My local dealer sometimes pairs the Luxman integrateds with Devore Super Nines, retail $10k, and it sounds great. Huge soundstage and the speakers are very attractive and not large, so high WAF (wife acceptance factor). More bass than expected for size. Check them out if you have a dealer within a couple hours.
Recommendations for speakers with Luxman 509x
Hey everyone - looking for some suggestions on speakers. Just upgraded my amp and DAC to a Luxman 509x and Lumin T2. They’re driving Martin Logan motion 40s so upgrading speakers as well. Room is 14x18’ with the speakers facing the long way. It’s a living room, so am constrained by space and the wife. They will be less than 2’ from the wall and snuggled up next to a wood TV stand in the middle. Towers will be much easier to pull off than something very wide. Wood floors but covered by a large rug, L couch, lots of windows, 8’ drywall ceiling and a large bookshelf in the back to give you an idea of acoustics. Listening position about 8-10ft from speakers. Budget is $5k-$10k. Willing to go used. I mostly listen to rock, folk, country, hip hop and jazz. Fairly new to the language of hifi, but prefer natural over clinical and a touch of warmth would be nice with the supposedly neutral components in the system. Thanks!
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https://legacyaudio.com/products/view/signature-se Not at all clinical sounding and designed for closer wall placement. You’ll certainly get a lot of recommendations, so best of luck. My system is also in my living room- it can be harder to place everything, but I can listen to music a lot more than in a dedicated room. Tradeoffs… |
It sounds like Spendor would fit the bill. I’ve owned many Spendors and I doubt that you would go wrong with them. The new D7.2 falls within your price range. https://www.spendoraudio.com/ |
You want something punchy and not real sensitive to near wall placement. But I will say there is, in general, a huge difference in speaker performance between the $5K and over $10k cost. Willing to go used is excellent. Look for something in the $10K - 20K new range. I loved my Sonus Faber Olympica 3… beautiful, musical with excellent detail. There are lots of other great speakers. Like Focal, B&W, Etc. |
If you read the OP’s post, he is limited to less than 2’ from the wall for placement of speakers. For the SHL5 and SHL5+, they require 2’ to 2.5’ from the wall to sound good. Anything less they sound congested. I suspect the 40.1/40.2 require more space from the wall, minimum 2.5’ ideally close to 3’. You could place them nearer to the walls but you would need room treatment products to compensate, otherwise live with the compromised sound quality. |
Congratulations on a wonderful integrated. I also have the 509X and love it so much. Many great suggestions, fwiw I have Klipsch Cornwall IV's and they pair beautifully with the 509X. They do excellent close to a wall. I was in a larger space last year at 14 x 24 with them out at 18" and now am in a 14 x 14 room that requires they sit at about 10" out . They still sound excellent. They are a bit large though.... Please share what you ultimately buy and how they sound! |
Looking at the list so far the first post stands out. Super Nine ... ' Ease of placement ', ' Enhanced Sweet spot ', ' Bass Output '. Reference: https://www.stereophile.com/content/devore-fidelity-gibbon-super-9 Having witnessed an Orangutan / Octave demo I would expect the Devore to handily transfer what you have with the 509x into the space. The listening space btw is a winner from the Bolt - area reference leaving the listening position to consider as well. |
Thanks - I’m very excited about the 509x. Shows up next week. Speaker placement I’m realizing is my most limiting factor. Due to a stove in one corner I only have about 8’ to work with and a ~62” media cabinet in between. Heard great things about the cornwalls with Luxman but they’re just too big. Can’t go much more than 13” in width on the speakers. Sounds like the super nines, legacy signature or the spendor D9s are top contenders. Too bad about the placement challenges on the Harbeth BBC boxes. Assuming the Spendor Classics are similar. |
- can you elaborate on this?Yes ... it's good to see the follow through! The ' Bolt Area ' is a reference to the work by R. H. Bolt - 1939 where a plot / graph is used to access spatial modeling as applied to room acoustics by dimension. Room dimension ( L x W x H ) ratios for more evenly distributed room modes. " Rooms whose ratios fall within the shaded area will exhibit a favorably uniform distribution of modal frequencies i.e. : the bottom end will be less lumpy… ". Reference here:https://studiowizard.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/studio-acoustics-explained-this-is-what-you-need-to-kn...(scroll to The Bolt Area) Also the amcoustics Room Mode Calculator: https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc?l=18&w=14&h=9&ft=true&r60=0.6 Input the room dimensions and hover pointer over The Bolt Area field. Another Calculator - Some explanation of how the ratios relate to different frequencies. YT video / John Brandt - Calculator / Spread Sheet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E38o_GS81yY And the above should be taken to mean that adjusting the listening position ( as relates to given room example ) would be a breeze. |
Hello, Congratulations on the Luxman L509X, I also purchased one like this. The amplifier fits 85% of the speakers on the market and it really depends on what you like and enjoy hearing. Do not rejoice in anyone because the speakers are for you and only you know what you like. In addition, it depends of course on the importer / store with which you "get along". The amplifier offers an almost perfect tonal balance - not too open along the spectrum and not too round. You go for English speakers that are a bit more musical (maybe ...), I suggest you check out budget speakers that can fit not in a particular order: Spendor D7.2 / 9.2, Graham LS8 / 1, Spendor Classic 1/2 and Herbats SHL5plus XD. I can give you a long list start this one. |
Room is 14x18’ with the speakers facing the long way. It’s a living room, so am constrained by space and the wife. They will be less than 2’ from the wall and snuggled up next to a wood TV stand in the middle.Ouch. Just...ouch. I got nuthin’, except maybe divorce. Howard Stern says the reason divorce is so expensive is because it’s worth it, and in this sad case it may be your wonderful new amp’s only chance. In any event, you have my deepest sympathies, and best of luck. |
@trentgordon, as you may already know, more than just about anything else in audiophilia, comparatively speaking, speakers are a very subjective and personal choice. Different ears like different sound signatures, even with the same source equipment. You should definitely make your final decision based upon YOUR ears and YOUR personal tastes. FWIW, you should do your critical listening under conditions as controlled as you can get them, with music you are very familiar with, speakers that are thoroughly broken in, etc., etc., etc. Considering the amount of dough you have to spend on this, you shouldn't have any difficulty getting any reputable shop(s) to accommodate your requests in this regard. Incidentally, spending lots of cash will not insure a successful result. It's all about proper matching of components. Keep an open mind. That being said, several years ago, now, as I was in the process of doing months worth of critical listening for an amp upgrade, I spent about 2 hours of serious seat-time with a Luxman integrated (can't remember the model number but think it might have been the L-550AxII) and and a pair of Focal Aria 936. Source was Rega P3 with Ortofon Blue, MoFi high-quality re-pressings and Rega Apollo. I liked those Focal a lot. I've also spent serious seat-time, more recently, with the Aria 926. Those were very nice, too, but the 936 were noticeably nicer sounding, to me. With your amp, my recommendation would be to stick with speakers that are either 8 or 6 ohm nominal designs. Don't worry about port location(s) and all that jazz. Let your ears decide what sounds best to you. Since you seem to like the Martin Logan sound, have you heard the ML Motion 60XTi? A word of caution with regard to AMT tweeters, though. Many reviewers have advised these sound best when the sweet spot or listening position isn't right up against a wall (i.e. has plenty of space behind it). Based upon recent personal experience, I agree. Good Luck! May the music gods be with you! |
Thanks for all the suggestions. Going to try some second hand Spendor d9.2s and see how they do in my room. Figure if they don’t work I can unload them without too big of a hit. Would love to do the home demo thing with a dozen different speakers, but distance from dealers plus a baby, a job, and fall surf season there just isn’t the time! Thanks again for the advice - Can’t wait to get them hooked up. |
I listened to the 507 with the Spendor 7.2 at a local hifi shop last year - very nice sound. The 509 and 590 were not readily available. Then borrowed the 507 to take home and tried with my Merlin VSMs in same size room as yours, Excellent. As good as hifi shops are at setup, I have yet to find one that sounds as good as my own room, which - based on measurements- is not without its many faults. I ended up keeping my integrated amp but would have also been very happy with the Luxman. |
Thanks for everyone's comments. Reporting back after living with the Spendor D9.2, Luxman 509x and Lumin T2 combo. I'm very happy. The Spendors showed up last so I have a little perspective on the components. I don't have a ton of hifi experience, but think I have a decent ear and here's my take. The Luxman is smooth, powerful, detailed and a touch sweet. It's rarely past 11am on the volume dial. It's also gorgeous and an incredibly built piece of gear. I mostly listen at low to mid volumes and the Loudness button is on almost all the time. When the volume goes up it comes off, but it's a great feature for day to day casual listening. the T2 creates a ton of space between the instruments. Very detailed. Compared to a fluance rt85 record player with ortofon blue needle, I compare a new pressing of the Fugees The Score with streaming Tidal. The T2 sounded better. More open, dynamic and detailed at the expense of being a bit dry. The vinyl was warmer but more of a wall of sound. the Spendor 9.2s are awesome. They're beautiful in eucalyptus. They sound very natural and true to the source. Some recordings are a touch warm, others a bit dry. The only fault is at high volume (rare in my house) there is some harshness in the upper mids/treble, but I think that's mostly my room. Lots of hard surfaces and windows, no treatments. Ive learned a lot through this process. On placement, they sound great just dropped wherever. Pulling them away from the wall and dialing in the listening position and speaker placement result on that magic of the speakers disappearing with an ultra wide and deep soundstage. The bass leaves nothing to be desired. Cranking hip hop ive got not desire to hookup my SVS sub. They're pretty forgiving on recordings too. Good recordings reveal incredible detail and space. Average recordings just don't have the same magic and detail, but still sound good. Good jazz recordings blow my mind every night. Next step is working on the room acoustics - a tricky business for the WAF hope that's helpful for whatever it's worth! |