bjlefebvre
Super Member
With a month left before leaving Japan to relocate to the States, I decided to buy a “sayonara” amplifier. The choices were a Luxman SQ38FD tube amp for $800 or a refurbished SQ505X solid state amp, complete with new input jacks, new modern speaker jacks able to take banana plugs or bare wire, and refurbished toggle switches. The tube amp was very tempting, but because it uses esoteric output tubes of which the “cheap” Chinese replacements cost ~$400/pair, I went solid state.
Luxman gets mentioned a lot in AK but mostly for the looks. So I decided to write up my impressions in case anyone is eying one of these on an auction site somewhere. It will basically get compared to my main rig, a Yamaha A-S801. Listening through a pair of Yamaha NS-690s. Vinyl is a Denon 57PL turntable and an Empire 4000d/iii cartridge for vinyl and a Chromecast Audio for digital steaming.
First impressions:
Yes, Luxman amps look pretty luscious with the rosewood case (actually rosewood veneer surrounding particle board, but still nice). At 30wpc, this particular amp is lighter and actually a little smaller than the 100wpc A-S801 but still sturdy feeling. Knobs and toggles on the feel more solid than on the Yamaha, but also a bit more clunky - they give a nice “click” when they go into place but don’t have the Yamaha glide.
Sound:
The sound continues the “warm and solid” vs “streamlined and refined” contrast. The Luxman sounds a bit quicker and puts a little more body into the presentation - bass was a bit louder and for sure warmer than the more neutral Yamaha. Bit it loses some of the detail of the Yamaha and that amp’s ability to get out of the way of the music.
Vinyl: The inboard phono stage definitely has more body than the Yamaha’s but also loses a little bit of headroom on the top end - that could be maybe fixed with an SUT and MC cart. Soundstaging seems a tie - on albums I listened to both had nice imaging for center stage, especially for piano. But the Luxman was more likely to have stage-left of stage-right instruments pretty much located in the speaker box. Still, very close.
Digital:
No contest and none expected. Yamaha has an inboard Sabre DAC, optical line in and two USB jacks - one for computer input and one for powering a digital device such as a Chromecast, Raspberry Pi or Amazon Echo. It’s not that streaming through the Luxman sounded bad - the Chromecast inboard DAC kept things sounding smooth, while the Luxman gave the music some of its characteristic warmth. But the Yamaha translated more saxophone and guitar bite and gave a better sense of space. It’s not that the Luxman sounded bad at all, it was just that the Yamaha sounded that much better.
Luxman Pros:
Dedicated mono switch for us owners of monoaural vinyl.
Phono stage has an edge on the Yamaha’s, and a built-in impedance switch for 30k, 50k or 100k ohms means you can get away without a separate phono stage if desired.
Cons:
No remote for you. Any little volume adjustment you want to do, get your butt off the couch and do it.
You may not need a phono stage, but you will most likely want an outboard DAC.
Sometimes the midrange felt a little too warm and cozy. I sometimes got that feeling akin to when I was in my grandparents house and there was always that room that smelled like cigarette smoke - homey at first, but then headache inducing.
Overall:
As is, the Yamaha may keep its place in my main system because of its 100wpc and ability to take anything you plug into it. Also lends itself more to critical listening as it digs a few more details out of the groove. But the Luxman would make a nice alternative and may improvice nicely with separate phono SUT or DAC. For me, it would probably go into the office or den.
Luxman gets mentioned a lot in AK but mostly for the looks. So I decided to write up my impressions in case anyone is eying one of these on an auction site somewhere. It will basically get compared to my main rig, a Yamaha A-S801. Listening through a pair of Yamaha NS-690s. Vinyl is a Denon 57PL turntable and an Empire 4000d/iii cartridge for vinyl and a Chromecast Audio for digital steaming.
First impressions:
Yes, Luxman amps look pretty luscious with the rosewood case (actually rosewood veneer surrounding particle board, but still nice). At 30wpc, this particular amp is lighter and actually a little smaller than the 100wpc A-S801 but still sturdy feeling. Knobs and toggles on the feel more solid than on the Yamaha, but also a bit more clunky - they give a nice “click” when they go into place but don’t have the Yamaha glide.
Sound:
The sound continues the “warm and solid” vs “streamlined and refined” contrast. The Luxman sounds a bit quicker and puts a little more body into the presentation - bass was a bit louder and for sure warmer than the more neutral Yamaha. Bit it loses some of the detail of the Yamaha and that amp’s ability to get out of the way of the music.
Vinyl: The inboard phono stage definitely has more body than the Yamaha’s but also loses a little bit of headroom on the top end - that could be maybe fixed with an SUT and MC cart. Soundstaging seems a tie - on albums I listened to both had nice imaging for center stage, especially for piano. But the Luxman was more likely to have stage-left of stage-right instruments pretty much located in the speaker box. Still, very close.
Digital:
No contest and none expected. Yamaha has an inboard Sabre DAC, optical line in and two USB jacks - one for computer input and one for powering a digital device such as a Chromecast, Raspberry Pi or Amazon Echo. It’s not that streaming through the Luxman sounded bad - the Chromecast inboard DAC kept things sounding smooth, while the Luxman gave the music some of its characteristic warmth. But the Yamaha translated more saxophone and guitar bite and gave a better sense of space. It’s not that the Luxman sounded bad at all, it was just that the Yamaha sounded that much better.
Luxman Pros:
Dedicated mono switch for us owners of monoaural vinyl.
Phono stage has an edge on the Yamaha’s, and a built-in impedance switch for 30k, 50k or 100k ohms means you can get away without a separate phono stage if desired.
Cons:
No remote for you. Any little volume adjustment you want to do, get your butt off the couch and do it.
You may not need a phono stage, but you will most likely want an outboard DAC.
Sometimes the midrange felt a little too warm and cozy. I sometimes got that feeling akin to when I was in my grandparents house and there was always that room that smelled like cigarette smoke - homey at first, but then headache inducing.
Overall:
As is, the Yamaha may keep its place in my main system because of its 100wpc and ability to take anything you plug into it. Also lends itself more to critical listening as it digs a few more details out of the groove. But the Luxman would make a nice alternative and may improvice nicely with separate phono SUT or DAC. For me, it would probably go into the office or den.
