Luxman, Kenwood or JVC to match my speakers

[LouR]

To replace my nice little Pioneer SA 500A (13wpc) that has been driving my 75w speakers (Bose 301 series 2), I have been searching for a more powerful vintage amp.
A few possibilities have appeared second hand here in Europe. All will need just a little dust off.

- Luxman L430 (the more expensive option) has 105 wpc
- Kenwood KA 405 (a little less expensive) has 55wpc
- JVC JA-S44 (half of the price) has 45wpc . I have a week spot for the looks of this JVC.

All have good reviews here and on hifiengine.
Which one do you think will fit best with my speakers? And is there one of these you really like most for its sound?

 

[Binkman]

No Yamaha or Onkyo? as an option? IMO I'd try to best match wattage to speakers. Most good speakers rated wattage includes a wattage spike which is pretty rare in most recordings. the Kenwood is pretty close and probably underrated as amps wattage are.. look for db rated. too. 88db near amps really don't make speakers perform and I find somewhat dull or missing hz. 90db line or greater rated makes up for wattage in speakers. all the math is a bitch but boils down to Watts per meter.
bink.

 

[UncleBingo]

Luxman by a mile. Many miles, imo.

 

[mikeybc]

Another vote for the Luxman if those are your only options. Don't worry if it's has a higher output rating than your speakers.

 

[MadJap]

Luxman is so much better than the other stuff you listed. It's not even a fair comparison, really.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Luxman

 

[Blue Shadow]

Luxman by a mile. Many miles, too.

 

[Blue Shadow]

The JVC is the only one with a Darlington power pack, not the best by most measures for audio gear.

The Kenwood is decent but the Luxman is a big step up.

 

[wmgwizard]

Another vote for the Luxman......

Poor man's MacIntosh

 

[LouR]

Thanks for the votes. Clearly Luxman.
Though Binkman his comment sounds as wise advice too (matching wattage).

As the Luxman amp wattage per channel is higher than the speakers, is there anything i need to pay attention to, not to blow my speakers?
Or is just keeping the volume down enough?

@Binkman no other choices have showed up yet.

 

[redk9258]

I think the JVC A-X2 you have mentioned in the other thread would stand up with the Luxman. It's a Super-A amp. I would get it fixed and compare them!

 

[Blue Shadow]

The Bose have tweeter protect lamps in the crossover. They illuminate and absorb excess power to the tweeter, brighter is more power used not getting to the tweeter. I don't know if you have seen it illuminate through the port but that would be a sign you are starting to over drive the speakers. That would be really loud but is a way to see if you are using too much power.

 

[LouR]

The Bose have tweeter protect lamps in the crossover. They illuminate and absorb excess power to the tweeter, brighter is more power used not getting to the tweeter. I don't know if you have seen it illuminate through the port but that would be a sign you are starting to over drive the speakers. That would be really loud but is a way to see if you are using too much power.

Interesting! Didn't know. Never seen it illuminate. I will open it up so I can have a better look.

 

[wmgwizard]

You wont hurt your speakers if you use an amp with a higher power rating provided you are sensible with the volume knob.

More power is usually better than less as you are more likely to damage speakers by over-driving and amp to the point of clipping. An amp with a higher power rating will better handle the momentary transients when listening at moderate to enthusiastic levels without clipping or other distortion. Your speakers can handle momentary bursts of power well above their "continuous" power rating.

 

[LouR]

Unfortunately: the Luxman deal is off. Seller says one of the channels gives distorted sound. Now he gave it to a friend who has some technical background and will try to fix it for him. Might have to wait some weeks till it's for sale again. And still, not sure if I will trust this person fixing it.

So I will move on towards the Kenwood KA 405. From what I read here in older threads on AK it's a nice amp. Though uncomparable to the L430...
Not much other good stuff showing up second hand online in my country these weeks, fitting my budget (50 to 150 euro).

@wmgwizard yes thats what I thought and had read before. But what Binkman said about matching watts made me wonder what/when could go wrong is there are differences. So thanks for explaining. And I guess I run more risk blowing it with my current set-up.