I went through a similar dilemma you experienced. I was a big fan McIntosh and B&W 800 series, Ioved the way their look and sound at a level of obsession. Everything has changed after I visited Axpona this year. I do not have a long history of audiophile experience but I wanted to build a good system in my budget. When I listened BW802 D4 combo with MC611 monoblocks sounded great but when I compared to Wilson Audio Sasha DAW and moon audio setup, suddenly BW MC setup lost its entire magic. Suddenly my dreams got shattered because despite I spent literally hours to prove myself BW MC can’t be clearly inferior to Wilson setup, it was clearly a better llok but way inferior sound quality. At the end I ended up getting Hegel 590 and Wilson Sasha DAW setup. I have no regrets. It is a magical experience especially if you like jazz, guitar, classic music. It is absolutely neutral, clear, incredible detail and sound stage. I paid 6K for a used one, but definitely worth every penny for 12K MSRP. It has very very good internal DAC, I connected a Bluesound Node. And suddenly I had complete system which sounded incredibly good. Later added a Denafrips Terminator Plus, it is absolutely music nirvana. My TV is connected to Node and it is a complete system. I have no interest to try any other amplifier whatsoever. I watch a lot of audio equipment reviews on you tube, Audio Excellence from Canada has many great reviews of Hegel. Also A British Audiophile has great reviews of Hegel. I watch hundreds of hours of reviews and went to Axpona simply because I lacked former high end audio experience. I never listened to Luxman but it has great reviews, definitely a more expensive gear compare to Hegel. Hegel is purist amplifier, no bass, treble, loudness or EQ. I liked to listen music as recorded, I find those adjustments as intrusion to original music, so that was not problem for me. I think Luxman has those options, it could be an important decision point for you. Hegel 590 is incredibly powerful amp, 301W at 8 ohms, possibly 600W and in 2000W range at 2 ohms, relentless power. My ears gives up after 80% volume which gets too consistently 100 decibel range. No distortion at high volumes. Never tried full volume, I am afraid it can blow speakers. I can highly recommend Hegel, even a used one, you can spend extra money for better speakers. After all, no matter what amplifier you have, your source-DAC and speakers are more important. I wish you good luck.
