A great experience

[Jac Hawk]

Hi all, i've had some problems with my Primaluna Evo400i of late, well it actually started not long after i bought the amp, but now it's to a point where something needs to be done. Basically after about 5 minutes of play I get a bad valve light come on and I loose the left channel, it's always the same bad valve light so always the left channel, I've swapped valves around to see if it's a bad valve and even bought some new ones, but it definitely isn't down to the valves.

So a couple of days ago i sought help from the guys on the Primaluna page on Facebook, the consensus being that it's more than likely an issue with the auto bias circuit and Primaluna actually publish on the net how to adjust this on older versions of the amp but importantly not mine, anyway not wanting to stick multimeter probes into a live circuit I decided to book it in at my local PL dealer for them to have a look and at the same time I reached out to Herman at Primaluna via email.

I sent the email to Herman Saturday morning and to my surprise he responded by lunchtime, he advised me not to open it up but to take it to a dealer, and went on to request more info, serial number, versions of valves that are installed amongst other things as well as the dealers details so that PL could offer 1st line support and advice directly to the dealer.

I contacted Wilkinson's HiFi just outside Burnley on Friday afternoon to book my amp in to be looked at, the guy i spoke to was surprised to hear I was having issues, anyway I took the amp over to them on Saturday afternoon, showed them the email i had from Primaluna and copied their details into my response. While I was there I had a look around (it's a hifi shop why wouldn't you) the staff there are all a bit older and seem to give excellent advice, this isn't a modern boutique type shop with 2 or 3 over priced pieces of kit that you have to visit by appointment, this is an old school HiFi shop filled with kit new and used which caters for everyone, while looking at some Fyne Audio speakers I was approached by one of the staff who told me they have an enthusiasts meeting on every Saturday in the main demo room and I was more than welcome to attend, again why wouldn't you, there was 5 guys sat listening to records that they had brought in, I was made to feel welcome tea and decent fresh ground coffee were on tap and free to my surprise along with an assortment of biscuits, I got there at 2pm and didn't leave until 5pm.

Honestly what a great day, Primaluna on the ball and an incredible local dealer who aren't snobby or pushy and what a great idea for them to hold their own club, as Arnie says i'll be back!

[brian2957]

That sounds fantastic Mike. I was talking to a mate about dealers the other day. Shops like the one you've described are few and far between these days. It's all about time and money in modern hifi shops. I'm old enough to remember the days when you could walk into a hifi shop just for a listen to whatever system was playing and have a chat and a coffee. Looks like you have been lucky enough to find a fantastic old fashioned dealer. Not that I'm jealous mate ;)

[Jimbo]

That is a great experience and fairly uncommon I feel nowadays but as some of us older members remember it was how it used to be with some local dealers. I used to pop into a place every Friday afternoon from work and what a brilliant experience that was. got to hear so much kit and meet so many people.

[Jac Hawk]

That sounds fantastic Mike. I was talking to a mate about dealers the other day. Shops like the one you've described are few and far between these days. It's all about time and money in modern hifi shops. I'm old enough to remember the days when you could walk into a hifi shop just for a listen to whatever system was playing and have a chat and a coffee.

When i was speaking to the staff there, they said there are certain brands they'd like to stock but the manufacturers and distributors won't consider them as they say the shop is too outdated, it's that attitude that grinds my gears and to be honest i steer clear of these boutique shops that are all swish looking, have a smattering of kit that costs the earth and pushy salesmen that don't help matters and are only interested in selling you what they have in stock.

[struth]

pity we dont know the brands... its really poor of them to try and control the environ that people should have to use. its really too much. so avoid the brands is my advice

[Jac Hawk]

pity we dont know the brands... its really poor of them to try and control the environ that people should have to use. its really too much. so avoid the brands is my advice

Linn were one Grant, I’ve never been a Linn fan to be honest so that’s not a big deal for me, but the guy I was speaking to said, well known brands like Linn draw people in

[struth]

Linn were one Grant, I’ve never been a Linn fan to be honest so that’s not a big deal for me, but the guy I was speaking to said, well known brands like Linn draw people in

not surprised re linn.

[brian2957]

Yup, sad ain't it. I would much rather frequent a shop like the one you've described mate.

[Pigmy Pony]

Sounds like a really enjoyable afternoon Mike. Next time you go take me with you :) Oh and if you have been left temporarily amp-less I can lend you something considerably more downmarket, but better than a poke in the eye.

[Jac Hawk]

Sounds like a really enjoyable afternoon Mike. Next time you go take me with you :)

I’ll be going again probably this Saturday to hopefully pick up my amp, I’ll give you a call to let you know

[Barry]

Linn were one Grant, I’ve never been a Linn fan to be honest so that’s not a big deal for me, but the guy I was speaking to said, well known brands like Linn draw people in

Yes, Linn and Naim were the worse. I had to lie to one such dealer that I used a Linn set up in order to buy a Linn cartridge I wanted to try.


In general, the sort of hi-fi dealers we once knew are disappearing, because potential customers come in to hear some kit, listen to a lot of records and then leave saying they will think about it, only to buy on-line where it is cheaper! :doh:

I once accompanied a friend of mine to our local dealer, to hear some speakers. The speakers were fine but the person demonstrating them hadn't realised the channels were swapped over. Obviously, he had never attended a live classical performance. :doh:

Another time I visited a famous hi-fi emporium in London to hear some speakers. When I commented that the stereo image was unstable and swimming around all over the place, the demonstrator replied "How do you know it's not supposed to sound like that?" :doh:


Having found a dealer who appears to be an exception to all that, and who also runs a sort of audio club, I would encourage you to support them. I only wish we had something like that where I live.

[Jac Hawk]

I’ll be using them in the future Barry, definitely to buy cartridges from and they have a 2nd hand amp I like the look of too

[Pigmy Pony]

My next purchase will be a replacement stylus for my 2M Black, and I'd be happy to use them and don't mind paying a few extra quid. As Barry says, such places are increasingly rare and deserve to be supported.

[walpurgis]

Perhaps those now intending to do business with Wilkinson's HiFi could mention that they are doing so on the strength of a positive review here.

I'm sure it would do no harm for them to know where extra business is coming from and it may give the forum more exposure and possibly more members.

[Pigmy Pony]

Absolutely Geoff, will do :)