I Find Primalunas Ugly. How about You? Is there an alternative?


The curved cage on Primaluna amplifiers is extremely ugly. Their shiny cases do not help. Visually, they are worse than forgettable. I like the look of Line Magnetic amps, but they sound terrible. Is there a decent alternative?
defiantboomerang
Like soundwatts, I have a Rouge Cronus Mag. II and am most happy with it. In all respects, the KT120s outperform the KT88s, particularly with less efficient speakers. As mentioned, both the Rouge and the PrimaLuna are about half the cost of some others mentioned. If you are considering up to $10,000.00 you might consider the VAC phi 200 - one of the nicest tubed amp I've heard, especially when operated through the balanced section. And it looks very nice - day or night....Jim
i think line magnetic makes great looking and sounding gear at a primaluna pricepoint. exceptional build quality to boot
@defiantboomerang - you're entitled to your opinion.

Now on to my opinion on what are some alternatives:

Conrad Johnson - http://conradjohnson.com/cav45-stereo-control-amplifier/
Decware Torii - http://www.decware.com/newsite/TORII.htm
Decware ZMA - http://www.decware.com/newsite/MYSTERY.html
Cary Audio - https://www.caryaudio.com/products/sli-80/

I am a big tube supported, and I personally own a few Decware pieces that I absolutely enjoy listening to. You could call my a fan boy but man to me, they just sound so damn good. Transparency, unbelievable detail and slam in spades.
Not to be offensive, but how in the heck can I guess what YOU think is beautiful.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes.  You're going to have to figure this one out yourself.
Many nice suggestions. Thank you very much.

@corelli
You are right, I was too vague in my original post. Tried to make it more precise, though.

The VAC Phi 200 looks spectacular.

So does the Conrad Johnson CAV-45.

And the SLI-80 is just almost perfect (don’t really like the tilted output transformers too much). But didn’t the Stereophile measure a Cary Audio amp some time ago and found it to be so bad from the technical perspective that they called it a joke? (https://www.stereophile.com/content/cary-audio-design-cad-300sei-integrated-amplifier-measurements-p...)