Luxman 590AX II Break-In

Well, one thing for sure. I'm really glad we found the culprit and the impedance curve.  I was starting to wonder if my speakers were actually severely underpowered.  The difference in mine and the OP's makes me feel a lot less like goiing out to spend $20k on a new amp. 😂

PS - I had seen the specs at KEF, and if ASR is correct (and it makes sense it is) the KEF specs are absolute bs.

Also, the KEF specs looked normal-ish. A lot of 2 way speakers go down to 3 Ohms but only for a little bit, so I didnt question them further. These speakers are just way worse than my experience or the specifications suggest.  They are practically 2 Ohm speakers.

Now I know why a 509/590 wouldn’t work. Buddy, have you heard Fritz?? 😂

I wish I had found this page before at ASR. Through most of the musical bass range these speakers remain under 3 Ohms. Remarkably low impedance for a broad range, while the speakers I use only touch 4 Ohms. Great that a bigger amplifier solves the problem but man, I’d switch speakers first.  I think while the speakers can sound good with a big amp, it would have to be a remarkable speaker to make me accept these kind of demands.

When you go listen elsewhere, pay attention to the room acoustics and compare to your own. If the speakers are not malfunctioning, I'm convinced the issue is excess reflections in your space.

I just realized these have 5" bass units. I’ve never seen a speaker with a 5" bass unit that did well.

I’m listening to 2 ways with 6.5" bass drivers with my Luxman 507ux and having a very good time. Maybe you need Fritz speakers instead. Call him, last I heard he had a Luxman integrated as one of his test amps. Worked great.

Note that I am output limited here.  If I want high bass I simply need to add a sub, but the bass is still tremendous for the size.

So that's a 30 Watt Class A amp inside a 120 W AB amplifier.  It is essentially a 507 (which I have) with more heat and bigger power supply. 

I don't think the amp is the problem.

Whatever the OP’s issues are, it’s not the Luxman unless it’s broken, of this I’m 100% sure. @celtic66 - You aren’t being irrational. Your experience, and mine tells us that the Luxman integrateds are stellar with plenty of bass.

I’ve suggested a couple of things for the OP to try to help him understand the nature of the problem, ESPECIALLY HIS ROOM. If you have a bad room but won’t consider it or use a tone control to compensate, but instead want to start swapping amps, that’s irrational.

The issue isn’t lack of bass, the issue is his speakers and room combination are ending up with too much treble energy.  Which makes me think of a new post about tweeters before and now.  :) I'lll put that elsewhere.

Make sure you have plenty of space to the side walls. I should have stated, I have the 507ux which is not class A, but it was always a stellar performer from end to end.

I am really concerned you have too much treble in your mix.  The tone controls on the Luxman pre-amp section really are superb, don't miss out.  Try them!

Sadly I was not able to find frequency charts, but my impression of other similar KEF models is it’s very neutral, with good tonal balance and extension. meaning, the bass peaks at the right place and the rest drops correctly.

However! It may be too hard on-axis, and in an untreated, reflective room may put out too much treble energy relative to the bass.

So, experiment with these things:

• Put it closer to the rear wall
• Keep it away from side walls
• Minimize toe-in (keep speakers flat to rear wall)
• Turn down the treble on the Luxman. It has excellent tone controls.

If you find the tone controls work, it’s a great sign you may have too many reflections.

Another experiment, bring the speakers out to the room and sit very close to them. That’s what the speaker / amp sounds like without the room. The difference between that and listening normally is all in the room.

You need to deal wiht your room, in general.  How big is the room and where are the speakers??

Very little. :) What are your speakers and room?