PrimaLuna EVO 400 Vs McIntosh MC275
 

Trying to decide between these amps… EVO 400 and MC275
Room is about 13 x 18 feet… 10 foot ceilings…
Speakers are TAD ME 1 …..with subs….


Any insight on either of these amps would be appreciated.

Thanks
Shelly

Either would be quite a change from your MC452.
Have owned one (in stereo) and two (as monoblocks) MC275 and thought the single MC275 was the best tubed gear I've owned by McIntosh after their MC75 monoblocks. Several here listen to the MC275 as monoblocks and several of us think the single MC275 is better and several think the MC75 monoblocks are the best. Having owned any number of tube amps I've always found the ones that use only two output tubes per channel in PP configuration to sound better than those that use four. I feel the same way about solid-state, with my three favorite amps all having only two output devices per channel. Obviously, YMMV.

While I'm not familiar with the Prima Luna, I am guessing that it would fall into the "too many output tubes per channel" for me. Plus, I prefer not to own Chinese audio gear (or anything else from China, especially food, when possible).

Best approach would be to demo both amps in your room with your speakers. If that's not possible it just depends on how much of a gamble you're willing to take.

On the plus side your TAD's are small speakers so a lower power amp should be fine with them. On the down side your TAD's have a bit less sensitivity and I don't know how much of that will be exposed with the lower power tube amp.

If Glenn is correct, your running a 450 watt SS amp which will drive those speakers without breaking a sweat.

For my own part buying the USA made McIntosh is where the conversation begins and ends.

What preamp are you using?

Could you swing an MC1502? Perhaps a lightly used one?

Edit: There's a 3rd Gen pair of MC75's available for $6500 on that other A site.

The ME1 sound fantastic with the power of the MC452 behind them….

I guess I’m just curious as to how they would sound with a tube amp…

I have a Rotel preamp….

The MC1502 is nice…. and powerful….
But probably more than I wanna spend at this point…

With a sensitivity of 85db, the ME1 should be able to hit at least 95db at the MLP with either the MC275, or the EVO400…

I could probably get both here to audition….
It would just take a large outlay of $$$$…
Ohh.. such decisions…

Well.... just ordered a Primaluna EVO400 integrated amp.....
So we will see how it goes....
60 day return policy.....so that is a good amount of time to try it out....
Hope it pairs well with the ME1....
Delivery next week....

After evaluating maybe post here your thoughts between the EVO400 (Tube) & MC452 (SS)? :groucho:

I may be tempted into tubes not just for pre-amp. :D

PrimaLuna EVO 400 Vs McIntosh MC275
 

This isn’t truly analogous, but my music room is about 13’ x 16’ with a 12’ ceiling. I have my speakers along the long wall. They are Dynaudio Heritage Specials with 85 db sensitivity. I am running the Dyns with a PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium integrated amp. Each channel is currently powered by two Golden Lion KT-77/EL34 power tubes which puts put about 32 Watts per channel into 8 ohms. I also run it with KT-120s putting out 43 watts/channel. Both sets sound great. I think the EVO400 is the new version of the Dialogue Premium HP which is essentially double everything I have. I think it is a great amp. Also, this was my first venture into tubes and the PL makes it basically idiot-proof. It does automatic biasing. It tells you when a tube is bad. And the tubes last forever. I bought mine from Ivan with KT-120s and it sounded great. I didn’t need to retube for 8 years. The reason I got the KT-77/EL34s was supply chain issues for KT-150s that I wanted to try (KT-120s are available) so I figured waiting I would try “more tube sounding” tubes. There are a number of AAers running PL. It does a great job pushing my monitors.

I Received the EVO400 integrated amp yesterday....
Very well packed in 3 boxes.... it arrived safely...although exterior box had a hole in it.....

When I fired it up, the left channel volume was way lower than the right channel....
I reseated all the power tubes, and that fixed the issue...
Very solid build quality.... its heavy... 68 lbs I believe...
It seems China can do some excellent assembly....

As far as the sound... its really good...
Highs are more airy than the MC452...midrange is nice and balanced. on par with the Mac.... Bass is as solid as it could be, in that I'm using a standmount... TAD ME1

Very happy so far....
We see what the next few days bring...

Shelly

:lurk:

Congrats! It's a fine amp, and one that should serve you well for a very long time. As the tubes burn in you will get more out of it of course, and like Bart I've got my box of popcorn! I have a C2500 & MC275 combination and an EVO 400 integrated in a different system, so I can't provide an opinion on sonics, but definitely enjoy both immensely with a minimum of worry given the circuitry and fail-safes in both amps.

The Prima Luna gives you more flexibility for tube rolling (vs. McIntosh only recommending KT88s), and the Ultralinear/Triode switch adds to the ability to explore and fine tune what you like (I have a set of KT150s I'll roll at some point later this year). The Mc C2500/MC275 combination does have a bit more flexibility with the C2500's connectivity options (even ignoring it's built-in DAC) and some more advanced usage features such as auto shut off and the remote having on/off functionality.