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The DiaLogue One is an EL-34 based vacuum-tube integrated amplifier, hand-made with the finest point to point wiring, using workmanship that is equal to or better than any product you can buy at any price.
This integrated valve amplifier satisfies the audiophile's most stringent demands and keeps the home theater bunch happy as well. The new DiaLogue Series takes PrimaLuna to the next level and raises the bar for affordable high-end audio with astonishing performance.
The amplifier is built using finest premium parts. A toroidal transformer for the powersupply. Custom designed -in conjunction with one of the most prestigious transformer-designers in the USA- encapsulated output transformers for lowest hum, wide bandwidth for great bass and extended highs. Ceramic tube sockets. ALPS volume control. Nichicon and Realcap capacitors. Gold plated heavy duty speaker terminals and gold plated input jacks. Remote control for source selection, volume and choice of Ultralinear or Triode amplification. Five line level inputs, one HT Pass Thru and one tape out. It is enclosed inside a heavy gauge steel, fully vented chassis with five coats of finish. Each coat hand rubbed and polished.
The Adaptive AutoBias circuit, an exclusive to PrimaLuna, monitors and smoothfully adjusts bias constantly and instantly, reducing maintenance and increasing performance because of a dramatic reduction in distortion. For extended life of tubes and switches plus a reduced chance of tube failure/shorts, the amplifier uses a soft-start circuit. Tube plate fusing is used to protect the output stage. Other amps might need a trip to the shop if a tube fails. Not this one. Just plug in a new tube and fuse, and go.
The Cage
All PrimaLuna models come standard with a quick-release tube cage. The cage is held in place using banana plugs, so taking the cage on or off is a breeze. The finish of the amplifier is a fine charcoal color with a slight hint of metallic. The high gloss finish screams quality. The rear transformer cover is vented to allow heat dissipation.
The Rear Panel
Looking at the rear panel, you’ll note five inputs, one home theater pass-thru input, a tape out and speakers taps for either 4 or 8 ohm speakers. But don’t make any assumptions about using either the 4 or 8 ohm taps. Just because your speaker says 8 ohms, you can fine-tune the sound by using the 4 ohm tap instead. The RCA plugs are panel mounted, so they won’t break off when you unplug your interconnects. DiaLogue integrateds also include a ground for use in conjunction with your turntable and the optional MM phonostage.
Internal Wiring
Looking at the internal wiring, you’ll see some of the finest point-to-point wiring and assembly available at any price. Why point-to-point wiring? It’s the way it used to be done when cost was not the #1 priority back in the 1950’s and 60’s. It’s much less expensive to stuff circuit boards instead of the fine finishing you see here, but the benefit is obvious. Point-to-point wiring is more dependable, easier to service, and you have less of a chance of large problems, like circuit boards cracking.
The number one reason for point-to-point wiring is that it sounds better. It gives your amplifier a soul, its what McIntosh and Marantz did back in the hey-day of hifi, but had to stop doing because it requires skilled craftspeople and time. Now there are some companies that still have point-to-point wiring. The best ones being Cary and Atma-Sphere, but these are hardly products that everybody can afford. There are also some products that are less expensive that have point-to-point wiring, but the workmanship is shoddy at best.
Look at the ceramic stand offs, where wires are joined, at the perfect solder joints, the superb machining, the precision tie bars where the wires are joined, the ceramic tube sockets, and the vents surrounding the power tube sockets to help dissipate heat through the amplifier up and out from the bottom vents. No other integrated amplifier at this price offers these features.
PrimaLuna's Exclusive Adaptive AutoBias Circuit
The genius of this design is tubes do not have to be matched, and there is no bias adjustments needed ... ever. In addition, the PrimaLuna is equipped with Soft-start that brings the tubes up slowly to prolong life and prevent shorts. This make the PrimaLuna a joy to own and operate.
The Adaptive Auto Bias board actually improves the overall sound quality and performance. Between 12 and 35 watts measured distortion levels on the test bench drop by over 40%. At full power, distortion drops by over 50 percent! No other manufacturer offers this kind of build quality, performance and convenience anywhere near this price. In fact, there's no integrated amplifier that does exactly what the PrimaLuna does at ANY price.
The remote control
A heavy metal anodized aluminium remote is standard on all DiaLogue Series integrated amplifiers. This remote controls volume, source selection, and triode/ultralinear operation of the amplifier. It is also equipped with CD player controls that can operate the ProLogue Eight CD player, or the DiaLogue Eight CD player (coming soon).
A high-quality silicone ring is wrapped around each end of the remote to help minimise damaging your furniture.
The Base
Who shows you the bottom of an integrated amplifier and has something to talk about? PrimaLuna do. Most products at this price point have no cooling vents, and the reason they don’t is because their bottom plates are about as thick as a Coke can, and very poorly finished. PrimaLuna's bottom plate is completely finished with no sharp edges, complete ventilation and stability, and the screws mount into brass inserts.
Diapason D'OR Gold Medal: Hi-Fi 2007
Journal of Sound 5 Star Recommendation 2008
Hi Fi Voice Product of the Year 2009
Hi Fi News England by John Bamford Highly Commended 2009
The star of the group was the PrimaLuna DiaLogue One. Its midrange had a bit more presence than the others, displaying a broad tonal palette that was richly textured. With enough inputs to cover most requirements and full remote control, it is judged the best value of this group.
Vibrant and crisp ... brought a real sense of occasion to the music ... added space and air to the image that brought the track alive.
The DiaLogue One delivered a high resolution, detailed picture of this dense multi-tracked recording, sounding loud and powerful and simultaneously delicate and refined through the middle an dupper registers. It demonstrated a spine-tingling ability to convey really clean transients, with plenty of air that allowed me to hear right into the dense mix.
VinyLPhile by Rich Teer - August 2010 (PDF 35MB - full magazine. Review on p 24)
Using the stock EL34s in ultralinear mode, the DiaLogue One is a very neutral, great sounding amplifier. Bass was warm, deep, and tuneful. There’s a real sense of the air being moved by the drum, and the amp’s portrayal of the hall’s acoustic space (as evidenced by the bass drum’s reverb decay) was also a joy to hear.
Moving up to the midrange, piano and voices were well reproduced.
The DiaLogue One’s treble is clear, extended, and airy. Cymbals, bells, and triangles have a wonderfully realistic shimmer (when the recording allows). I was pleasantly surprised to hear the celeste’s hammer hitting the bells in Lt. Kije’s second movement, something I’ve not heard before. Subtle sounds, like a shaken or struck tambourine are reproduced in a lifelike manner.
Imaging was great too: the individual positions of the Ladysmith Black Mambazo singers can be heard in a slight arch behind the lead singer, Joseph Shabalala, the location of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s instruments in Lt. Kije, and the various instruments used by Mike Oldfield on his debut album, Tubular Bells [Virgin Records V2001].
PrimaLuna have another winner with the DiaLogue One: it’s a great sounding, well-built integrated amplifier. If you’re shopping for
an integrated amp in this price range you’d be remiss not to have this one on your “must audition” list. Highly recommended!
Positive Feedback Online - Issue 36 by Ed Kobesky
The new DiaLogue series takes ProLogue performance to the next level with even better parts (if that's possible), more features and higher resolution. The DiaLogue One is EL-34 based while the DiaLogue Two uses KT-88 tubes. Kevin sent me the DiaLogue One and it's one hell of a looker, with a swooping steel and glass tube cage and multiple coats of hand-rubbed lacquer that achieves a flawless finish Porsche would be proud of. The stainless steel remote control feels like it will last a lifetime or two.
Like all PrimaLuna products, the DiaLogue One uses PrimaLuna's proprietary Adaptive AutoBias circuit that continually monitors and adjusts the bias. It works flawlessly and unobtrusively to the point where owning a PrimaLuna tube amplifier is little different than owning a solid-state amp. Every once in a while, the owner will need to replace a tube or two, which is about as difficult as changing an incandescent light bulb but probably less frequent.
If you're as baffled by basic electrical engineering as I am, just know this: in ultralinear mode, the Dialogue One outputs 36-watts and sounds more dynamic and fleshed out, while in triode mode, it musters 18-watts with a notably more transparent midrange at the expense of just about everything else.
Here's another thing you should know: the DiaLogue One's relatively low power rating completely belies its ability to drive even finicky speakers. It barely broke a sweat with the inefficient Spendor S5e floorstander. Though quoted as an 8 ohm speaker with an 87dB efficiency rating, some testers have reported that it's more like 4 ohms and 83 dB. Even in triode mode, the DiaLogue Two powered the Spendors to real-world listening levels without notable strain—though the combination of British loudspeaker and triode mode was hardly a synergistic match. Of course, a true triode guy would never put those two together. Switching to ultralinear mode, the amp really took control of the Spendor drivers with tremendous authority and helped to deliver more definition and deeper bass than I'd experienced with significantly higher-powered solid state amps.
In fact, the DiaLogue One is a "best of both worlds" kind of product. It provides nearly all of the dynamic slam and frequency extension you'd expect from a solid state amp at this price, together with the liquidity of tubes. Come to think of it, that's exactly what I said about the ProLogue Two three years ago.
If the ProLogue Two is engaging, then the DiaLogue One is positively captivating. Some people might confuse its liquidity for tube-induced gloss, but listen closely with a revealing speaker like the Triangles (Celius-202 floorstanders). You'll find it's not the case.
... the Dialogue One can compete with solid state amps in its ability to deliver deep, controlled bass and stop-on-a-dime transients. It's tight as a drum, and not "for a tube amp" but without qualification
The DiaLogue Two may not be quite the screaming bargain its little brother is, but it is a tremendous value and I do not question for one second its potential to be the centerpiece of a system in the $20,000 range. Plain and simple, it's just that good. You'd be forgiven for thinking that no expense was spared in its design and manufacture.
The DiaLogue One is built in China but, as brand owner Herman van den Dungen stressed in a recent interview, "it is not a Chinese amp." That is to say, it's a western design that meets European Union specs and happens to be built at a factory in China, where production is overseen personally by either Hermann himself or one of his team members. According to importer Kevin Deal, we're not talking about simple spot checks. "You cannot get a consistent, high-quality western product unless you have western people sitting on the factory hours a day," he said. "That's what it takes, so that's what they do."
For the record, I've had the ProLogue Two in use for three years and it has never been anything less than 100% reliable. I pay it no mind and it demands nothing in the way of special attention. I see no reason to expect less from the DiaLogue series. That's why I would strongly recommend the DiaLogue One for those who, by necessity, have combined their two-channel and home theater systems. It features a nifty home theater pass-through that completely bypasses the preamp section. You can keep your receiver and enjoy tube sound—without the hassle of tubes.
The DiaLogue One is a significantly more lifelike amplifier (than the DiaLogue Two) that, despite a similar power rating, maintains a much more confident grip on speakers. I never thought I'd run across an affordable tube amp that could make the same magic with fast, efficient speakers like Traingle and taut, inefficient speakers like Spendor, yet here it is. How cool.1
The PrimaLuna DiaLogue One is a wonderful, luxurious-sounding amplifier that I'm wildly enthusiastic about. I'll spare you the usual audiophile jargon and close by simply saying that the DiaLogue One sounds about as close to live music as you're going to get at this price, especially if you value warm-blooded, breath-of-life realism.
Power Ultralinear 36 Watts per channel
Power Triode 18 Watts per channel
Frequency Response 10Hz - 30 kHz +/- 1 dB
THD with AABB < 0,3% @ 1W; less than 1,2% at rated power
S/N Ratio 89 dB
Input Impedance 100 kOhm
Input Sensitivity 240 mV (for rated power at max. volume setting)
Maximum Gain 36.5 dB
Power Consumption 248 Watts
Net Weight 29 kg
Shipping Weight 32 kg
Dimensions (L x W x H): 405mm x 385mm x 210mm
Shipping Dimensions (L x W x H): 577mm x 468mm x 305mm
Inputs 5 pairs Stereo RCA, 1 pair Home Theater Input
Outputs 1 pair Stereo RCA Tape, 4 & 8 Ohm Speaker Taps
Tube Complement 4 x EL-34, 2 x 12AX7, 2 x 12AU7
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