[Jimmy Ohnm]

I’ve had a quick listen to the Evo Dac at the local Hifi shop. Also listened to the PS Audio Directstream Dac at the same time. Just wanted to get an idea of how the Evo would perform against something at twice it’s price point. Did my best to volume match at my sitting position using app on my phone. Electronics used were the higher end PS Audio gear running into B&W 803’s or 802’s. Treat this as my perception only, please...
Not sure if the PS Dac was on the latest firmware.
Surprisingly the PS Dac was warmer and smoother sounding (you’d think a tube Dac would have been warmer). Having said that I actually found the Evo to be more ‘natural’ in its presentation. Noticed the word ‘analogue’ used above. The Evo to me also sounded a bit more forward in comparison to a more laid back presentation on the PS Audio. Only slightly.
Detail was about the same. Micro dynamics and soundstage width was greater on the PS Audio unit. Where the Evo has it over the PS Audio was in the air around instruments leading to better separation. The PS Audio Dac, depending on the song, could sound a bit congested in the mid range, in comparison. Having said that, doubt if you would notice it when listening to the one Dac only.
My perception afterwards was very much a case of different horses for courses. Owning a PL Dialogue Preamp as well and tube rolling on it I’m fairly confident one could get more out of the dac with regards to soundstage, air, holographics.
Not bad. Not bad at all...
Again please treat this just as my perception. Am sure yours will vary.

Hi Abee,
Thanks for the head to head comparison review of your listening session.
I never had the opportunity to audition the PrimaLuna DAC at all due to it being a brand new product and unavailable in my area, let alone being able to compare it to another high-end DAC like the PS Audio unit.
After listening to both the EVO DAC and my other DAC's in my room I concluded that the sound was more analog like and had more detail and sounstage than my other DAC's which cost less than 1/3 the price of the PrimaLuna unit.
It's nice to see that the EVO can compete with a DAC roughly double the cost. You can buy a fair number of high quality NOS tubes to roll for the money saved.
I'm not an authority on DAC performance comparisons. I'm just an old guy who wanted to spend his money limit on a unit from a company he trusts based on owning their preamp for over 2 years.
Whether it's better than a PS Audio or a Denefrips Terminator is out of my control as I couldn't afford to buy either at this time in life.
All I can say is that I'm happy with my hunch purchase, sight unseen based on the brand trust.
That's about all I can say about this DAC.
My reference to other gear is not possible but I can live happily with that situation.
Cheers, Jimmy.

P.S. Oh, I nearly forgot.
PrimaLuna has an extended warranty deal going on right now for their products. They extended my DAC warranty from 2 years to 3 years ( original owner only) when I registered. I'm not sure if this is a limited time offer?

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Please forgive this old fool as I don't know how to work the damn quote & reply button on this forum.
So if I included you in this reply then good.
First to fmzip.
If I had it to do all over again I'd purchase the PimaLuna Dialogue Premium preamp first then the DAC.
The preamp has a bigger influence on the sound the DAC makes it that much better. I hope that makes sense.
To Daniel Johnston:
Daniel, that Dialogue Premium HP amplifier must be great. I only wanted the preamp stage and I prefer to drive separate solid state amplifiers with the tube preamp front end. Someday I'd like to try the PrimaLuna monoblocks though.
And, Is that beautiful Jaguar E type in your avitar photo yours?
To Alltunedup: No worries man. Now I realize where you're coming from.
You have a chance to buy the DAC and you're just looking for user reports. The future price for the EVO 100 DAC will be higher. It's apparently being held at the $2999 promotional price but looks like it will cost more in the future.
The DAC you had modified sounds like it does the analog, smooth sounding thing that I think we're all looking for.
I can't confirm that an EVO DAC would do it better as I haven't heard yours. In my opinion though, tubes rock. If you can get a used one for less than retail then maybe you should grab it. If you don't like it you can resell it and likely break even.

Re the primaLuna monoblocks. I'd definitely audition those, When I bought my PrimaLuna, it was the floor model. They replaced it with the preamp and power amp of the same premium line. Completely different sound. It was such a difference that the store sent them back for a refund. It wasn't the preamp because we paired it with several other power amps and it sounded amazing. It could've been a defective unit.

Re the Jag, yes. 1974 OTS. And thanks! She is pretty.

 

[Jimmy Ohnm]

Re the primaLuna monoblocks. I'd definitely audition those, When I bought my PrimaLuna, it was the floor model. They replaced it with the preamp and power amp of the same premium line. Completely different sound. It was such a difference that the store sent them back for a refund. It wasn't the preamp because we paired it with several other power amps and it sounded amazing. It could've been a defective unit.

Re the Jag, yes. 1974 OTS. And thanks! She is pretty.

Hey Daniel,
Yes she is fine!! British
Racing Green I believe by squinting at your avitar photo...
A good friend of mine had a V12 about the same vintage. We were in highschool at the time, his parents had loads of cash. Thing never ran without issue for more than a few months. I hope you're having better luck. When I was 18 I nearly bought an Austin Healy as a daily driver.
Being English, my father talked me out of it, he said I'd be taking the bloody bus to work more often than not..lol .He was a pretty smart man.
She sure was a thing of beauty though.
These PrimaLuna tube products like the DAC and preamp don't put out a lot of heat. I don't know if I could handle warming up the room in the summer with monoblocks... Unless maybe in the basement system...
I think I'll stick to S.S. amps for the foreseeable future.
Cheers Jimmy.

 

[JBob1]

I've had the EVO Tube Dac for 6 weeks now and all I can say is, WOW! I have it matched up with a Mcintosh MC275, C2200, Lumin U1 mini and Dynaudio speakers. If you like a warm lush analogue sound the EVO Dac will provide it. Factor in it's a great looking Dac and for 2900 it's one of the best deals out there. Highly recommended.

 

[Jimmy Ohnm]

 

[Jimmy Ohnm]

I've had the EVO Tube Dac for 6 weeks now and all I can say is, WOW! I have it matched up with a Mcintosh MC275, C2200, Lumin U1 mini and Dynaudio speakers. If you like a warm lush analogue sound the EVO Dac will provide it. Factor in it's a great looking Dac and for 2900 it's one of the best deals out there. Highly recommended.

Hey JBob1,
I bought mine this spring it's been a hell of a lot of fun listening to music with this DAC.
I added 3 extremely quiet 80mm. 5 volt cooling fans that run off a 21000 mha battery power pack. I built adjustable fan supports for each.
The fan speed is fully controllable so I can't hear them at all when turned down below 1/2 speed.
The DAC doesn't get hot at all, just warm, but because it's inside the confines of a hifi cabinet I wanted to cool it down a little more. The three small fans move quite a bit of air volume at very slow rev. speeds.
The 1 1/4" thick bamboo butcher block isolation platform floats on 6 @ 3/4" dia. Sorbothane hemispheres recessed into the bottom.
I fabricated an upgraded Furutech Alpha power cord c/w Furutech connectors. I also fabbed a custom length digital coax interconnect .

 

[JBob1]

Hey JBob1,
I bought mine this spring it's been a hell of a lot of fun listening to music with this DAC.
I added 3 extremely quiet 80mm. 5 volt cooling fans that run off a 21000 mha battery power pack. I built adjustable fan supports for each.
The fan speed is fully controllable so I can't hear them at all when turned down below 1/2 speed.
The DAC doesn't get hot at all, just warm, but because it's inside the confines of a hifi cabinet I wanted to cool it down a little more. The three small fans move quite a bit of air volume at very slow rev. speeds.
The 1 1/4" thick bamboo butcher block isolation platform floats on 6 @ 3/4" dia. Sorbothane hemispheres recessed into the bottom.
I fabricated an upgraded Furutech Alpha power cord c/w Furutech connectors. I also fabbed a custom length digital coax interconnect .

 

[JBob1]

Hey JBob1,
I bought mine this spring it's been a hell of a lot of fun listening to music with this DAC.
I added 3 extremely quiet 80mm. 5 volt cooling fans that run off a 21000 mha battery power pack. I built adjustable fan supports for each.
The fan speed is fully controllable so I can't hear them at all when turned down below 1/2 speed.
The DAC doesn't get hot at all, just warm, but because it's inside the confines of a hifi cabinet I wanted to cool it down a little more. The three small fans move quite a bit of air volume at very slow rev. speeds.
The 1 1/4" thick bamboo butcher block isolation platform floats on 6 @ 3/4" dia. Sorbothane hemispheres recessed into the bottom.
I fabricated an upgraded Furutech Alpha power cord c/w Furutech connectors. I also fabbed a custom length digital coax interconnect .

 

[JBob1]

I uploaded a photo but it's not showing up on my end. My first attempt at posting pic on the forum

 

[Jimmy Ohnm]

Hey JBob,
I understand. This forum structure is probably the hardest I've ever tried to navigate and manipulate, definitely designed by a computer geek... Apparently, if you're a brand new member they won't allow you to upload stuff until approved and they know you're not a spam - bot.
The picture I uploaded was my first here, I guess I just got lucky?
I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures. I'm still searching for the button that lets me delete my posts if I want. Don't know how to find that baby??

 

[JBob1]

another attempt

 

[Jimmy Ohnm]

another attempt

Hey JBob,
That's a very nice setup.
You might want to try decoupling the Dynaudio speakers from the equipment rack. You might want to consider buying some 3/4" dia. Sorbothane hemispheres and stick them on the bottom of the speakers to decouple the speakers from the top of the furniture. Then move the speakers right up to the very front edge of the rack. This gets rid of any unwanted reflections from the speakers front baffles bouncing off the top of the furniture unit.
Also try to keep your amp and other gear slightly further back on the top of the support unit behind the plane of the speakers baffles. You don't want any hard edges inline with the front baffles on the sides of the speakers. It's like putting them too close to a side wall. You might find that giving the speakers the extra room to breathe and radiate the energy freely will improve the soundstage and also improve instrument location. Try different locations, it's fun to tweak.

 

[JBob1]

Hey JBob,
That's a very nice setup.
You might want to try decoupling the Dynaudio speakers from the equipment rack. You might want to consider buying some 3/4" dia. Sorbothane hemispheres and stick them on the bottom of the speakers to decouple the speakers from the top of the furniture. Then move the speakers right up to the very front edge of the rack. This gets rid of any unwanted reflections from the speakers front baffles bouncing off the top of the furniture unit.
Also try to keep your amp and other gear slightly further back on the top of the support unit behind the plane of the speakers baffles. You don't want any hard edges inline with the front baffles on the sides of the speakers. It's like putting them too close to a side wall. You might find that giving the speakers the extra room to breathe and radiate the energy freely will improve the soundstage and also improve instrument location. Try different locations, it's fun to tweak.

Jimmy this is my game room rig and the plan is to move the big piece of furniture the system is resting on to another room and buy an open audio rack possibly Salamander and Dynaudio speaker stands . It sounds great right nw considering my game room has concrete floors, rock walls, big rock columns from ceiling to floor. The acoustics are lousy.

 

[JBob1]

The Absolute Sound review of the Evo 100


http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/primaluna-evo-100-dac/

 

[meomap]

Hi,
Anyone here use this dac for headphone?
I have Utopia with ALO studio Six tube amp.
Or thinking of Shinola Runwell TT connect to Studio Six.

Can't decide which one to get for dedicated hp setup only.