2. speakers
  3. 173124-117

What's next after Luxman 550 AX/II with Harbeth C7

I recently bought and sold the Luxman (class A) 550 for my C7's. I won't waste all of your time with reasons, but let me sum it up with saying the pairing was good, but nothing special. I would go as far to say the Croft phono integrated I had prior engaged me a bit more. I'm now considering the Unison Unico integrated. I know this will sound odd, but the other integrated I'm considering is the Lab twelve integre. The latter cost $5K US, while the Unison is less than half the price of the all tube Lab twelve. No offense to anyone , but I'm not considering any all solid state units. The Unico is a hybrid, so I thought for the money, it would be worth trying. Just to avoid confusion, the Lab twelve actually used the numeral twelve, but it seems that audiogon flags my posts whenever I put in a number. So I spelled it out to avoid the aggravation. Life is hard enough (-: Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. Cheers -Don

fjn04

Showing 3 responses by fjn04

fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 

Thanks, my C7's are the ES3, not 40th or XD, so a bit laid back next to the newer XD's from what I understand. I have a friend who used a 22 watt amp ( I believe an Audio Note Jinro) with Harbeth, and had no issues. There are certainly some different opinions as to how much power is enough. Cayin also make a couple of tube amps that are well within my budget. The CS 55A  and 88T...the latter has more power, yet still uses only 4 output tubes. The 88T uses 6SN7's instead of 12 series input/pre tubes. Due to budget and the fact I may have a fair amount of short listening sessions, I'm going to stay away from 211/845 based amps. I'd like to keep the cost $5K US or less. I've heard great things about the LTA. 

fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 

Ryder- my experience mirrors yours. The bass of the C7 with the (NOW SOLD) 550 AX/II was perfectly fine. Never bloated, yet satisfyingly full. The Luxman never played an offensive note with the C7’s. I can’t share one bad comment about the sound, because I didn’t experience anything negative. The Lux was also never dry sounding, but to my ears nothing special, so I moved on. I don’t know...maybe I just don’t love the C7’s. But it was time to break up that system, and I opted to move the Luxman. I have a history of preferring tubes, even when comparing phono stages. That being said, the Luxman was one of the best solid state amps I’ve heard.

fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 

That could be interesting news because that Lab 12 line is one I'd love to Hear. I've also been thinking about getting back in to digital, but not diving too deep. There is a dealer who is within a reasonable driving distance (2+ hrs) that has Lab 12, Audio Hungary and Harbeth. But the Audio Hungary he has is only 20 watts, so I don't think that would be ideal. The Cayin line is interesting too...very little chatter but they have been around a long time. I also happen to like the looks over many of it's competitors. 

More to discover