Totally Tubular: The Tube Thread

Getting a little amp itchy.. so have arranged a little home demo of an EVO 400 for the next week or so and plan on doing direct comparisons with the Luxman. Should be a good time. Picking it up tomorrow at 10am from my dealer, who has offered me a pretty respectable trade in for the Luxman, when combined with the discount that I got when I bought it a few years ago and the lower price at the time, means I will make out pretty good. But want to try the EVO 400 to be sure before I start making changes that could snowball.. going to try it with both the Fortes and the Spendors. In the end, I'll need to decide what Integrated to keep and which speakers to jettison. The wife wants the extra pair gone, and the Fortes ain't easy to hide in a house with no attic or basement..

Some of you may remember that prior to the Luxman I had a Primaluna Prologue Premium mated to Heresy III's, which I had a hum issue that just drove me crazy.. it wasn't loud.. it was just there when I didn't want it to be.

I'm half expecting to walk away from this keeping the Luxman and getting rid of the Forte's and being done, realizing I'm getting all that I want/need now. Free home demo is a no brainer.. other than having to lug the 70lb monster around..

More to come..
 
Going through the Taylor catalog with my daughter while playing Scrabble.. a nice night.

I don’t have the manual… red light is which one? Can hear a difference in the two using the remote. We all seem to prefer the red at this point.
 
Slimwhit33 said:
Going through the Taylor catalog with my daughter while playing Scrabble.. a nice night.

I don’t have the manual… red light is which one? Can hear a difference in the two using the remote. We all seem to prefer the red at this point.
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Owners Manual ;)

Your EVO 300 and 400 Integrated Amplifier will always start in Ultra-linear mode when powered up. Centered on the front panel are two LEDs which indicate the mode in which the amp is functioning: Red—Ultra-linear; Green— Triode.
 
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Not hating the combo…. Not sure where this is all going but going to enjoy the week Tune in to the buy,sell, trade forums. Might (MIGHT!) be a flash sale on the Luxmans… plural… and the 1210.. and some carts. 😲04C19579-596B-415D-800C-8B1C8926E785.jpeg5B703A1C-2EA4-4FB6-8DB5-3DA136C16899.jpeg
 
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Slimwhit33 said:
Not hating the combo…. Not sure where this is all going but going to enjoy the week Tune in to the buy,sell, trade forums. Might (MIGHT!) be a flash sale on the Luxmans… plural… and the 1210.. and some carts. 😲View attachment 161028
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Awesome! You’ve come full circle! I think I bought a quad of KT88s off you when you got rid of the dialogue?
 
That sounds about right. Lol.

I’ve got a bit of time to figure this out. Is the PL EVO 400 integrated leaps and bounds better than the L550axII? Nope. Is it different? Yup, slightly. Is it better? Probably not. Does it look cooler? Depends on who I ask in the house. Does it run hotter? Yup.

Full write up at the end of the week once I decide the plan, but the PL seems to image a bit better. But that imaging/clarity can sometimes feel a bit too much… little fatiguing, which I have ever experienced with the Luxman. The Lux gives up next to nothing and actually seems a little more taught in the bass department. This seems like a classic “6 of one, half dozen of another” situation.

Where I feel like the envelope could be pushed is going with PL separates. May go with EVO 300 amp and preamp. Talking to the dealer, I could push up the 300 power output with KT tubes.. it’s a jumble.

Tonight is the first time listening to vinyl. This particular EVO400 has a phono amp installed. Not using it tonight. Tomorrow will try it and compare directly to the Musical Fidelity M6x using my Nagaoka MP500.

I’ll say once again that it’s in the 20’s tonight and I have the window open to cool down my little room.
 
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Slimwhit33 said:
That sounds about right. Lol.

I’ve got a bit of time to figure this out. Is the PL400 integrated leaps and bounds better than the L550axII? Nope. Is it different? Yup, slightly. Is it better? Probably not. Does it look cooler? Depends on who I ask in the house. Does it run hotter? Yup.

Full write up at the end of the week once I decide the plan, but the PL seems to image a bit better. But that imaging/clarity can sometimes feel a bit too much… little fatiguing, which I have NEVER experienced with the LUx. The Lux gives up next to nothing and actually seems a little more taught in the bass department. This seems like a classic “6 of one, half dozen of another” situation.

Where I feel like the envelope could be pushed is going with PL separates. May go with EVO 300 amp and preamp. Talking to the dealer, I could push up the 300 power output with KT tubes.. it’s a jumble.

Tonight is the first time listening to vinyl. This particular EVO400 has a phono amp installed. Not using it tonight. Tomorrow will try it and compare directly to the Musical Fidelity M6x using my Nagaoka MP500.

I’ll say once again that it’s on the 20’s tonight and I have the window open to cool down my little room.
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So do you need the extra power. I’m comfortably running my speakers off the EVO 300 with KT88s in both ultra linear (42/43 watts) or triode (25 Watts). I don’t go near the limit and I’m not wanting for volume. The Linton’s are relatively efficient but they aren’t Klipsch or Tannoy either. Tubes can go closer to their limit in terms of wattage than solid state and clip in a different way that doesn’t destroy speakers.

Before it goes back I’d advise that you give it an extended run in triode. It really isn’t just a quiet switch, longer listening reveals it as a totally different presentation. In the right mood, which is more often than not my prevalent mood, I much prefer it.
 
Not sure if I need the power to be honest. If I were running the Fortes then I would say absolutely not. But I really love these Spendors and plan to keep them. They are about 88db sensitivity, so not too similar to the Fortes. They dont struggle at all with the Luxman 25w of Class A power, and they’re just as good with the PL EVO 400 and it’s higher output. Dealer thinks I could easily drop down to the EVO 300 and be fine. I may go that route.
 
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