@thiefoflight do you know who is the manufacturer of those Luxman branded tubes? I think they are made in Russia (Sovtek) or they are Mullard re-issue (made in Russia)?
Over the years i’ve been looking for best NOS tubes and when i ordered Luxman i was sceptical about the stock tubes, but i was shocked by the high quality of those tubes. I already have another tube amp i use for years (The WLM Minueta) made by Trafomatic Audio (OEM) for Austrian WLM. Actually it was made in Serbia. Those amps reviewed in the same article on 6moons. The reviewer said thy are "brothers from the same mother", but in my experience they are totally different. Maybe because i use NOS Military Telefunken E84L (the rarest) along with Sylvania Gold Brand (Gold Pins) 6bq5 and Telefunken ECC801s (also the rarest) in my WLM Minueta arm. The WLM in TRIOD mode sounds way different from the Luxman’s Ultra Liner. The WLM is psychedelic experience with holographic images and deep sound stage in triod mode (with those vintage Telefunken tubes).
But the Luxman is louder, punchier, heavier in low register in its stock form, i like this amp. The phono stage is not bad, i can connect my ZYX Headamp for LOMC to Luxman MM stage. Headphone amp is also great.
I have unused, still sealed (NOS) japanese NEC EL84 tubes, green series made especially for audio. I’m gonna try them later on.
If the Luxman stock bubes are Russian then i will definitely look for NOS Military Soviet EL84 from the 60s or 70s. They are so cheap locally, i neved paid attention to them.
BTW which amp do you have now ? Just curious.
Over the years i’ve been looking for best NOS tubes and when i ordered Luxman i was sceptical about the stock tubes, but i was shocked by the high quality of those tubes. I already have another tube amp i use for years (The WLM Minueta) made by Trafomatic Audio (OEM) for Austrian WLM. Actually it was made in Serbia. Those amps reviewed in the same article on 6moons. The reviewer said thy are "brothers from the same mother", but in my experience they are totally different. Maybe because i use NOS Military Telefunken E84L (the rarest) along with Sylvania Gold Brand (Gold Pins) 6bq5 and Telefunken ECC801s (also the rarest) in my WLM Minueta arm. The WLM in TRIOD mode sounds way different from the Luxman’s Ultra Liner. The WLM is psychedelic experience with holographic images and deep sound stage in triod mode (with those vintage Telefunken tubes).
But the Luxman is louder, punchier, heavier in low register in its stock form, i like this amp. The phono stage is not bad, i can connect my ZYX Headamp for LOMC to Luxman MM stage. Headphone amp is also great.
I have unused, still sealed (NOS) japanese NEC EL84 tubes, green series made especially for audio. I’m gonna try them later on.
If the Luxman stock bubes are Russian then i will definitely look for NOS Military Soviet EL84 from the 60s or 70s. They are so cheap locally, i neved paid attention to them.
BTW which amp do you have now ? Just curious.
