I bought this amp (on sale for $699) to power a pair of DynAudio 42s in my secondary system. It's a fine little amp, but definitely lacking in comparison to my Prima Luna 3/7 setup. I expected that. It's a great amp at its price point to be sure. I ran it for 3 hours in my main system (MiniMax CDP and JA rm25 towers). Does not have the dynamics of the bigger monoblocks, but again, totally expected. Not quite the clarity or *something* in the upper regions, either. But it sounded good out of the box.
I plan on posting extensive reviews of the PL gear soon followed by a review of this amp as well after I have 50+ hours listening to it...
Ouch!! That hurts. I'm not rich, dude. True, I'm going a bit nuts, now, but I hadn't bought anything audio in eight years.
If you're short on cash, though, what I'd recommend is selling drugs. This is the easist job I've ever had. You buy the stuff then turn it around and sell it for 3x as much. It is as simple as that.
~Paul
P.S. Just kidding.
P.P.S. I bought the 42s last week - they were a demo-pair steal at $650. I luv demo stuff.
Thanks for reporting and please keep us up to date. I'm strongly considering buying a tube integrated around summertime. Have you heard the PL integrateds? I was trying to get some insight between the ProLogue 1 and/or 2 and the Onix SP3. I've seen great reviews for the PrimaLuna gear and a great review for the SP3, but you know how those professional reviews go. Any insight from an ecoustics member would be greatly appreciated.
I have not heard the PL 1 or 2 integrateds (one problem with the one-dealer mail-order-only operation - no auditioning).
Based on what I hear from comparing my PL setup to the Melody, I would be surprised if a PL 1 or 2 would not best the Melody by some as well. But I could be wrong. The Melody is a great amp, but does not have the dynamics or clear and extended highs of my PL setup, but, again, maybe that is just nearly or wholly attributable to the additional power of the monoblocks...
In any case, though you certainly can't go wrong with any PL product, the Melody is certainly a steal at $700 right now.
The SP3 is now $999. I'm not too keen on the internet only thing, but that's how it's gonna have to be.
You'd think that living 15 minutes outside of Manhattan I wouldn't have any problems finding a good inexpensive tube integrated. Everything here is either cheap garbage or absurdly expensive; their's no happy medium what so ever.
I'm leaning towards the PrimaLuna ProLouge 2 for a few very stupid reasons - It has more reviews than the SP3 (all reviews for the 3 integrateds are 'product of the year' type), and has auto biasing. Honestly, if one of them had a remote control I'd probably end up going with that one. Not the way people should make their decisions. If I got one and didn't like it, I'd return it. If I did like it, I'd always wonder if the other one sounded better.
If they had them in stores, it would be a lot easier. I guess that would make it too easy though...
Looking forward to you thoughts on the SP3 and PL mono's...