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The PrimaLuna EVO 400 preamplifier has enough inputs and outputs to satisfy the very, very most, but it's the amazing sound quality that really gets you down. According to PrimaLuna, several American hi-fi journalists have kept the preamplifier after having had it on test. PrimaLuna can bring up a Norwegian hi-fi journalist also. The EVO 400 is a KILLER!

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Given a good source and loudspeakers, it’s the impressive centrepiece of a serious hi-fi system – one with a charm that many rivals conspicuously lack. A great affordable audiophile valve amp combination then, built to a high standard and with masses of upgrade potential

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The EVO 400 is not only PrimaLuna’s best line preamp offer-ing ever, but it also holds its own against ultra-high-end competi-tion. It’s hard to escape the impression that it was designed from the ground up on a power amplifier chassis. It features massive and sophisticated power supplies, high-voltage regulation, exotic passive parts, and, oh yes, tube rectification via a pair of 5AR4s. Miraculously, it manages to combine the virtues of modern tube sound with the tonal heft and timbral realism afforded by vintage tube preamps. If purity of expression and tonal realism are two of your sonic priorities, get ready to embrace the EVO 400. I cer-tainly did. In a nutshell, it’s an insane audio bargain that delivers pure tube magic

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It’s no secret to anyone following us for a while, my journey with PrimaLuna goes back to before TONE. It goes to ground zero. The first hifi review I wrote for The Absolute Sound was the PrimaLuna ProLogue One. That cool little in - tegrated amp was where the brand began, and you could order it with a set of KT88s or EL34s, for $999 or $1,099. I bought the review sample, and other than a brief stay at a former staffers house, I’ve been playing music on it for going on 17 years without a hitch. How’s that for reliability?

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. . .the all-tube EVO 400 develops deeper, darker shadows, is more three-dimensional, makes more saturated tonal color, and has more eye-catching highlights. . .Old-school tube aficionados would likely describe the EVO 400 as the clearest, fastest, most transparent all-tube preamp ever.