McIntosh to Luxman?
Hey everybody. I need some advice. It's fair to say I've lusted over Luxman equipment for a few years now. Something about Japanese hifi that just gets me. Anyway, one of the online retailers of new and used equipment has a Luxman L-507uX (not the mark ii) for sale. I do really like the sound from my hybrid MA252 integrated, and it drives my Maggie 1.7s with ease. Most of my listening is of the streaming variety (Bludesound Node/Qobuz), and some vinyl (Music Hall MMF-5).
Here's my question: what will the Luxman bring me that the McIntosh isn't providing? More refinement? More authoritative bass? Better soundstaging? If the answer is yes, then I may pull the trigger on the Luxman. By the way, I can get a nice trade-in on my McIntosh, so my out-of-pocket won't be too bad. Please weigh-in if you've had both McIntosh and Luxman gear and what your experience with both brands has been. Thanks in advance! ~ Jerry
Hey, I own the last new 507ux in the US, very happy with it. The general characteristics are it feels very extended, and makes other amps seem like they don’t have enough bandwidth. It has a very sweet tube-like midrange to treble presentation. While it sounds like the top end goes over forever it’s also super smooth and not harsh. |
@erik_squires Thanks for the input! I saw your posts from a few years ago about your Luxman. I was hoping you'd chime in. 😀 My only concern is that I've regretted selling equipment in the past. If the Luxman is the one, then the McIntosh has to go. That's the rub. Yeah, the 509 would be sweet....but it's at a price-point that's higher than I'm willing to go. ~ Jerry
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Luxman and MacIntosh could not be much more different. Luxman is rather evenly tonally balanced but with forward treble and lean midrange and bass and big on buttons and dials. MacIntosh is very heavy midrange and bass. Mac… the “muscle car”… Luxman the Toyota Avalon.
You definitely need to let your ears draw you to your choice.
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My experience with Mac is that it’s very tonally rich but is rolled off in the upper treble range that veils upper-octave detail and the openness of the overall soundstage. My experience comes from working for Magnolia at Best Buy and hearing the KEF Blades driven by Mac gear and it sounded like a blanket was thrown over the KEFs relative to how I’ve heard them sound at audio shows. It was a disgrace and total sonic mismatch IMHO. My guess is Luxman will do a better job in this area without ever sounding etched or hyper detailed. Given what you’re looking for I think Luxman could be a considerable upgrade. Just my $0.02 FWIW. |
