A valve amplifier against a solid-state one. They are not really rivals: they differ in character, in what they will drive and in what owning them involves, so start there rather than with the watts.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | B | Primare I35 Prisma has more power - 150W against 100W into 8 ohms. That is about 1.8dB, which is a small step in loudness but real headroom on peaks. |
| Room size | depends | We rate PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated the better fit for desk or near-field listening, a small room and a mid-size room, and Primare I35 Prisma for a large room and a very large room. Match the amplifier to the room you actually have, not the one you want. |
| Grip on hard loads | B | Primare I35 Prisma holds up better into a 4-ohm load: its output nearly doubles to 300W, where the other increases strongly. That matters with demanding speakers far more than the 8-ohm figure does. |
| Noise floor | A | PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated is the quieter design on paper - 105dB against 100dB. Audible mainly with sensitive speakers in a quiet room. |
| Built-in DAC | B | Primare I35 Prisma has a DAC on board; the other needs an external one, which is another box, another power lead and another purchase. |
| Analogue inputs | evenly matched | The same number of line-level inputs (5). |
| Amplifier type | depends | PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated is Hybrid and Primare I35 Prisma is Solid State. Valve designs are usually warmer and softer at the limits and need their tubes replaced eventually; solid state is the lower-maintenance choice. This is a taste and ownership decision, not a quality one. |
| Shelf space | depends | PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated takes up about 21% less shelf area (1559cm² against 1970cm²), and it is 52mm shallower, which is the measurement that decides whether a rack door shuts. |
| Price | B | Primare I35 Prisma costs less - $5,795 against $6,995 at list. |
| Watts per dollar | B | Primare I35 Prisma is the cheaper watt - about $39 per watt against $70. A blunt measure, and it says nothing about how either sounds, but it is the honest one for raw output. |
A PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated B Primare I35 Prisma
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
Primare I35 Prisma is the easier recommendation: it leads on most of the measured areas and costs less. Take PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated if one of the "depends" rows above describes your system. If your speakers are a difficult load - 4 ohms nominal, big woofers, or a sensitivity in the low 80s - Primare I35 Prisma is the safer partner, because how an amplifier behaves when the impedance drops matters more than its 8-ohm rating. If you already own a DAC or a streamer, the built-in one is money you are paying twice for, and PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated becomes the more rational buy.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.