PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium Stereo Tube Preamplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr. has posted a review, including a full suite of test measurements, of the PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium stereo tube preamplifier ($2199) at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. Here is a sample:

The ProLogue was a perfect match with the pa21, producing lush, warm sound that put me into deep relaxation. There is a smoothness to an all-tube hi-fi system that cannot be matched when there is solid state anywhere in the signal path.

In this Telarc recording of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, a.k.a., LAGQ, the musicians honor famous guitarists of the past, including Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. Now, if an amplifier had the slightest harshness, the twang of the guitars playing music of those artists from the 1960's would be like broken glass. But that didn't happen here. It was like crystal lightly tapped with your finger.

Brass instruments are another area of concern with an amplifier that produces too much odd order harmonics. Since the PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium preamp doesn't do that, the brass - in this case, French horns - were smooth, yet delivering the slight edge that horns tend to have.

You can read the full review here.

You can read my review of the PrimaLuna Prologue Premium integrated amplifier here.