Luxman L505u . . . why not?

When I bought my Luxman L-505f back at the begining of 2004 I almost got the L-507f but just out of my price range.

For the money the L-505f was a great int amp and if I had the money I would go ahead and get the L-505u. I had to sell the L-505f so now I may just keep everything I got and save for the next two years and see what else Luxman may come up with.

One of the things I liked about the L-505f was I used the preamp with a tube amp I had or use a tube preamp with the 505f amp section or just used it as a int amp.

Also the tone controls were outstanding!! They could not make a bad recording perfect but I have too many bad recordings and the tone controls allowed me to adjust the treble and bass just enough to make the bad recordings much more bearable. As always this is my opinion of equipment I have had in my system.

There is no comparison between the Luxman L509U and the L505U. The L509U is the best sounding integrated amp I have EVER heard. The reason for this is that the L509U and the L590 and cd-player D 08 and DU 80 use gold-plated circuitry. In the late 80's when I was working as an electronic tech in a military-defense company where computers for submarines were manufactured, we used thick-film ceramic substrates printed with gold-plated circuitry and seperated by dielectric materials. This same process is used by Luxman. No one else in the industry is using this ultimate standard. This same optimum standard is used only in the manufacturing of military and cardiac pacemaker products. This same process is also proven in research to enhance sound quality, and minimize vibration and radiation - making Luxman second-to-none. So my advice, based on experience, is the L509U simply can not be beaten by any rival. Of course, this is why it costs $10K. When I inspected my Luxman 505U, I discovered that the parts are all custom-made Japanese-produced parts. The 509U and the DU 80 or D 08 cd-player is the ultimate system on the planet. This is my personal opinion. Thanks.

I have bought a 507u directly from japan, along with a step down transformer from kashimura. I have not received them yet, because I was not at home when the delivery man came yesterday and today. Unfortunately I can not get them sooner then monday the 28th, because of the christmas days.

But when I have them I will certainly let you know how this amplifier in combination with the transformer sounds. I can compare this sound to my previous accuphase e408 and a l505u that I had for 2 months.

I will tell you my experiences in a few weeks. And as for the 509u..........i have not heard this one, but from reviews I completely agree with renjy651

Choosing between the two top Luxman integrateds (590Aii and 509u) is not easy. They both cost about the same (10K), but one is 30 wpc pure class A (590Aii) and the the other 120 wpc class AB (509u).

Though I have seen more positive comments about the 590Aii and the purported sonic superiority of pure calss A amps, has anyone actually compared them? Are they really that different?

If you had a choice, which one would you buy?

Regards,

Mark

I have a Luxman 507 (no prefixes or suffixes), one of Luxman's first transistor amps, from 1974 ('78?), I believe. I use it to drive Yamaha NS1000x speakers, which are truly top-notch. My CD player is an Ah! Njoe Tjoeb CD4000, also truly tops.

We (wife and I) really like the sound of this system in our main room, which has soft floors (tatamis), wood on all sides, and lots of cloth - more absorbers than reflectors. The sound is clear and very detailed, yet warm and well-balanced, and has deep imagining and realistic coloration and separation of each instrument. It sounds to me more like a high-end tube amp than a transistor amp in many respects. We listen to an extremely broad spectrum of music, but not at extremely high sound volume.

But as the Luxman was very inexpensive (at about USD500), and is a bit dinged-up, I've always felt I could improve on it and have been trying different amps on loan from the (super-good) local used stereo shop for many months.

I've tested it against several "higher-end" amps, including Accuphase, Krell, McIntosh, and other Luxmans, and so far this old 507 bugger still sits on the throne. Let me know if you'd like my comments on any of those comparisons.

Right now I'm testing/comparing it against a Primaluna Prologue 2, which images well and offers rich, full sound across the spectrum, but with my setup and environment is not better than the old Luxman in any sound respect except perhaps bass volume, for which the Luxman has a knob to turn up when I want more bass. Through the crystal-clear NS1000x's, the harmonic distortion of the Primaluna is too obvious and changes the coloration of all instruments too much, while everything has a sandy, grainy quality characteristic of tube amps, but this is just too obvious. I also have an old pair of low-level Rogers speakers (LS-2a) that the Primaluna sounds pretty good good through, though, but the NS10000x's are my main babes, so I will give the Primaluna back to the shop, even though it's so pretty to look at.

Here in Japan, the local stereophiles generally prefer the original Luxman SQ38 (various suffixes) - types as for Luxman amps. Whenever looking at Luxmans, someone here is always sure to tell me not to even consider anything pre-1984.

As a Luxman owner, I just thought I'd add my two Yen to this thread.