“For me the future of the image is going to be in electronic form … You will see perfectly beautiful images on an electronic screen. And I’d say that would be very handsome. They would be almost as close as the best reproductions.”
— Ansel Adams, 1975
Ian Phillip (Glasgow, United Kingdom) is a digital designer who dabbles in photography whenever he gets the chance.
He shots films, black and white, and mostly on cameras that were out of date even back when Mr Adams had his crystal ball out.
He made a great shot of his DiaLogue One amplifier and send us this little note:
“I’d be delighted for you to use this image on the PrimaLuna blog. And yes, I have a DiaLogue and absolutely adore it!”
PrimaLuna's Blog 
Whow, what a great picture of a great amp…..
Thanks Ian! Great picture and thanks for aloowing us to publish it. Ciao, Herman van den Dungen
I have also the Dialogue one which I love.
I have changed the stock valves with 6ca7 Black Treasure from Shuguang and with EAT diamond 12ax7 and Full Music 12au7.
This combination sounds extremely good for me.
Any other combinations recommendable?
Hi José,
Nice mix. Difficult to judge how all possible tube combinations -not to speak of the rest of the equipment, the room acoustics and your taste of sound, music etc- will work out in reallife for any of us. But what’s nice is the fact that if you like tube-rolling, there is still sufficient material available. NOS tubes and new tubes. Did you try EAT KT88 tubes versus these Black Treasure tubes?
Hi Herman,
My dealer in Portugal told me I can’t use KT88 in the Dialogue One.
I realise now,through your comment,that I can. Ok, the EAT KT88 will be my next upgrade.
I have also the Prologue Eight CD Player with valves changed,namely the rectifiers with NOS Mullard Gz34.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Hi José,
While answering I must have been not 100% concentrated :-). Both your dealer and I am right. The DiaLogue One is optimised for use with EL34 (according to us), the DiaLogue Two is optimised for use with KT88 tubes (again, according to us). But … you can use EL34 in DiaLogue Two and KT88 in DiaLogue One and find one of these even the best sounding in your situation. To make it even more surprising, we have had a customer who was convinced that the best result for him was 1 x EL34 and 1 x KT88 in one channel …. What counts is that the owner was most happy with and that technically there is no problem to do so. Hope this does not confuse you too much.
Best regards,
Herman
Hi Herman,
Great news…you are giving me a lot of food.
In fact, I love a lot both my Dialogue one and Prologue Eight CD.
Some days ago I have audition a 10 times more costly system in a friend’s house and I realise that his treble is very expanded and sweet.
Do you think that I can upgrade my treble,changing the Full Music 12AU7 which I have in both equipments with Mullards?
I have also the EAT Diamond 12ax7 in both,which I love.
I’m feeling a very previligied guy to have the chance to get your opinion. Sorry if I’m boring you,but I love so much your gear that I wouldn’t be able to lose this oportunity.
Kindest regards.
José
Hi José ! Only 10 times more costly 🙂 … Well, if you can compare your system with another system that expensive and still feel good about yours, I feel good too. It means that we have succeeded in giving you a high quality system at an affordable price. Next to that I am happy to see you use the possibility to fine-tune your system with rolling the tubes. While not everybody will do that or feels the need to do that, IF someone wants, he can. You already use fine quality tubes, but still there a lot of combinations out there and Mullards for sure are good candidates if you are looking for a more silky character, while keeping plenty of detail and dynamics. Good luck with the final choice and dont forget to forget about what tube is best and enjoy your favorite music … Ciao!
Heb deze versterker bijna een jaar. Ben er zeer tevreden over. Vraag me echter af, of de voedingskabel voldoende is afgeschermd omdat ik een keer een andere kabel van een cd speler er op had gedaan per ongeluk. Er was direct geluids verschil. Soms zie je van die ringen om de tubes. Ik weet niet of dit nog uitmaakt in de positieve zin. Nogmaals, ik ben er zeer tevreden over.
gr. Harrie Willems
Dag Harrie,
Leuk bericht en goed nieuws dat je tevreden bent met de DiaLogue One. De versterker wordt geleverd met een relatief best wel goede netkabel, maar er zijn diverse klanten die zeer positief gereageerd hebben op een update van de netkabel. Misschien dat je een AH! TriAC netkabel kunt uitproberen. Die laat zich vergelijken met netkabels die vele malen duurder zijn en die eigenlijk best als “GeheimTip” door het leven mag gaan. Je kunt op verlei manier experimenteren om te zien of je erop vooruitgaat of juist niet. Ook met dempingsringen op de buizen. Die heb je vanaf heel goedkoop (AH! weer) en tot duur (diverse merken). Groet, succes en vooral plezier met de hobby! Herman van den Dungen
Have this amp almost one year. Am very pleased. Wonder, however, if the power is adequately shielded because I once another cable from a CD player there had been accidental. There was an immediate difference in sound. Sometimes you see those rings on the tubes. I do not know if this is included in the positive sense. Again, I am very satisfied.
gr. Harrie Willems
Hi Harry,
You wrote as well in English as in Dutch, so I do the same :-).
Nice comment and good news to hear you are satified with your DiaLogue One Integrated Amplifier. The amplifier comes with a relatively quite good ac-cable, but we have several clients who have had positive results with updating the ac-cable. Maybe you can try out the AH! TriAC ac-cable. You can compare this cable with ac-cables many times more expensive and this cable can be considered as a kind of “secret tip”. You can experiment in different ways to check if you improve your system or not by changing certain things. Also with dampingrings on the tubes. You can get those from inexpensive (again I mention AH!) to expensive (several brands). Regards, good luck and specially lot of pleasure with the hobby! Herman van den Dungen
hello Herman,
ik heb hier eigelijk weinig verstand van maar zou als muziek liefhebber graag over een goede installatie beschikken, ik ben dus aan het opbouwen.
Mijn huidige luidsprekers zijn Canton Vento R5 DC
280/440 watt
4 – 8 ohm
20 – 40000 Hz
Indien ik de Primaluna Dialogue one aanschaf, passen deze samen? Dien ik dan ook nog een pre-amplifier aan te schaffen? Wat raadt u me aan voor een optimaal resultaat? Een vriend heeft de installatie van Bob Carver, wat is het verschil?
ik weet dat deze vragen voor een kenner welllicht banaal zullen overkomen maar ik ben meer op de hoogte van muziek dan van installaties 🙂
met dank voor een antwoord,
Filip
Dag Filip,
Ik ken de Canton Vento R5 DC luidsprekers niet, maar er zijn weinig luidsprekers die niet aangestuurd kunnen worden door een PrimaLuna DiaLogue. Met die versterker heb je sowieso al iets in huis dat kwa kwaliteit bij een ander merk 2-3 keer zo duur is. Net wat je wil natuurlijk, maar die keus lijkt me redelijk eenvoudig. Ik weet niet waar je woont (en welke goede dealer dus bereikbaar is voor je) en wat voor luisterruimte je hebt, maar ik denk dat je jezelf bij een goeie dealer moet gaan informeren, die ook datgene wat je aanschaft, bij je thuis naar jouw tevredenheid aan het klinken krijgt. Je bent goed op de hoogte van muziek, dus jij bent wat betreft het eindresultaat ook een expert!
Succes en groet,
Herman van den Dungen
I used my DiaLogue One for a couple of months. What company tubes are installed originally? I’m going to change them. I don’t want to buy the same.
Hallo Pawel,
We use selected (60 out of 100) China made tubes. If I read well you want to upgrade and I would suggest Tung-Sol KT120.
Best regards,
Herman van den Dungen
I bought PSVANE 12AX7, 12AU7 and 6CA7-Z Treasure Premium Grade 🙂 Thank you very much for your type I will consider it in the future.
The Tubes Tung-Sol KT120 are already installed in my amp. They sounds great. Very balanced sound and full frequency range. Thank for your suggestion. I’m very proud of my PrimaLuna DiaLogue One now. I would like to buy PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium Cd Player, and then I’ll be in heaven.
Best Regards
Pawel Papierz
Hallo Pawel,
Good news about good results. Thank you for informing us. Hope your next steps in audio, particular with PrimaLuna, will make you as happy!
Best regards,
Herman van den Dungen