thinking to buy Luxman M900u mono , what other similar amps should i look?


amp for Focal Maestro


https://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/focal_maestro_utopia_iii_loudspeaker/index.html

"The magnitude lies below 4 ohms in this region, with a plunge to just 1.7 ohms at 111Hz rather than the specified minimum of 3 ohms."

"which will also demand very high currents from the amplifier. As all music has considerable energy in this region, the Focal's owner will have to use an amplifier that can genuinely deliver high powers into 2 ohms if the speaker is to be allowed to sing as it should"

"This makes the Maestro Utopia III a distinctly schizophrenic load for the partnering amplifier: very difficult for any amp to drive in the upper bass, but very amplifier-friendly in the upper midrange and treble. It is a good thing, therefore, that the Focal is very sensitive, playing very loud with only a few watts of power."

"It wasn't until the 600W Classé amplifiers took up residence in the system that I felt the Maestro Utopias were really giving me the dynamics they had promised all along."

what are my options?

thanks a lot
pelo911gt3
I would recommend going with true mono amps instead of Luxman stereo amp. Read up on amps that doubles up as mono in bridge mode....the results are not always superlative.

Look at Pass Labs, Accuphase or newer Classe Delta mono’s. I’ve listened to Classe mono’s driving Magico’s at RMAF and they were quite sublime.

https://www.classeaudio.com/products/delta-mono/


For a similar price to two Luxman M-900u's, you may want to consider Lamm Industries M2.2 monoblocks. Ultimately, this is something you'll want to hear in your system to determine what sounds the best to you.  Find a dealer that will help make that happen.

- Colin

Lamm Industries & Luxman dealer
https://gestalt.audio
Ayre man, Ayre! :)

Love my Luxman 509, but if ever there was an amp I might afford to trade to it would be Ayre or D’Agostino, the latter sounding much more like the Luxman that it is hard for me to pull the coin out for.

Ayre, like Pass, in my mind are counter points. That is, they are significantly different enough that I think if you audition Luxman, Ayre and Pass you'll come away with a strong preference.
now i’m using my old amp (backup amp) , Pass X350.5
because one of the Vitus SM-101 amp broken after thunderstorm outage.

"which will also demand very high currents from the amplifier. As all music has considerable energy in this region, the Focal’s owner will have to use an amplifier that can genuinely deliver high powers into 2 ohms if the speaker is to be allowed to sing as it should"

i don’t know what "very high current"  amps can work stable under 2 ohms?  
look like those speakers are not easy to drive and like a lot of watts.

i can buy used or demo also.

i thought about the Luxman M900u mono because it’s 1200watts into 4ohms and can work on 2ohms also.


I do think the Luxman M-900u can drive those speakers to realistic levels. It’s tranformer is like no other brand makes, made of huge solid core flat copper. The capacitors are huge also, and japanese cream of the crop. They are connected with pure copper bus bars. The boards have very thick copper parts. Everything speaks very high current. Quality watts over quantity imho.

Try to borrow one to see if it moves your Focals to your liking.
My opinion is mono amps are a thing of the past. You do not need them in 2020. There are very high power class D stereo amps outhere.


Tried/auditioned many. Audionet MAX monos have been hear a couple years now. Best I've had, and my favorite in there price range and above. Many reviews online.
You might want to look into the new Parasound JC1+ mono amps 1,300 watts at 2 ohms, Stable with speaker impedance dips below 1Ω
Model Halo JC 1+ « Parasound  These new amps are really worth looking into, and about $5,000.00 less per pair than the Luxman M-900u
I may be wrong, but a Luxman M-900u power amplifier has a retail price of ~$15K, and about $10-11K on the preowned market, whereas each Parasound HC1+ mono amplifier retails at $8,495.00 (2 = $17,000). 
Parasound JC1 monoblocks or Symphonic Line Kraft. Either of them are proven to deliver both quality and quantity without sacrificing naturalness. 

Imo, a lot of todays amps which uses esoteric parts and circuitry ultimately sound just that. Esoteric but not studio natural. 
Audionet MAX monos , i red that it's on the "cold" side
not enough "meat"

saw Simaudio in few shows with Focal 
not sure what model can match?

Pass X600.8 offer a lot of power , just not sure if it's work 2 ohms or under.

other brands you can think of?

for the price (pre owned or new) Luxman M-900u look like the best option.
Mike from suncoastaudio about the M-900u mono:

"This combo clobbers the Soulution 511/520 I had in here. Not even close and it’s less than half the price. Luxman with Magico is an absolutely superb combo. This combo has amazing transients. Not sure I’ve heard better with piano. Vocals are liquid. 3D. Balanced. And musical, musical, musical. "
Mike from suncoastaudio about the M-900u mono:

"This combo clobbers the Soulution 511/520 I had in here. Not even close and it’s less than half the price. Luxman with Magico is an absolutely superb combo. This combo has amazing transients. Not sure I’ve heard better with piano. Vocals are liquid. 3D. Balanced. And musical, musical, musical. "
LOL! Mike was fanboy until losing Soulution line. Trust your own ears!

I own the M-900u, and the piano reproduction is like crazy good never heard before. The weight of each note is astonishing. The harmonics also.
If you are thinking of getting two M900u, then you might consider a pair of B-1000f monos. Apparently onahighernote.com has a pair new in box for heavy discount. Spec power doubles down all the way to 2000w at 1 ohm. 
Luxman is supposedly coming out with a new mono block amp. Sounds like it is in the class of the m900u or better.
Luxman is supposedly coming out with a new mono block amp. Sounds like it is in the class of the m900u or better.


sound interesting , where did you got this info? 
@pelo911gt3

This guy hears it from his audio connections.
 https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/my-long-list-of-amplifiers-and-my-personal-review-of-each/pos...

The Luxman horses mouth in the USA is this guy. I never spoke to him on the new mono's. I am buying the m900u+c900u but he may tell you if the rumor is true.

Jeff Sigmund
Luxman America Inc.
email: jeff.sigmund@luxmanamerica.com
web: www.luxman.com
web: www.melco-audio.com