Интегральные усилители — PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid

The EVO 300 Hybrid is an integrated amplifier from PrimaLuna that combines a valve preamplifier section with a solid-state MOSFET power stage. Introduced in 2021, it was the first PrimaLuna product that is not an all-valve design, created together with Floyd Design, the solid-state engineering arm of Durob, the parent company of PrimaLuna. The US list price is USD 6,995.

Key specs that matter

Rated output is over 100 W per channel into 8 ohms, with a typical figure of 115 W. Frequency response runs from 10 Hz to 80 kHz within 3 dB, THD stays below 0.2% at 100 W into 8 ohms, and PrimaLuna rates noise at 105 dB below signal, A-weighted. Input impedance is 34 kOhm, input sensitivity is 415 mV and total gain is 37.2 dB, split as 7 dB plus 30.2 dB. The damping coefficient is 160 at 1 kHz. Idle consumption is 99 W with no signal, rising to 645 W at full load into 4 ohms. The chassis measures 405 x 385 x 205 mm and weighs 31 kg net.

Engineering and use context

The preamp stage uses six hand-selected 12AU7 valves, two in the gain stages and four as drivers, and it shares its gain stage with the EVO 400 Preamplifier designed by Marcel Croese, former chief engineer at Goldmund. The dual-mono output circuit is by Jan de Groot of Floyd Design and uses paired JFETs from Linear Systems with custom Exicon MOSFETs, two complementary pairs for each channel. The valve section has two power supplies with separate transformers, while the power stage has its own 500 VA toroidal transformer, and all supplies use the AC Offset Killer circuit against DC on the mains. Red LEDs act as low-noise diodes at critical points in the supply. Tin-foil capacitors made in Europe sit in the signal path, hardwiring is used widely, and the remaining circuit boards are 2.4 mm thick with 105 um gold-plated copper tracks. Parts come from Takman, DuRoch, Nichicon, Alps, Rubycon and Kemet.

Pairing

There are five stereo RCA line inputs plus one home theater bypass input. Outputs cover 4 and 8 ohm speaker taps, a tape out, a transformer-coupled subwoofer out switchable between stereo and mono, and a headphone jack driven by the main amplifier circuit rather than an op-amp chip. The amplifier has no internal DAC, but a shielded sub-chassis under the unit takes the optional PhonoLogue EVO phono stage. A slim remote is supplied.

Alternatives

PrimaLuna also offers the EVO 400 Integrated, an all-valve integrated amplifier with switchable triode and ultra-linear operation.