and pianos. Rick Braun, Chris Botti, Euge Groove, Bob James, Jeff Lorber, etc. are presented with tremendous feel and soul. The PrimaLuna soaks you up quickly in the delecate treatment of these instruments. Unfortunately, the Rotel, cannot keep up here, but it does not sound bad either. The feeling of the artist is somehow lost with the Rotel. With vocals, the PL is very impressive. The singer is always dead center with good height. Joss Stone brings goosbumps when played through the PL.
Highs and Bass
Both the Rotel and PL have good bass. However, it is in this department where the tube amplifier is clearly in a different league compared to the Rotel. I swopped the Dynaudios for the Bostons and the Bostons truely sounded like R20000 speakers. Quite honestly, the PrimaLuna drove those Bostons to ear damaging levels maintaining full bass and highs. Sadly the Rotel looses steam in the high department but there is good bass. Not so with the PL. With the Dynaudios, the Rotel is more of a miss-match as oppossed to bad. It drives th Boston floorstanders much better that the Dynaudios.
Conclusion
This post is very subjective and it is clear through my comments that I am not a reviewer with good reason. The tube amp is completely in a different league that the solid state amp. I love the Rotel and I think it is a stunning amplifier. It has very good all round performance. I would say that it is more suited to a home-theater application rather than for music, but it is by no means poor in this department. The PrimaLuna ProLogue Two is the music amplifier for me. It makes the Dynaudios sing beautifully. As I am a 90% music - 10% HT guy, I would recommend the PL to anyone who wants a good quality high performance entry-level "high-end" hi-fi tube amplifier. I went around listening to other ss offerings, but unfortunately the majority of salesmen do not set-up their systems properly and thereby robs me of "comparing" the PL to similarly priced solid-state options.
Also, be aware that the objectives of this review are not to highlight the strengths and the weaknesses of the amplifiers, but to highlight the qualities of each.
Coverstion factors:
1US$ = R7.10 (rands)
1GBP = R13.70 (rands)
1euro = R9.30 (rands)
1m = 3.23 feet (ft);
2.54cm = 1 inch (in);
1kg = 2.20 pounds (lb)
The Amplifiers:
I've been blessed to audition two amps. One I own and the other I was allowed to audition before I make the deal. The one I own is the 11kg Japaneese designed, Chinese built, 130W/ch Rotel RB1070 (R7800) solid state power amp and the one I auditioned is the 18kg Dutch designed, Chinese assembled 40W/ch PrimaLuna Prologue Two integrated tube amplifier (US$1395).
Associated equipment:
Source: Shanling CD-T80 (stock standard) - R8900;
Interconnects: QED Qunex 2; Transparent The Link 200 - R450/meter;
Speakers: Dynaudio Focus 140 (200W/86dB) - R19800; Boston Acoustics VR2 (200W/93dB) - R9200;
Speaker cable: Transparent The Wall (R200/meter); IXOS gamma-geometry bi-wire(R50/meter);
no power conditioner/regulator;
stands are sand filled to about 5/7ths of volume;
The Room:
length = 5.2m;
width = 3m;
height = 2.5m;
speakers are placed firing across the width of the room as opposed to down it's length.
measured from tweeter:
right speaker (front baffle): 86cm from back wall; 1.4m from right side wall;
left speaker (front baffle): 86cm from back wall; 1.9m from left side wall;
height: 98cm;
seating postion: 2.1m from speakers perpendicular to front baffle plane and dead center between the speakers;
Set-up:
In this excersice, I will only be giving my impressions of the Shanling/PrimaLuna PL2 (or) Rotel RB1070/Dynaudio Focus 140 setup. Though I have pushed in the Bostons at some stage, it makes the whole post too long....as it is already very long....
Power
The PrimaLuna boasts 40Watts of power whereas the Rotel hits 130Watt(claimed). Driving 4ohm speakers, I would reckon the Rotel putts out about 170 - 180Watts max, and if we were to go by the "rule of thumb" the PrimaLuna will push out 120Watts of "solid state" watts into 4ohms. What amazed me here was the way in which these "watts" were delivered to the speakers. The PrimaLina sounded very much "cleaner" than the Rotel. It sounds as if the PL is running off a power conditioner as oppossed to the Rotel. Though the Dynaudios are 86dB sen. rated speakers, with no msuic playing, the "hiss" off the Rotel was audible from about 1m away from the tweeter. The PL was dead quite in this regard even with one's ear very close to the tweeter. The rating of power confused me alot and what I then relied on was to listen closely to the definition of the highs when there is deep bass sections in a recording. With the Rotel, the highs would "decay" very quickly and be rather soft, whereas the PL seemed to keep the definitions very comfortably.
Imaging and Soundstage
Now I must admit that I am prepared to sacrifice for better imaging and soundstage. With neighboors practically meters away from me, I have to listen to music rather softly. The PrimaLuna is extremly good in delivering a very rich and detailed soundstage at low volume. There is practically no loss in bass definition or bass depth when the volume knob is below the 9 - 8 o'clock position. When the volume is increased the soundstage widens and of course music get louder. Added to that depth increases as well. With regards to the Rotel, depth increases significantly when the volume is increased. Also, the Rotel images better at high volumes, but there is a limit where music starts to become very entangled. The PrimaLuna maintains the imaging up to the max I've pushed it which is at almost 5 to 12 on the volume dial.
Midrange
Now it is claimed that tubes are kings when it comes to the mid-range. I will have to dissappoint tube fans here, as the PrimaLuna sounds more ss-like rather than tube-like. Having said that, it is a sound that I like very much. The mid-range is well defined and crisp on the PL and the Rotel. However, the PL is much better in defining different purcussion and drum instruments. Coupled to the excellent imaging of the PL, the drums roll round brilliantly from left to right (or vise-versa) as the drummer plays them, whereas the Rotel tends to present them either through the left speaker or the right speaker. Where the PL shines is with horns and pianos. Rick Braun, Chris Botti, Euge Groove, Bob James, Jeff Lorber, etc. are presented with tremendous feel and soul. The PrimaLuna soaks you up quickly in the delecate treatment of these instruments. Unfortunately, the Rotel, cannot keep up here, but it does not sound bad either. The feeling of the artist is somehow lost with the Rotel. With vocals, the PL is very impressive. The singer is always dead center with good height. Joss Stone brings goosbumps when played through the PL.
Highs and Bass
Both the Rotel and PL have good bass. However, it is in this department where the tube amplifier is clearly in a different league compared to the Rotel. I swopped the Dynaudios for the Bostons and the Bostons truely sounded like R20000 speakers. Quite honestly, the PrimaLuna drove those Bostons to ear damaging levels maintaining full bass and highs. Sadly the Rotel looses steam in the high department but there is good bass. Not so with the PL. With the Dynaudios, the Rotel is more of a miss-match as oppossed to bad. It drives th Boston floorstanders much better that the Dynaudios.
Conclusion
This post is very subjective and it is clear through my comments that I am not a reviewer with good reason. The tube amp is completely in a different league that the solid state amp. I love the Rotel and I think it is a stunning amplifier. It has very good all round performance. I would say that it is more suited to a home-theater application rather than for music, but it is by no means poor in this department. The PrimaLuna ProLogue Two is the music amplifier for me. It makes the Dynaudios sing beautifully. As I am a 90% music - 10% HT guy, I would recommend the PL to anyone who wants a good quality high performance entry-level "high-end" hi-fi tube amplifier. I went around listening to other ss offerings, but unfortunately the majority of salesmen do not set-up their systems properly and thereby robs me of "comparing" the PL to similarly priced solid-state options.
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