Boy Ballings: After years of wandering about in hi-fi territory, of trying many speakers, amplifiers, and especially audio stores without any real satisfaction, my son pointed me to DÉ HIFIWINKEL in Eindhoven, a store where I’ve found my niche, so to say. They give you both time and peace of mind to listen extensively to products, in every combination you like, along with sound advice that takes your personal wishes into account and never makes you feel that they are just trying to sell. In short: a store with a great sales team who know music and truly love their jobs.
In a store like this, it is practically impossible not to discover the system of your dreams sooner or later, which is exactly what has just happened to me. Some time ago, I bought a pair of Sonus Faber Cremonas there. Great-looking speakers, this Italian design would definitely make an exclusive ornament in any interior. But, above all, these are speakers with fantastic sound! Marcel van Overbeek personally came around to position them at my home. There was a lot of turning this way and that, and, of course, a lot of listening. He had brought everything he needed, including his enthusiasm!
Combined with my 2 x 150 Watt Rotel pre/power amplifier, I had several month of great listening pleasure, until…, yes indeed …, until I started treating the Cremonas to the PrimaLuna. I don’t know whether the Cremonas were happy with the PrimaLuna, or whether the PrimaLuna was grateful for having been chosen to serve these Italians. In any case, I immediately felt that they were very happy with one another, and, more importantly, I am happy with them. This combination plays heavenly. Unbelievable what this "small" 2 x 35 Watt PrimaLuna can do!
My days of endlessly comparing specifications before purchasing an amplifier are long gone, and, again, this amp shows that specifications don’t mean a thing. The PrimaLuna has the feel of a really "heavy" amplifier combination. It is incredible how much power and dynamism this amplifier can produce when the music needs it. There is no difference in power with my 2 x 150 Watt Rotel, not instinctively at least. But music is more than just power: this PrimaLuna treats the music with an unparalleled gentleness, a feat for which tube amplifiers are known.
This amplifier makes your CDs come alive again, as if they were vinyl LPs. Detail in the highs is excellent: brilliant, yet never harsh or edgy. On the contrary, it is soft as silk, even with critical instruments like violins, that cause many transistor amps to slip up and start sounding "technical". This PrimaLuna remains itself and does nothing but render the music the way it should be: musical pleasure without a trace of discomfort or the so-called "technical" sound.
And the lows? Yes, the Cremonas produce fabulous lows, of course. That is, if the amplifier does its best. And… there it is again, it is as if the PrimaLuna is truly happy to please the Cremonas. He (or she) makes the speakers produce lows that crawl "under your skin", like at live concerts or in the symphony hall!
Perhaps, on first comparison, the lows are a bit less "tight" than the Rotel’s, but they are much, much more musical. The PrimaLuna instils them with emotion. Have you ever heard truly tight lows in a symphony hall or at a live concert, anyway? I don’t think I have. What you do hear there is "emotion and atmosphere", and that is exactly what the PrimaLuna brings into your living room.
The Mestreechter Staar Men’s Choir sets itself between the speakers and gives a performance of Händel’s Hallelujah that sends shivers down your spine. The accompanying church organ really sounds way up in the church. However, less spacious work is also rendered joyfully by the PrimaLuna. For example, on the track "High Live" from the album "Jazz at the Pawnshop", you are quasi in the middle of the intimate atmosphere of the small, smoky Swedish jazz cellar, and you can touch the musicians. On "Paolo Conte, Concerti", a 1985 live album from Il Teatro Morlacchi in Perugia, Paolo Conte puts so much emotion into his "Sotto le stelle del jazz", that one wonders whether the master does so because he is playing in his native Italy, or because he composed the song himself. Or is it the PrimaLuna that captures the atmosphere so well?
Do you prefer blues? Then put Blues Collection Nr.3, "Piano in Blues", into your CD-player, pick "The Charm", and the PrimaLuna puts the blues piano between the speakers, Eddie Boyd takes his place at the keyboard and… things start swinging madly. Also the more melancholic "Trouble in Mind", with R.M. Jones on the piano, is rendered with an incredible sense of musical atmosphere.
I could continue like this for a while. From heavy classical music – ranging from religious music to opera with Maria Callas or Katia Ricciarelli, to jazz, blues, or popular music with Spencer Bohren, Diana Krall, or Ana Gabriel with her raw, husky, yet sensitive voice; or "Slagerij van Kampen", our own percussion band from Eindhoven: the PrimaLuna renders all genres effortlessly, with an unheard-of warmth and musicality.
I’ve long stopped judging a sound system by its technical specifications. Over time, I’ve learned that there is only one judge: your ears. So I used them. This PrimaLuna is capable of such captivating and vivid reproduction, that he (or she?) makes you forget about technology and allows you to get carried away by the music. Often, (s)he has kept me busy until late at night, bringing all kinds of artists ‘live’ into my living room, as it were.
Then there is one other matter to be resolved: is the PrimaLuna a ‘he’ or a ‘she’? Judging from its weight (over 15 Kilograms), its perfect finishing, and rugged construction (thick, massive front plate and extremely sturdy inputs at the back, even including an optional 4- or 8-Ohms speaker input), this must be a ‘he’.
But soon there is doubt. The small white ladies’ gloves in the package, the external beauty, the simplicity, the smooth selectors, operating without any disturbing noises, and especially the atmosphere of warm glowing tubes at night (at home, the ‘hood’ is off, of course!)… Finally, after many long evenings turning into late-night listening with a glass of wine, these have made me decide: the PrimaLuna is a she.
And just because of that, it is wise to spoil her some more with decent power cords, connecting cables, and a superb CD-player, in my case the familiar AH! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 with TjoUpsampler and Siemens E288CC Gold-pins, all connected by Transparent cables. The PrimaLuna is more than doubly worth it!
Thanks to Marcel van Overbeek’s expert advice and guidance, I now own a really exclusive sound system that makes me feel satisfied and truly gives me enormous musical pleasure. Adding the PrimaLuna has not been a small contribution to these feelings of satisfaction (though it has been in terms of price, certainly given its performance).
Maybe my story sounds a bit over-enthusiastic, and you as a down-to-earth reader might think: "sure!". In that case, go and have a listen, it’s for free. For now, that is, because chances are that you will, as I did, be carrying a big and definitely heavy box home the very same day (they have these things in regular stock!). You guess what’s in there?
As far as I’m concerned, I would recommend the PrimaLuna ProLogue One to any serious music lover!