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Luxman Solid State or Vacuum Tubes Amplifier


Vivek Batra

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Hi All

 

I am looking for an integrated amplifier for my Forte IIIs. It will be very helpful for me if any of the members here is using Luxman with Klipsch and could guide me. I have no way to demo Luxman near me so I have to rely on feedback and user experience. What I am looking for is laid back, warm and dynamic output at low volumes. My music taste is old western classical, jazz/rock, country songs.

 

I am torn between Luxman Class A, A/B and tubes. I am bit reluctant to go with tube amp because I never had any tube amp and I am bit scared of its delicate nature, maintenance and itch of tube rolling. I know most people recommend tube amps with Klipsch. Is this the consensus here?

 

What about Luxman as a brand overall? I heard heating issues with Class A amp in general. I do not have air conditioning in my listening room and summers here are as hot as 40+ deg

 

Hope to hear something from experienced guys over here and help me choose the right equipment.

 

Thanks

Vivek

 

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The only problem with Luxman solid state is that they are getting old. I have two nice ones and can’t find anyone to work on them. They are all amazing sounding pieces with Klipsch. 
 

Tubes are wonderful. Good choices are almost endless. They are not all that “delicate”, pretty robust actually. 
 

I am currently using a Cambridge Audio CXA60. I’m very happy with it, and there isn’t much I haven’t tried over the years. 

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35 minutes ago, Vivek Batra said:

Indeed candy for eyes.

 

The above Lux sells for approx $9500 new. McIntosh is a better value imo. Look at the specs, Mac is like .005% THD @ rated power output, full range (Ok the Lux is .006, pretty much identical). And those blue Mac output meters. Never heard a Lux, but I have the Mac.

IMO, Mac is the standard to judge all others. Don't know if I shall ever own a Mac, but its sure nice to dream.

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6 minutes ago, jason str said:

 

I run class A on far more sensitive speakers with great results.

I just hung up with a distributor in India who sells Accuphase. He doesn't want to sell Accuphase class A to me but Class A/B. According to him, the low end is not what a Class A can handle but Class A/B with more WPC like > 150 wpc is what Fortes need. Honestly I am not buying this reasoning. 

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21 minutes ago, polizzio said:

To add, the Luxman 509X is class AB amp.

 

Now here is the real eye candy, Mac 7200. And price much < the Lux, least here in the states.915739834_MAC7200.thumb.jpg.5abc83aa5bf20f71f44c0a85987b5628.jpg

I would love to buy McIntosh any day blindly. I think the price is India is on higher side compared to Luxman. I am getting 509X for about $8800. No idea about MA7200. I just love the blue Vu meters

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1 hour ago, Vivek Batra said:

I just hung up with a distributor in India who sells Accuphase. He doesn't want to sell Accuphase class A to me but Class A/B. According to him, the low end is not what a Class A can handle but Class A/B with more WPC like > 150 wpc is what Fortes need. Honestly I am not buying this reasoning. 

 

100 watts with Fortes will literally blow you out the room, unless you have a really large room. But too much clean power is always a good thing, ie amp headroom and damping.

 

Class A generates a lot of heat, quite power inefficient. You mentioned no AC. I'd go with ample clean AB myself. There is a reason why modern amps have shifted from class A amplification, modern technology, much greater power generation.

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1 minute ago, polizzio said:

 

100 watts with Fortes will literally blow you out the room, unless you have a really large room. But too much clean power is always a good thing, ie amp headroom and damping.

 

Class A generates a lot of heat, quite power inefficient. You mentioned no HVAC. I'd go with ample clean AB myself. There is a reason why modern amps have shifted from class A amplification, modern technology, much greater power generation.

I was about to order Luxman Class A 590Ax ii then I though lets talk to Accupshase guy as well. He has now confused me a lot. Heating issue is I am very aware of and this is one point I was giving a second thought. I will try to find out any McIntosh dealer as well and see how the prices compare with Luxman/Accuphase.

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Never heard of ANY audio peep ever complain his amp is too powerful. Too much power, too much headroom. But I have heard peeps complaining of underpowered amps or receivers.

 

When I was 19, I had Peavey SP-1s (horn loaded bass cabs, 15 or 18" transducer, Black Widow HF compression driver) with a Peavey CS-800 commercial amp (75 lbs) in my LR, with clipping indicators. We sometimes saw those indicators "dancing" to Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd. 400 watts per channel.

 

I am much smarter now, believe me.

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5 minutes ago, Vivek Batra said:

I was about to order Luxman Class A 590Ax ii then I though lets talk to Accupshase guy as well. He has now confused me a lot. Heating issue is I am very aware of and this is one point I was giving a second thought. I will try to find out any McIntosh dealer as well and see how the prices compare with Luxman/Accuphase.

 

Good plan. GL and enjoy :)

 

Somebody in Europe has to sell/import McIntosh, just has to. Now whether it will be less costly than Lux I don't know.

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11 minutes ago, Vivek Batra said:

 I will try to find out any McIntosh dealer as well and see how the prices compare with Luxman/Accuphase.

 

Vivek, McIntosh website shows dealers in India and Europe. Here is the link to their page: https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/Dealers/Find-Local-Dealer

 

copy and pasted: 

DECIBEL
(SOUTH REGION)

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU INDIA
ADDRESS

21 Chittaranjan Rd
Sri Ram Nagar, Teynampet
Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600018
P: +91 44 2431 2834

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