If anyone is interested in the Luxman L-590AXII, spend some time reading these 2 reviews. In the first review, the lab report shows a power output of 95W/8ohm and 165W/4ohm
Try to find a Krell FBI. Apart from the silly name this was still a true Dan D design. It's basically an FPB 300 with a balanced line stage tucked inside.
I agree with cakyol I also own a pass lab 250 and it is just unbelievably good the meter tells you when it slips into class A B mode but so far no matter what speaker I've had on it or how loud I played it it has never done that it is Class A all the way
I want to also recommend the new Krell K 300i - My older Krell 400xi died 6 months ago and I replaced it through Krell after it was discovered my 400xi as unrepairable.
i push a set of Maggie 1.7i speakers with no issues at all. The new Krell sounds great - better soundstage, better vocals, horns and strings sound very real. I know everyone complains about Maggie lack of base - I added the base panel to my system and biamped it to great effect. The Krell 300 i has an adjustable preamp out. I did not buy their DAC - I stream via a LUMIN T2.
I’m a huge fan of anything Balanced Audio Technology (BAT). Their philosophy is a clean, pure sound with huge dynamics and lots of current. They have always been a perfect match for my Apogee planar speakers. You get the best of solid state and tube together. I don’t use an integrated setup. I have a VK-600 (300 watts per channel), which is designed to be two mono blocks in one chassis that only share the front plate, with BAT pack (huge current add when needed) and a VK-5i tube preamp. They are older classics from their early generations (90’s),, but everything they make is built like a tank. Their designer has always been Victor (he’s literally a rocket scientist). I’ve spoken to him on many occasions for advice. I bought both in mint condition used for less than $6k.
Easy...sugden a21se...and it’s far less than 15k. No idea why people think they have to pay that kind of money for a quality product. Just look at the reviews for the sugden a21se and you will see what I’m talking about. I’ve yet to find one negative one and there are a great many reviews. I can attest that its the real deal as I own it. It is also single ended which the luxman is not. And if you want to spend more money unnecessarily, then there are other sugden models above it.
I was going to purchase the Krell, but I got a deal on a Constellation component. The Krell is a relatively new/modern component (2019) designed by a seasoned audio engineer.
The Krell has a patented sliding A circuit that applies in pure class A as current demands up to around 90+ wpc then goes into Class A to 200wpc 8 ohms ,400wpc 4 ohms. A very good sounding unit ,andthe preamp section is a dedicated class A section .
The a New Krell 300 is very good with a sliding A bias circuit very good detail and a nice slightly warmer balance with many options like hdmi inputs and outputs to hook to a hired tv dac board is optional.for around $8k retail and made in Ct USA .
The Luxman 590 bench tested to 90 w into 8 ohm in one of the reviews
Can you post a link to this review please?
Not in Class-A, Class-B maybe if the rail volts are higher than for 30w which is unlikely as the heat factor goes up exponentially with higher rail voltage. Doubtful looking at all the other specs from others because then it would be classed as a Class-A/B amp, those piddly small heatsinks couldn’t take it, they look lucky to even take 30W of Class-A. https://ibb.co/BV8CVDC
Luxman has been making excellent class A ss amps for many decades actually longer then Pass labs has been around. maybe even Threshold.
If your looking-interested in "vintage" look for a Luxman L-5## series they started early 80's. Best of them was the L560 (100v-220v) one of the last big integrated amps they made before the newer versions you see today. The L560 was 50wpc class A, used a heat pipe so no huge cooling fins, nice wood sides and top but thick alum faceplate very classy looking if I do say so.
There was a L530, L540, L560 all the same power just newer (by a year each) as you got higher the L530 and L540 were available in the North American market the L560 only Japan and Europe but that's the one to look for even if you need a step up-down transformer.
Pass Labs, Sungden, Levenson (if you can find one used) and Accuphase (over priced in NA imo) are the other big players in Class A, as others have said. All excellent I've had all but a Levenson class A in my system at one time or another and all were great.
But I would go for something with more in reserve, the Pass Int-60 Class-A/B, still has the 25w or 30w-8ohm of Class-A like all the above ones do. But you have as Stereophile tested up to 79w-8ohms, 125w-4ohm, and 200w-2ohm of Class-B for any big dynamic musical passages, or inefficient speakers. https://www.passlabs.com/products/int-60/
Look for Accuphase E-650, very conservatively-rated 30W per channel into an 8Ω load. With Accuphase, it’s just so easy to forget about the sound and just experience the music.
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