Is Luxman a poor man's D'Agostino ?

I still have a Luxman preamp from the Alpine era. Maybe I should dig it out of storage and give it a listen! Bet it sounds good!

A Marantz is a poor man's Luxman!

A poor-mans D'Agostino would be a Parrasound JC Halo"" amp.
Cheers George

I found a Luxman (Alpine era) integrated amp at my local Goodwill. $25! Alas, it always went into protection when I tried to use it! Beautifully made and weighing a ton! I stupidly left it behind when I moved south!

NO

Luxman is a different sound.

No

G

I posted this in a few threads.

I find with Wilson’s the sound of the two is much more similar than not. Perhaps with different speakers this would not be as true.

When I suggest people listen to a variety of amps, I do lump D’Agostino and Luxman in one camp, with Ayre and Pass in their own. The 3 camps make a nice survey of modern SS amp sounds.

Best,

e

Two different beasts from what I read, both with nice bling factors.

Different solutions, both good. I like tubes and tinkering with amplifiers a bit, so I have a Luxman CL1000 preamplifier linked to ARC 250 SE monoblocks. I tried the Momentum and Luxman M900u amplifiers - too SS for my tastes, but hey, there is no ideal solution for every person.

So it's both yes and no, that's fun.
Parasound..

Parasound?   Um, no.

Too warm and, some one else's word, syrupy. Lots of power though.  Lacks the midrange mercurial liquidity and treble smoothness.

No Parasound then, sounds terrible.
I got it. There is no poor man's D'Agostino. Forget about it, the same I suppose with Gryphon. 

No Parasound then, sounds terrible.

Parasound JC1 Halo’s sound great in high bias mode, to me they fit in above the Lux, under the D’Agostiono, and the Gryphon’s are on top.

Cheers George

To use a football analogy, the original question is like asking:

Is Jonathan Taylor a poor man’s Zeke Elliott?

Less expensive? Undoubtedly.
Better? Many think so.

But unlike football, audio is all subjective so nobody really wrong.

Yeah, nobody is wrong, even some piece of junk can sound great to someone. Fine with me. 
Anyway, a few days ago I almost bought used Gryphon Diablo 120. The price was right but I still decided that it was a little too much for me, and also thought that I would wait, that maybe Diablo 300 with phono would be better even if I would have to wait longer.
D'Agostino will always be out of reach, well, maybe in ten years I'll get Momentum used.

Actually, from years of reading here, there has been only a few people who seem to not like the Pass and higher end Parasound amp sound.  I tend to take their opinions on these two amps with a grain of salt.

I read that too, and I am kind of suspicious. There are always certain things, including audio equipment, that many people do like and for good reasons. But this also often means that those things are nothing really special, just solid good value stuff. Like Toyota cars. Toyota Landcruiser used to be special, though. I prefer gear that has character. 

a d’agostino is a poor man’s gryphon???

or a rich man's gryphon???

forget which way it goes 😂

Yeah, both are poor men' each other.

It is shocking just how much people over look Coda . If you have been in audio for awhile Threshold comes to mind these guys go back to the 80s with      Nelson Pass . Great sounding equipment their integrated $6500 retail,I recently purchased With  several upgrades in 2019 , I heard one a year before and even  separates. At  2 x the price would have  a hard time beating it. The build quality is top notch and best In class 10 year warranty ,5 Transferrable , and 3 power choices just compare and you will. See. Dan D agistino,  makes great gear but I would consider way over priced ,and  I would not even say better sounding .

So are you saying poor men can afford to buy Luxman? The poor people in your neighborhood are doing better than in mine.

Don't be so literal, man. I don't know who can afford what. We are talking about Audiogon neighborhood. Here it appears that quite a number of people can afford at least Luxman integrated. As for D'Agostino, some seem to be able to afford it too, and more. I can afford used Luxman integrated too but not new top of the line. But I will wait with the amp upgrade. I never thought of Coda so maybe I should. Can someone describe how it sounds in words that would create a more or less clear picture ?  Maybe also by contrasting and comparing it with other brands.
If it is an underrated brand then perhaps we could correct it.

NO

Parasound is no where near like D'Agostino.

@audioman58 sssshhhh not so loud man, you want to have to pay more?!

Parasound "lacks the midrange mercurial liquidity...."???
Seriously?
Clearly I will never be an "audiophile" because I have no idea what the hell this is supposed to mean and don’t really want to.

Luxman is much prettier.

Tastes differ. D'Agostino has otherworldly extravagant appearance. Luxman is just your vintage like dull box.

Better is always better. D'Agastino will always be better. Nothing wrong with Luxman. They are both stellar in their own rights. Most of us would be privileged to own either. 

I like both D'Agostino and Gryphon appearance, and absolutely hate DarTzeel's. Other Swiss look okay to me.

They would be privileged to be owned by us.

Don’t like D’ Agostino. Heared them. In Munich with S. Faber: not my cup off thee.. if you want a good amp. ( most natural sound): Ear by “de Paravicini”. Wavac 805m, Audio Note. In transistor: Soulution, Nagra ,Playback, CH,...

Forget D’Agostiono, just get Burmester amps, or integrated amp.That is a better comparison.

Wow!, Is this a joke?, Luxman sound is junk audio!, may be my opinion,  however,  I've owned both, and unloaded the Luxman as soon as it was fully broken in, it doesn't sound realistic at all, overly smooth sound, no dynamics,  bass, mid range,  bloated treble detail,  bought  Luxman listening to the amateur here on audiogon on that amplifier thread a lot of people should take it with a grain of salt,  take it from me, I listened to whitecamaross and lost thousands on a new Luxman that I couldn't wait to get rid of!.

I have the same CODA CSiB as @audioman58 but mine is a used unit from July 2018. I have Version 1 with the first 18 watts in Class A. I have heard the Luxman 509x and liked it but then I heard the Luxman m900/c900 combo on the same gear and the 509x didn’t seem that great anymore. The 509x is not that powerful. The CODA CSiB sounds better to me than the Luxman 509x. The CODA #16 amp is supposed to be killer but I have not heard it. Teajay compared the Luxman m900u and the CODA #16 and said the CODA was more powerful.

I am using the CODA on RAAL SR1a headphones that resolve like nothing else I have ever heard. I hear everything in the music with this setup and the CODA made the SR1a sound great (other amps did not do as well). I am surprised at how quiet it is. It is almost as quiet as my Benchmark AHB2 amps though not as crystal clear sounding as those. It is the Class A warm that is likely coloring things up a bit in what most would say is a nice way. I have also tried the CODA with my power hungry Thiel CS3.7 speakers and it sounded great with them. I prefer the AHB2 over everything but the CODA CSiB is excellent.

I have also heard D’Agsotino gear with a Wilson speaker costing over $100K. Dan A was doing the demo and explaining how he designs his gear. His design process did not win me over and the sound while good was not something I thought warranted the price. This was for $40K mono blocks. I have also heard other D’Agsotino gear at shows.

I will be getting a Krell K-300i integrated into the house soon and will compare it with the CODA. The Krell is for another floor stander. I have a feeling it will be at the CODA CSiB sound quality level and also more powerful than the Luxman 509x.

Luxman is a doorway drug. Not that I have ever inhaled. 

The Luxman has its own house sound.I heard the 505 mk2,
then. The 509 ,the 509 in class AB is more refined and fleshed out then the 505
very musical a bit warm, but theCoda especially the new design late 2019 has upgrades with latest FETs, And new type mosfet for the class A preamp section I also upgraded the  very good
preamp section the 2 multicaps replaced with VH audio New ODam capacitors ,I have these too in my dac a very noticeable upgrade , and the main fuse is a must a huge synergistic 🍊   16 amp slow blow 
The coda can supply up to 120 amps if needed ,I compared the krell 300i. , the Krell  crystal clear and dynamic ,but the coda sounded more true to what  a real instrument sounds like more depth and tone ,from complex orchestra , to a jazz quartet .  Coda   Separate 7 preamp ,do a search 
is great for $6500 retail one of the finest preamps I ever heard ,
for under $12000 you can get the great new Coda separates that are better still ,  with audio it never stops ,That being said I am a happy camper . Don’t forget a good power cord 

   "...bought Luxman listening to the amateur here on audiogon..."

Not many here are audio professionals.

Never was impressed with Luxman.

Auditioned them here in Dallas and ended passing on Luxman and McIntosh for Moon by Simaudio only cause I could not afford Boulder at the time.

To each there own. 
Years later went Tubular man.

I did not like  the new Burmester stereo amp I auditioned.   It was too mechanical/bright for my tastes.  The build quality is first class, the looks remind me of the older Pass Aleph amps with much more bling.

I take what is said/opinioed on the long amp thread with a grain of salt...the components are swapped out to fast, and a true assessment is hard to make.  Additionally,  if the mic is not positioned properly,  the recorded results will always vary. 

Respectfully, 
Jose

I’ve had extensive use of the dag progression integrated and luxman 509x in my system.  I find the luxman to be an outstanding product all around. It’s a neutral sound without much editorializing. It’s definitely a high end sound in a luxurious package. it’s not however a lower cost dag. the progression unit is clearly a higher end sounding amp. It’s more refined and has the best midrange that I’ve personally ever heard. The dag to me is a richer sounding amp which might not be the best match with speakers that aren’t very neutral. Both are great units but the difference in sound quality is reflected in the price of admission. IMHO

Anyone heard Soulution 330 and 530 integrateds ? 

4425849 posts02-14-2021 2:34amI’ve had extensive use of the dag progression integrated and luxman 509x in my system. I find the luxman to be an outstanding product all around. It’s a neutral sound without much editorializing. It’s definitely a high end sound in a luxurious package. it’s not however a lower cost dag. the progression unit is clearly a higher end sounding amp. It’s more refined and has the best midrange that I’ve personally ever heard. The dag to me is a richer sounding amp which might not be the best match with speakers that aren’t very neutral. Both are great units but the difference in sound quality is reflected in the price of admission. IMHO

Good post. I did not compare the DAG Progression integrated to my Luxman L-590AXII but have owned many integrated amps in the past. As we all know, there is no amp that is totally neutral as all are coloured to a certain extent and "voiced" to have a house sound of their own. In other words, the perfect or ultimate amp does not exist, at least in my book. The Luxman goes very close to neutrality and sounds balanced without anything sticking out like a sore thumb. That is one reason some people find the Luxman to sound a bit pale or lacklustre in comparison to more dynamics amps, one being the Krell. Amps such as Krell or Naim push out the bass and treble more while some amps sound more forward and brighter, some amps sound warmer and laidback.

The DAG Progression may be a winner in both sound and looks but it’s twice the price of the Luxman TOTL integrated. As we all know, system matching is everything and in the right system with the right loudspeakers the Luxman is capable of achieving excellent results in the realm of high-end. It’s not a Vitus, Gryphon or well, the DAG but there’s quality to the sonic presentation.

Well, maybe we got to save up for a little longer and get D'Agostino. I certainly would do exactly that. I don't want to spend almost $10k and have something which is pretty good, better spend $20k and have an amp which is on a different level.
Personally, I am not interested in Japanese transistor electronics, American and European for me please. As for tubes, that's different, here I don't discriminate. That Wavac has always been mine, I just can't get a hold of it.
Soulution gets excellent press, appears to be quite different from D'Agostino, and Gryphon is different still. The choice would probably very much depend on taste and speakers, that are also chosen according to one's taste. 

Quote from Terry London’s Coda amp Stereo Times review...

In January of 2019, I did the first professional review of the Coda Technologies’ Continuum No. 8 amplifier and found it to be a stellar performer (reviewed here). I never doubted that the No. 8 amplifier’s build quality and engineering would be at a reference level, based on the history with Coda Technologies equipment. Still, I was quite impressed with its beautiful music presentation that competed with solid state-amplifiers that cost thousands of dollars more. For example, I had the Dan D’Agostino Progression Stereo amp (which retails for $15,500 more than the No. 8) in for review and the Coda amplifier outclassed it in tonality, transparency, speed, and soundstaging ability.

I never could find the Dan D’Agostino Progression Stereo amp review. Does anyone know where it is? Specifically, the one that Terry did.

Quote from Terry London’s Coda amp Stereo Times review...

In January of 2019, I did the first professional review of the Coda Technologies’ Continuum No. 8 amplifier and found it to be a stellar performer (reviewed here). I never doubted that the No. 8 amplifier’s build quality and engineering would be at a reference level, based on the history with Coda Technologies equipment. Still, I was quite impressed with its beautiful music presentation that competed with solid state-amplifiers that cost thousands of dollars more. For example, I had the Dan D’Agostino Progression Stereo amp (which retails for $15,500 more than the No. 8) in for review and the Coda amplifier outclassed it in tonality, transparency, speed, and soundstaging ability.

good reviewers make relevant comparisons such as this among amplifiers reviewed

that being said, one must take into account the reviewers speakers, room and sonic preferences