I have no idea; but if you give information about your speakers ,
it would surely help.
it would surely help.
replace Mcintosh with Luxman
I am about to sell my Mcintosh 611s and replace with 2 Luxman c900u.. I live in Alaska, outside of Anchorage, and there is no retail sales of mid to high end gear in this state. No opportunity to listen to amps before I purchase unless I travel to lower 48. Anybody have an opinion on going from Mcintosh to Luxman.
Thanks
Thanks
64 responses Add your response
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I owned a Mcintosh amp/pre amp and moved to Luxman, the components were their AVR products, so as everyone will tell you, AVR stuff never sounds as good as dedicated 2 channel. That said, I am much happier with the sound of my 590AXll then I ever was with the Mcintosh equipment. I can listen to the Luxman for hours on end, I never could with the Mcintosh, even when set to their 2 channel setting. And to be clear, I saved for years to be able to afford the Mcintosh equipment, a brand I had always wanted to own.So in my experience, a very positive change. |
After purchasing Magico A3’s a couple years or so ago I started looking for a suitable integrated amp for them. When asked, a Magico VP said they were demoing the A3’s at shows with Luxman amps, their 509X’s if I recall. I phoned Luxman too who mentioned the same thing when asked which speakers their integrated amps matched well with. I ended up purchasing the next lower model Luxman integrated amp, their 507uX, since the 509x was a bit too rich for my blood. I’ve been pleased with it’s performance, but wouldn’t venture any guesses as to how they’d compare to Mcintoshes or any other brand as I’ve no basis for comparison. Mike |
I had the opportunity to demo my current McIntosh MC1.2kwh amps as well several amps and speakers. I did listen to the Luxman 900u amp you are looking at and the Luxman gave much more detail than the McIntosh with every set of speakers that were demoed. The music source was a Aurender player. One thing to check out are the Ohms your speakers require as the McIntosh does not go down very low and the Luxman does. I say this because you may only need one Luxman amp. I was very impressed with the Luxman. Good Luck guyt woots |
I'm confused. The McIntosh 611 is a mono power amp, while the Luxman C900u is a pre-amp. Do you mean the M-900u, a two-channel amplifier than when bridged is a 600 w monaural amp, same rating as your 611? In any event, the only Luxman product I auditioned recently was their L-507uX integrated amp, with a pair of Magico S1's. The sound was clear and uncolored, as neutral as one could wish if that is one's preference, with a noiseless background. I tried the amp at home with my less efficient, older Aerial Acoustics Model 8b speakers. It did not provide sufficient power and clipped at moderately high volumes. The L-507uX was listed as only 110w/channel at 8 ohms, 220w/ch at 4 ohms, compared to my old Levinson amp which is rated at 250w/ch into 8 ohms and 500w/ch into 4 ohms and handles my speakers without blinking. I cannot comment on the comparison of your McIntosh to the Luxman. At 600 w I doubt you'll have any problems with the Luxman amp and expect you'd find the sound very lifelike with your Magico speakers. You might see if a dealer will let you demo the Luxman amp at your home if he has a demo he can loan and if you pay shipping both ways. Given the cost of the amp, it would seem worth asking. Note that the Luxman amp weighs 106 lbs without packaging. It will likely have to be shipped on a pallet in order to protect it properly. Good luck. |
I’m going to assume you meant the Luxman M900U power amp, not the C900U preamp. Having said that, you know that the M900U is Luxman’s best SS amp, and it has similar rated specs to Mac’s 611, other than the M900U is even heavier than the 611 (by about 4 Kg).🏋️ I’ve not listened to either, and short of actually listening to one, you’re going to have to take a big leap of faith if you decide on the Luxman. Now, I will admit a bias towards McIntosh as I use McIntosh amplification in my own system. But Luxman makes superb products, and they continue to offer both tube and SS products just like McIntosh does.📻 The only technical comment I will make is that the 611 was purpose designed and is purpose built as a mono amp, while the M900U was designed as a stereo amp, so when you are using the M900U as a mono amp, it is being used in a way slightly different from the designer’s intent. But this is likely irrelevant given the quality of design and construction of Luxman amps.📰 So what do you do? An analogy would be you having to choose between two non-identical twins in your family. They both have pluses and minuses, and if you were told you could only keep one, well that’s an impossible task that no parent would ever make. In a family situation, you would choose to keep both, no matter what.👬 But these amps are not emotionally close to you like your kids would be, so you do have the option of choosing one over the other. If it were me, I would gather more information and take the following steps: (1) You’ve made a significant financial investment in your speakers, and I think Magico should be willing to chat with you, at length, about the merits of these two amps. If they tell you they’ve never listened to either, well, they CAN tell you what amp (or amps) were used in the design and voicing of your speakers. This knowledge might be enough to suggest one of your two choices might more closely resemble the amp (or amps) used by Magico.🎷 (2) You should search for a dealer who actually has both amps in stock. I don’t know your financial circumstances, but if I were considering dropping 40 large on a pair of amps, I would also budget for a lower-48 road trip so I could actually listen to them side-by-side. I’m going to assume there is at least one dealer in the US that stocks both amps. If you can do this, you might well hear something that would push you to either buy the Luxman’s or keep the Mac’s. Of course it would be even better if you could find a dealer stocking both amps AND Magico speakers!🏨 (3) If (2) above is not an option, I would double down on (1) above AND I would begin contacting Magico dealers across the country to solicit their input AND find out what amps their customers are using to drive their Magico’s.👍 I wish you well on your quest. Please let us know what you decide to do, and what you learned during your journey.😎 |
The m900u mono was exceptional when I demoed it and way better than the 509x which I had demoed first that same day in the same store (TAD ME-1 speakers). Though, I am not sure if the Luxman in stereo has enough power for the Magico S5 V1 for a big room. I have recently bought the CODA #8 ($6.2K) and it sounds a lot like that Luxman m900u. I drives my hard to drive Thiel CS3.7 easily and likely your Magic S5 V1. However, since you are willing to go to $15K MSRP you should consider the CODA #16 which is the higher model from the #8. The CODA is American made and likely offering you more value for the same price vs the imported Luxman. Not a fan of MAC's. |
My Magico S3MK2 are powered by 2 Luxman M900u amp (using C900u pre-amp) without knowing your room i can almost assure you you will get improvement in all aspect 9more refined sound, more dynamic and micro dynamic, plenty more details and control over the speakers) a friend of me have the same combination (Luxman 900 series amp & pre + Magico S3MK2) but also Mackintosh MA 9000 he use to power his focal speakers on the other room. one day we switched the amp just out of curiosity, so we powerd his Magico's with the Macintosh, the Luxman combination was far better to our ears |
I have a better product for less if you don’t mind having to see the meters , the Excellent Coda CSIB integrated amplifier stereo timesgreat review ,best of 2020 for $6500. The best integrated under$10 k and better then any separates made in USA 10 year warranty and powerhouse 3,000 va potted, not open transformer Mc ,or lux man 1/4 the size and 3 choices for power the lowest 150,300,600 has 18 first watts in pure class A. |
Hello, I would call both manufacturers and ask them if the other brand works well with their product. Also, talk to a dealer who is a dealer for both of those products. They might say it works great or give you a better option. Make sure you let all the people know as much information as possible. Type of music you like. Size of room Do you have subwoofers and how are they connected. Treated or untreated The cables that will be connected All of this information makes a big difference I hope this helps. |
As vinyl_rules implied, when a stereo amp is operated in BTL (Bridged) mode, its ability to drive low impedences is halved, b/c each channel's xsistors is "seeing" only half the load. While the M900U is indisputably a magnificent stereo amp, I'd throw up a caution flag on intentionally buying a pair for monaural use. Look for mono amps that are purpose-built as such. |
For those interested I decided to go for the Luxman amps(2) In regards to the Mcintosh I found them to be almost painfully bright sounding in the higher frequencies. I spoke to a dealer who told me his store has had both amps hooked up to the magico M2 and in his opinion the Luxman magico combination was superior. I guess I will find out. In regards to crusty coot concerns switching the M900U into mono mode your opinion is appreciated. I have done all I can short of demoing the Luxman, which is for me is impractical because I live in Alaska. For what it is worth Jay of You Tube's Jays audio lab indicated with some stereo amps switching from stereo to mono was disappointing but that was not the case for the M900U. Again thanks for your input. Guy T. |
I have never owned a Mac (it's on my bucket list though) but have heard a few of their integrated amps at various dealers and friends systems in the last few years. The thing is that they definitely sound very good on their own. But whenever I compared them to what else I could get in the market, I always found another brand that offered the same or higher sound and build quality at a much lower price point. I feel that with McIntosh you're paying a substantial premium for pedigree or pride in ownership, or whatever you want to call it. This is important to a lot of audiophiles, nothing wrong with it. So my problem is not that I don't like the way they sound, just that they are asking for more than they offer in today's market. Also, I was a little disappointed with the build quality, e.g. compared to Luxman -- the knobs, buttons, and overall appearance doesn't justify the asking price. Of course, this is purely my opinion and admittedly subjective. I'm sure diehard fans will disagree :) |
I own 2 Lux M900u’s as monos. I have experienced using one amp in stereo mode with good results with Wilson Sasha DAW. The Luxman musicality was there but the Bass control lacked until the other amp was introduced. I haven’t noticed any added noise or distortion, just better depth way better imaging, gobs of endless reserve power and control of the low frequency that we all covet. oh that Bass!! I finally have heard the lower halves of my speakers but cabling is important. I spoke to a South Florida Magico and Luxman dealer , Suncoast Audio about the Magico and Lux Combo. He told me that he ran the Luxman m900u monos with the M6’s at the Florida audio show two years ago with outstanding results. |
m2team005 posts08-19-2021 5:06amRumors are that the M900u replacement, the M10x is about to be announced in Oct. M900u’s are sure to drop in price. Maybe hold off until then. May I ask where did you get this rumor from? |
Outstanding move to Luxman you`ll never look back. MC is very dark and veil the only thing I like about MAC is a vintage MAC tuner which I have MR73 I like a dark tuner. I started out with MAC 1981 C28 preamp 2105 Power amp truely sucked sold it bought something that was much cheaper that just blew it away in SQ Dynaco Pat 5 preamp Dynaco 400 power amp saved over 2,000 Mc`s only a dinosaur name. Enjoy you LUX. |
Reading the enthusiasm here, I’ll add to the endorsement of the Luxman over Mcintosh. My single experience with the Mcintosh back in the day was with the MC275 mk4. At first it’s a nice, warm tubey sound, rather pleasant but that’s about it. After trying different gear throughout the years, I realized that the Mcintosh I had was quite colored in its presentation. Perhaps it’s a tube amp or it’s just this particular model, I’m not sure. The sound lacked clarity and detail as the finer nuance in music was somewhat missing and not reproduced by the speakers. I currently own a mid level Naim pre/power and Luxman L-590AXII integrated, and the Luxman actually outshines the Naim in most aspects of the sound reproduction. The tonality and refinement of the Luxman are very good although it’s just an integrated amp. It’s truly quality. In general, I find the Luxman to have very low coloration as it doesn’t add or take away much from the music or original recording. The finer nuance and detail in the music are all beautifully reproduced by the Luxman. With other amps, you don’t hear much of the refinement. I don’t have experience with the larger Luxman separates but if this is the quality I’m getting from the integrated, I’m convinced the pre/power will send you to heaven. That’s a bit of an exaggeration there but you can guess I am very pleased with the performance of the Luxman in my system. It’s the first amp that got me off the merry go round of upgrades after all these years. |
I was considering a McIntosh to drive my Tannoy Gold Reference Sterling speakers that I acquired for an excellent price. Thats was before I spoke to a Luxman dealer who told me that customers who buy McIntosh from him very often bring it back and trade it in for a Luxman. I purchased the Luxman L-507-ux also for an excellent price. It's worked out very nice for me. |
The thing is that they definitely sound very good on their own. But whenever I compared them to what else I could get in the market, I always found another brand that offered the same or higher sound and build quality at a much lower price point. I feel that with McIntosh you’re paying a substantial premium for pedigree or pride in ownership, or whatever you want to call it. This is important to a lot of audiophiles, nothing wrong with it Never owned any Mc. I have auditioned it and talked to their reps at my local dealer who feature it. Also talked to their support about my Wadia that Mcintosh Group now own. Most overrated product on the market. |
I second having a listen in the lower states or even in Canada at Audio Excellence. Great guys to deal with and will give you an honest opinion vs BS to make a sale. Have you thought about several of these amplifiers? I love the sound quality better than Luxman. - McIntosh MC2301 Tube Monoblock amplifiers - Mark Levinson No536 Monoblock - the Coda was also mentioned - Dan D’Agostino Progression - Audio Research Reference 250SE or M160 Monoblock - Accuphase Monoblock - Esoteric Monoblock Some of these are tube amplifiers but all can more than definitely handle the power you are looking for. All can handle 4ohm loads and the speaker you have really doesn’t need anything lower than that. The trade off for incredible sound is worth it with these choices especially before you drop 40K on amplifiers. All have a great resale value as well but I don’t think you will sell once you own any of these beauties. just a thought and best of luck |
So here is a question for all of you Mac haters. Why do McIntosh components hold or increase in value over time? https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/brands-that-have-the-least-depreciation |
decatholon My point is our journey to obtain material objects is driven by emotional appeal and subjective characteristics as much as it is by objective measures. For me, it is more interesting and sonically rewarding to match amplifier and pre-amplifier tubes than matching various manufacturers of components. That said, there may come a day when the opportunity to add a Luxman or Pass Labs integrated to the mix presents itself. Fascinating hobby. |
