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LUXMAN L85V vs. LUXMAN L-308

H

helter_skelt

New Member
Hi i have the option to buy one of these at roughly the same price.

the L85 has 80 watts into 2 @ 8 ohms where as the L-308 has 55watts.

From a quick search someone said that the L-308 was the closest sounding to the tube sound which is what i'm after!

Although the L85 does look more stunning with the central master volume knob smack in the middle.

What's everyone's thoughts?
 
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obviously the the first choice would be for higher power but i havent heard that the L-85 can deliver that pure tube sound i am after. can anyone tell me different?
 
I have a luxman L-80V that I repaired. I like the sound a lot. The L-85 is pretty much an L- 80 with more power. These are late '70s designs. The L-308 is an early '70s design. I've never heard one.
If it was me, I'd be looking into the refurbishing cost of old amps like these. The 308 has those big fat main filter caps, right?
 
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I'm not in the know with main filter caps.

i have bought vintage audio equipment off this guy before he is a stickler for quality and i trust him that he will will give me a perfect condition amp, as with refurbishing costs i heard that because the luxmans were built so well, few people required new parts and therefore there are a whole lot of parts accessible.

are you able to compare your L-80v with a tube amp?

Also are you saying Luxman were a better brand in the late 70's compared to early 70's?
 
Luxman maintained their quality from early on to the Alpine take over. So the later amp would benefit from later design. It seems you might be getting these amps from the same person. If so, audition them if possible or ask the seller his opinions of the sound quality.

As for little repaired so parts are available, well Lux used some special parts that are NLA (maybe not in either of these two units, I don't know their guts) but many replacements for these parts may not be available, substitutions may be difficult to find.

This is the situation with the SX-(x)x80 receivers, the power pack output devices are not available and no substitutions available (not an overall statement for these units just a comment so anyone reading this thinking this comment is completely off base re: this example, open a new thread about it so we can keep this on topic about the L-308 and L-85V).

I think I would chose the newer unit, just because.
 
laatsch55 said:
I have an L-85, VERY, VERY sweet sounding unit.
Click to expand...

I can confirm that the L-85V is a very powerful and clean sounding amp with very attractive looks.

I would buy the 85 for the higher power. Otherwise the unit in better condition.
 
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