PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid

These days, listeners the wide world over enjoy hearing their music recreated for them by equipment whose origins are international; trade isolationists might consider the example of PrimaLuna.

- SASHA MATSON

This Holland-based company’s operations span three continents, with designers from Floyd Design and Durob Audio in the Netherlands, manufacturing in China, and input from California-based Harmonia Distribution.

The PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid is a hefty 63.8lb. It's designed to be used as either a stereo amplifier or, in pairs, as a monoblock ($7195 each, $14,390 for a pair). The handsome grayish-blue metal exterior is offered with either a black, pink, or silver-brushed front plate. The front panel is minimalist: just brand labeling and a power-status indicator light. Output specs for the EVO 300 Hybrid are 100Wpc into 8 ohms running stereo, and 220Wpc into 8 ohms running mono. These outputs increase into 4 ohm loads. The EVO 300 Hybrid is push-pull, operating in class-AB with a tubed input stage and solid state output.

PrimaLuna's history dates to 1998, when designer Marcel Croese convinced high-end retailer Kevin Deal that his tube-gear designs were the real deal. Deal's long-running retail company Upscale Audio, which is located in La Verne, California, has for many years been a go-to source for vacuum tubes, new and new old stock (NOS). PrimaLuna was a natural fit, as every product they produce includes tubes—even the EVO 100 DAC. Distribution for the US and Canada is handled by Harmonia Distribution.

Tubes vs solid state has long been one of those demarcation lines for hi-fi. Designers seem to line up one way or the other as well; few design both tubed and solid state devices. As for me, I like both: Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. I have owned beautiful-sounding low-powered tube designs and have likewise enjoyed handsome and super-sounding high-powered solid state amplification. Apples vs oranges.