Measurements and Conclusion
Contents
We also measured the Primare i35, of course. We measured both the “analog” part and the DAC. We tested the dac through the line-out of the i35. This is to get the best possible impression of the performance.
Testing was done on the Prism dScope III. Power supply noise measurement was done with the LISN setup and the Picoscope 5000. Blue is common mode, red is differential mode noise.
Primare i35 amplifier
The Primare i35 measures nicely. The noise floor is low with only a few minor harmonics. That’s class D at work…. no surprises here. We see a very slight bump between 30 and 90 kHz.
Channel separation is fine at 90dB. Not an exceptional score, but good enough. Power is easily achieved. We measure a bit more than the specified 150 and 300 watts. And distortion should not be an issue with this amplifier.
Frequency response is good. The -3dB point is at 70 kHz which is decent for a class D amplifier. Phase is also reasonably under control; we see about 25 degrees of rotation at 20 kHz.
Finally, noise on the power supply. The common mode noise is around -107dB. Differential mode the same. This is low enough, but we have seen better. This is the downside of an all-in-one with lots of stuff built in.
Primare DM36 DAC
The DAC also measures nicely. We see relatively low noise through the line-out: below 140dB baseline and peaks barely above -120dB. That’s neat for a built-in dac. And we have to say: the line-out is clean!
The Jtest doesn’t really say anything, as we know. But we did it anyway. Whether the noise belongs to the line-out or the dac we don’t know. But this shows around 38ps of jitter. The clock on the PCB is not useful to measure: it is separate from audio.
The DAC is nicely linear and shows a nice, straight line from -130 dB. This is perfectly in line with the specs from ESS.
Bedankt voor de test! Primare zelf zegt dat een I15 zonder prisma module een (zij het subtiel) betere versterker is dan een I15 mét dac/prisma module. Ik ben benieuwd of dat ook opgaat voor de I25/I35. Fijne kerst!
Gr
Paula
Goedemorgen, mooie test omschrijving van deze versterker. Ik kan ook niet anders dan bevestigen wat jullie bevindingen zijn. Mijn I25 is ook gewoon schitterend.
App is inderdaad iets minder.
Ik overwoog even jullie aanbeveling van Audirivana maar dat vind ik niks. Dan moet er altijd een computer aan staan. Ik speel nu via een Nas wat gewoon super handig werkt.
In de review mis ik wel het verschil tussen de oude en nieuwe dac. En dat is waar ik vooral in geïnteresseerd ben. Aangezien ik deze upgrade overweeg.
Groetjes pascal