The SEPARATES vs. AVR Thread

[Verdinut]

Just another!
The price is over the top, but I do like them meters!
Luxman L509X

It looks pretty nice. I would assume it's an integrated amp but can't read the brand name.
Do you have more info on it such as power rating/ch and approximate year of release?

Cheers,
André

 

[KEW]

It looks pretty nice. I would assume it's an integrated amp but can't read the brand name.
Do you have more info on it such as power rating/ch and approximate year of release?

Cheers,
André

It is a Luxman L-509X
120 X 2 WPC at 8 ohms
220 X 2 WPC at 4 ohms
I think it is new this year.
If you already have the very best speakers you can find and they don't need more power than this makes, I guess there are worse ways to spend $9500!

Stereophile review

 

[<eargiant]

Just another!
The price is over the top, but I do like them meters!
Luxman L509X

Nice Kew! Luxman was on my shortlist not long ago. Luxman integrated amps are very well built in an "old school" way. Definitely a unit that has the internal build quality that will allow it to provide a lifetime of pleasure. I'll take the less expensive 505 over any AVR on the planet and it would probably be the most cost effective choice. Luxman produces very, very nice units. No AVR will even come close in build quality or sound quality but of course, that's just my opinion.

 

[Irvrobinson]

An Audioholics soft-porn site. It doesn't have boobs, it has meters.

 

[lovinthehd]

An Audioholics soft-porn site. It doesn't have boobs, it has meters.

I think some audiophiles get off more on the meters and gaudy amp cases.

 

[Verdinut]

It is a Luxman L-509X
120 X 2 WPC at 8 ohms
220 X 2 WPC at 4 ohms
I think it is new this year.
If you already have the very best speakers you can find and they don't need more power than this makes, I guess there are worse ways to spend $9500!

Stereophile review

There are better ways too! Expenditures such as hiring an acoustic architect to make your listening room ideal for serious music performance, better seating furniture etc.

 

[<eargiant]

There are better ways too! Expenditures such as hiring an acoustic architect to make your listening room ideal for serious music performance, better seating furniture etc.

Are you sure about that? No amount of expenditures on those things will ever make my Yamaha A-S801 (as good as it is) equal the sound reproduction capabilities of my Sansui AU-X1 driving my 805 D2s in the same room, level matched and at moderate volume (well within their respective capabilities), just sayin'...

Hearing the differences in realism of even something as subtle as the piano bench noises heard during the first few seconds of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major ("Allla Turca") K. 331 (K 300i) on the Ivo Pogorelich recording would make that crystal clear to anyone that heard it side by side.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I think some audiophiles get off more on the meters and gaudy amp cases.

And measurements. No 36-24-36 for us. We need SNRs and slew rates. The centerfold is a 1W FFT graph.

 

[PENG]

It is a Luxman L-509X
120 X 2 WPC at 8 ohms
220 X 2 WPC at 4 ohms
I think it is new this year.
If you already have the very best speakers you can find and they don't need more power than this makes, I guess there are worse ways to spend $9500!

Stereophile review

Agreed, the Denon PMA-SX may save you $2,000 but for half the power and a few pounds heavier, and worse, no wattmeters!!

I do prefer the 20 watt class A Luxman that can be had for around $5,000, large VU meters included.

Luxman seems to prefer EI-core transformers to Toroidals.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If the insides of all pre-pros look more like this ATI amp, then I would be more convinced that it's better than AVRs:

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Definitely one of the biggest reasons (besides bragging rights and pride of ownership) for getting Separates is the beautiful aesthetics of these amps (if you can afford them ) !

Definitely won't find any AVRs looking that pretty.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Definitely one of the biggest reasons (besides bragging rights and pride of ownership) for getting Separates is the beautiful aesthetics of these amps (if you can afford them ) !

Definitely won't find any AVRs looking that pretty.

Despite the metal artwork, the law of diminishing returns still applies.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Despite the metal artwork, the law of diminishing returns still applies.

Yep, definitely applies to poor people like us.

Those rich bastards don't care about any returns.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Yep, definitely applies to poor people like us.

Those rich bastards don't care about any returns.

True. I guess their values are not my values.

I'd like to be in the room when the rich zillionaire is explaining to me how the solid copper heat sinks on the sides make the sound better. Oh brother.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Are you sure about that? No amount of expenditures on those things will ever make my Yamaha A-S801 (as good as it is) equal the sound reproduction capabilities of my Sansui AU-X1 driving my 805 D2s in the same room, level matched and at moderate volume (well within their respective capabilities), just sayin'...

Hearing the differences in realism of even something as subtle as the piano bench noises heard during the first few seconds of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major ("Allla Turca") K. 331 (K 300i) on the Ivo Pogorelich recording would make that crystal clear to anyone that heard it side by side.

Just asking'... what attributes of these amplifiers could be different enough to explain the audible differences? The effect you're describing would seem to point to frequency response differences.

 

[Mikado463]

Definitely won't find any AVRs looking that pretty.

I actually feel the vintage receivers of the seventies were the best looking . While the D'Agostino amps get great reviews, myself, I'm not a fan of their looks, but to each his own .......

 

[lovinthehd]

Are you sure about that? No amount of expenditures on those things will ever make my Yamaha A-S801 (as good as it is) equal the sound reproduction capabilities of my Sansui AU-X1 driving my 805 D2s in the same room, level matched and at moderate volume (well within their respective capabilities), just sayin'...

Hearing the differences in realism of even something as subtle as the piano bench noises heard during the first few seconds of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major ("Allla Turca") K. 331 (K 300i) on the Ivo Pogorelich recording would make that crystal clear to anyone that heard it side by side.

So add this to such realism as drawing of breath captured in a recording, or farting?

 

[Mikado463]

So add this to such realism as drawing of breath captured in a recording, or farting?

nothing like a good fart !

 

[<eargiant]

So add this to such realism as drawing of breath captured in a recording, or farting?

Come to think of it, maybe that's not the piano bench creaking and Evo just let a couple slip...

Just asking'... what attributes of these amplifiers could be different enough to explain the audible differences? The effect you're describing would seem to point to frequency response differences.

I don't know why you're asking me. Just because I hear it doesn't mean I know how or why it occurs. I do know there are significant design differences between these amps so maybe that has to do something with it.

You might want to PM Gene with your question because I think he'd hear the difference also even though I'm sure the X1 would measure beautifully on his AP as did the A-S801. He's definitely more qualified to answer your question than I am. This is what he said back in 2013.

"As someone who has over 10 years of audio design experience and about 15 years measuring and analyzing and most importantly LISTENING, I can tell you my experience even in controlled listening tests is amps can and do sound different even if they measure well and aren't driven beyond their means. The degree of audibility differences depend on a lot of factors, including loudspeaker load, quality of the loudspeakers, room acoustics, source material, etc. "

Gene DellaSalla

 

[sterling shoote]

This power amp depicted here was featured on a YouTube Channel about two weeks ago. As I understand it the thing weighs 500 pounds. I'm sure the conquest like experience of any buying it will have a nervonic out of body feeling of ecstasy followed by withdrawal, until another audiophile trophy is within sight.