Comparisons from those who have heard…


Hi everyone

Apologies in advance for the somewhat open ended question here, but i wanted to see if any members had directly heard any combination of these listed amplifiers and could share any opinions ( they are all on my short list ) - i know its a bit of a stretch, but thanks in advance for sharing any comparative impressions you may have~

 

Yamaha M5000

Marantz MA9s2

Accuphase M75 (or 65)

Luxman m900

Exclusive M8

 

I have some relatively demanding speakers (sony ss ar1) that i may look to pair with one of these in the future, hence the question~

 

thanks!

Samuel

 

 

 

sfmorris

Thanks so much for the insights on the Yamahas! Those in particular have been hard to find much info on online (few reviews it seems) - too bad about the room, but it sounds like you did what you could to assess them. Hope the CODA works out! 

The luxman camp also has the d-10x going for it, which is supposed to be a pretty special disc spinner…

I heard the Yamaha M5000 with the top end Yamaha preamp and the great NS5000 speakers in the dumbest dealer demo room possible. I tried to ignore the room, but it was hard. However, I did think the speakers were likely great because i enjoyed them in that glass walled "boardroom". They were giving me some problems, but I tried to listen near-field to mitigate the reflections. I liked the amp and preamp.

At that time, I had my heart set on buying the Luxman m900u because I thought it was more engaging but that is not a far comment given the stupidity of that demo room. I had heard the Luxman m900u at a different dealer in a better room. If I had the cash at that time, I would have bought the Luxman on the spot.  It seemed a little bass shy but that was not a concern for my small room. The Yamaha seemed to be stronger on the bass, but the room again was likely doing that.

I bought a new "warm" amp last month and I was considering the Luxman and the Yamaha. However, I went with a KRELL Duo 175XD instead. I own the KRELL K-300i integrated and I really enjoy it. It is not as warm as the Luxman nor as neutral as the Yamaha. 

The other amp that I have on the horizon is to upgrade my CODA #8 to the CODA #16. That is a killer amp and one I was thinking of upgrading on the spot in November 2021, but I started thinking of my wallet. That one sounded somewhat like the Luxman. maybe clearer sounding. The CODA #16 I will get will be $13.5K (or $8K upgrade)