Hi Dan. Thanks for your feedback! All points well taken. I did mention at the beginning of the review that it was not an apples-to-apples, and specified the tube differences and lack of break-in, as you commented. Having said that, even Kevin Deal (PrimaLuna US distributor) commented (in a different forum) that the differences between both units are really not earth-shattering. His words:
"The HP is the exact same amp as the DiaLogue Premium in every way, with these additions:
Larger power transformer, additional circuitry to add four more power tubes including an additional Adaptive AutoBias board, and the headphone amp which I will comment on later. The benefit is more power and a lower output impedance which will give it a little more slam and control. Not a ton more. But more.... The 36 watts that the DiaLogue Premium has is huge because we concern ourselves with bandwidth in the output transformers, not power... I'm really happy that (Esteban) loves his DiaLogue One so much after so many years. While other companies certainly want you on the merry go round burning cash, our desire is to create amps that are iconic and relevant 10, 20, or even 50 years from now. It makes me smile when I get calls from people ten years later that they are still happy.
Having said that, the new series DiaLogue have the exact same output transformers which is where the magic happens, but with a myriad of improvements that for sure will increase performance. In a side by side with the same tubes it will become apparent, but I'm going to tell you the original DiaLogue One, Two, ect were so good I thought we had painted ourselves into a corner. "
|