Greg Borrowman, Australian HiFi Magazine Editor reviews the EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated Amplifier exclusively for Len Wallis Audio.
Read his review here.

The PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated Amplifier is a fine-tuned match of the PrimaLuna tube pre-stage and Durob Audio’s Floyd Design Mosfet power stage.

Floyd Design

Floyd Design has been Durob’s Solid State Design department for almost 20 years. This department, headed by Jan de Groot, has been servicing, designing and modifying solidstate circuits since 2002! Jan has a long history and great experience with JFETs and Mosfets. After having been Service Manager from 1986 to 1995 for Luxman, Thorens, AirTight and Bowers & Wilkins in the Benelux region, he became responsible in 1995 for the design and production of Sphinx, a famous Dutch audio brand at the time. In 2002 Jan started to work for Durob Audio, participating in the real-world experience of distribution and servicing, repairing, modifying solid-state reference brands like Cello, Dartzeel, D’Agostino and more.

Designed in collaboration with Floyd Design, the EVO 300 has a valve preamp with a solid-state power stage that the company claims delivers the best of both worlds – the fluidity of valves and the grip of solid-state circuitry – while still maintaining a coherent sonic signature. The result of this fusion of valve and solid-state engineering know-how is an amp that delivers generous dynamic range and broad stereo imaging with expressive mids and highs plus a tight, controlled bass.

Hybrid Amplification

The Primaluna pre-stage uses the brand’s well known six piece 12AU7 configuration. The Floyd Mosfet power stage uses paired Linear Systems JFETs and 20N20/20P20 Mosfets resulting in a 2 x 100 Watt power rating at 8 Ohm. Where possible, they use hard wiring, and if PCBs are needed, they use the highest quality PCBs available (2.5mm thick instead of the standard 1.6mm), 105um (usually 35um) gold plated copper tracks.

The PrimaLuna pre-stage uses two power supplies (including two separate transformers), while the power stage comes with a single 500VA transformer. The starting point for all the power supplies is PrimaLuna’s AC Offset Killer circuit. The amplifier comes with six inputs (5 x Line RCA, 1 x HT) and outputs (tape out, stereo/mono sub, headphone and speakers, of course). It arrives with a fully shielded heavy-metal sub-chassis for the optional MM phono stage.

AC Offset Killer – A PrimaLuna Exclusive

AC Offset Killer is about goose bumps. The ones you get when music comes out of a background so quiet, you may say to yourself “Just how is this possible?” PrimaLuna custom-winds their own massive toroidal power transformers that are low in hum and EMI. But they wanted more. The engineers designed the AC Offset Killer to lower transformer noise to a place no other manufacturer dreams of going, regardless of how bad your electricity is. The result? Sense of space. Texture. The resonance of an acoustic guitar or violin string that seems to trail on forever. The AC Offset Killer will amaze you.

FEATURES:

• A hybrid amplifier combining the advantages of valves and solid-state circuitry in one luxurious unit
• 100 Watts per channel @ 8 Ohms
• 5 x stereo RCA inputs & 1 stereo home theater input
• RCA Stereo/Mono Subwoofer output & headphone output
• Tube compliment: 6 x 12AU7
• A perfect coupling of valve and solid-state amplification.
• The preamp stage uses six hand-selected 12AU7 valves (2 x input, 4 x driver) – not a vague nod to valves in the signal path, like most other hybrid amps, but a properly engineered valve stage.
• The dual-mono solid-state power section incorporates paired JFETs from Linear Systems and specially manufactured MOSFETs, delivering (over) 2 x 100W into 8 ohms.
• Hardwiring is used extensively throughout the circuit design. Where PCBs are required, these are of the highest quality – 2.4mm thick with 105um gold-plated copper tracks.
• The valve preamp stage includes two power supplies with separate transformers; the solid-state power stage uses a dedicated 500VA transformer.
• All power supplies benefit from PrimaLuna’s ‘AC Offset Killer’ circuit, ensuring that DC on the mains never causes the transformers to hum.
• It incorporates circuit components of the highest quality, sourced from all over the world from manufacturers such as Takman, DuRoch, Nichicon, Alps, Linear Systems, Rubycon and Kemet.
• The amp comes with six inputs (5x line-level RCA, 1x home cinema bypass). Tape out and Sub out (Mono and Stereo). A fully shielded sub-chassis for the optional PhonoLogue phono stage attaches to the underside of the amp.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Power 8 Ohm: >100 Watts per channel (typical 115 Watts)
• Power 4 Ohm: >150 Watts per channel (typical 170 Watts)
• Frequency Response: 10 Hz – 80 kHz +/- 3 dB
• THD: < 0.2% 100W @ 8 Ohm S/N Ratio: -105dB (A-Weighted)
• Input Impedance: 34 kOhm
• Input Sensitivity: 415 mV
• Total Gain: 37.2 dB (7dB + 30.2dB)
• Power Consumption: 99 Watts (no signal in); 645W@4R
• Net weight: 55.1 lbs / 25 kg
• Shipping Weight: 63.9 lbs / 29 kg
• Dimensions: 15.9″ x 15.2″ x 8.1″ / 405 x 385 x 205 mm (L x W x H)
• Shipping dimensions: 22.7″ x 18.4″ x 12.4″ / 578 x 468 x 316 mm (L x W x H)
• Inputs: 5 pairs Stereo RCA, 1 pair Home Theater Input
• Outputs: 4 & 8 Ohm Speaker Taps, Tape, Stereo/Mono Sub, Headphone
• Tube Complement: 6 x 12AU7
• Damping Coefficient: 160 (1 kHz)