Luxman L-509X

I was about to purchase the L-590AXII after reading a rave review from Steve Huff’s site but stumbled upon this thread saying the L-509X trounced the 590AXII.
Link here: https://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2018/11/25/hi-fi-review-luxman-590-axii-integrated-amplifier-review-by-steve-huff/

The 590AXII will be matched with Marten Duke 2 speakers as the Class A of the amp may bring the speaker to a higher level of performance when compared to my existing solid-state amps.

Fjn04, that is surely useful. Currently I have Harbeth and Marten and it is true they sound very different from each other. The Harbeth sounds great driven by the Naim pre power solid state amps (they sound soft and dull driven by 7 other amp combinations I tried). Nevertheless the Naim is not a good combination with the Marten as the sound is too spotlit, rough and unrefined.

The Marten and Kharma are quite similar in sonic character I believe, and I would suspect (and hope) that the Class A L-590AXII would be a better match to the Marten than the Naim and L-509X.

Douggie, only the first photo comes up while the other two failed to load. Although the quality of the image is low resolution, it does appear that the two highlighted vents are poorly formed. Could you speak directly to the dealer to have it sorted out? I have the L-590AXII and the vents are in different material but it’s perfectly made.

jjss49625 posts09-11-2020 12:12pmi have always found the very high end japanese solid state ultra refined ultra smooth but a bit lacking in frequency extension and attack

in this group i have tried units over the years by luxman, accuphase and esoteric/teac

i would agree that amplification from ayre, pass and even top hegels are better sounding overall, at least to my ears

I received contradictory views on the differences between Luxman and Pass labs. The Pass was said to sound smoother and lacks the dynamics and attack of the Luxman.

Douggie, I hope you get that sorted out soon. The holes should be perfect in form.

For those who are using a cheap off-the-shelf power cord on the Luxman L-509X or L-590AXII, do try a Acrolink Mexcel PC9900, PC8100 or PC9700. The changes that these cords bring are incredible.