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Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?

75.111.18.231
Posted on September 20, 2016 at 07:37:12
sanman
Audiophile

Posts: 1780
Location: Redwood Coast
Joined: November 13, 2004
 I have never heard luxman gear, but their reputation precedes them.
"When the demon is at your door, in the mornin' it won't be there no more"
Steely Dan

 

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RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 20, 2016 at 08:09:06
Hornlover
Manufacturer

Posts: 2529
Joined: March 8, 2002
 Luxman was like Accuphase. A cut above typical Japanese stuff.

 

RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 20, 2016 at 08:23:46
6bq5
Audiophile

Posts: 4392
Location: SF Bay
Joined: August 16, 2001
 Luxman was a smaller house aiming for the upper tier of the market-
they understood the importance of good transformers, and largely kept things simple - well till the '80s - with a receding face plate and other gimicky stuff in their receivers-
then there also was the period where Tim deParavicini designed a couple of amps and pre-amps - tubed, of course....
They have had ups and downs - mostly due to ownership issues, and recently (past 10years?) have made a serious effort at regaining their former glory - I have an old receiver that still works well, and is happy driving quad '57s - but it is not without its issues.
Happy Listening

 

RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 20, 2016 at 09:13:07
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 As already mentioned Luxman was a cut above the rest. A refined quality sound. It really didn't reach out a grab you by the pants like a Marantz. But a very high quality refined sound. Can't make any more sense than that for ya????

Also one caveat about Luxman. There products literally go on a case by case situation. They had some great stuff and they had some not so great stuff - again?????

Also some of their pieces from around the late 70's are virtually unfixable. Nothing to do with quality. Buty the engineers designed these things with the intent of NEVER taking them apart or servicing them. Some of them were clearly built as a one way ticket. I worked on a L-11 - ain't no way that mother was coming apart unless it was TOTALLY apart.

 

RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 20, 2016 at 11:38:12
FenderLover
 A friend's Dad had this OLD (1960s, I believe) Luxman integrated amp. Think was 18 watts per channel. Tubes. Very plain looking.

But, boy did that amp sound good. Wonder where it is now?

 

RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 20, 2016 at 13:57:55
Jim Treanor
Audiophile

Posts: 2167
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: June 1, 2003
 When I worked at San Jose's Garland Audio in the late '70's, I sold a number of Luxman R1050's, a rated-at-55-watts-per-channel receiver that regularly ate the lunch of shall-remain-nameless much-higher-power integrateds that customers brought in for comparison auditions. The secret was the beefy power supply...and, I assume, the ears of the people who designed and engineered it. One customer I sold one to told me a year ago that she still had it and that everything still worked without a hitch.


Jim

 

RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 20, 2016 at 14:34:40
theophile
Audiophile

Posts: 1265
Location: australia
Joined: July 16, 2003
 Tim d also designed the C 1000 and M 6000 solid state gear.

 

Why do you think that it's so good?..., posted on September 20, 2016 at 17:32:13
viridian
 I used to sell the stuff new at Bristol Sound in Paramus NJ back in the mid 1970s. The receivers had a very high defect rate, exceeded only by the big Philips separates. The salespersons gave up trying to sell the stuff; it didn't matter how good it sounded if you had to deal with every customer multiple times. In sales, time is money.

So my experience was very different than Mr. Treanor's below.

 

RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 20, 2016 at 20:39:49
Iain42
Reviewer

Posts: 895
Location: Arcansaw
Joined: February 10, 2004
 I have an MQ60 with the rare 50CA10 triodes. They were a gift from a friend. I use them regularly and enjoy them alot. It is easy to work on.



High sensitivity, wide dynamic range, low distortion, and smooth frequency response. Pwk

http://www.itishifi.com

 

Point-to-point wiring?, posted on September 21, 2016 at 07:48:47
FenderLover
 You wouldn't happen to have a photo of the circuitry?

Thanks!

 

RE: Why do you think that it's so good?..., posted on September 21, 2016 at 09:09:52
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 That explains why I have never see those very cool looking 70's Luxman receivers in the thrift stores. Actually I have seen one, but it was trashed. I have a Luxman turntable and a CD player that are nice, but they were not 70's products. My friend had some Luxman tube gear that sounded excellent, but it used weird tubes.

Dave

 

One possible standout, posted on September 21, 2016 at 09:18:58
M3 lover
Audiophile

Posts: 6604
Location: SW Mich
Joined: May 29, 2005
Contributor
  Since: July 4, 2007
 I have little experience with Luxman products. However one was their tube mono amps, the 3045. I remember hearing those drive a pair of Quad 57s at an audio show, one of the most musical systems I believe I ever heard. We had a local hi-end dealer in the mid-70s that carried that model but I never auditioned them at home. And years later I seemed to recall reports of failures with the 3045 but I don't know the particulars.

Also I've read Luxman offered a couple of very good DD turntables, possibly built by Micro Seiki and rebranded. But again, no personal experience.

"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho

 

RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 21, 2016 at 10:15:08
geoff
Audiophile

Posts: 3502
Joined: April 5, 2000
Contributor
  Since: September 10, 2003
 I have a stack of the Luxman Laborarory Reference Series, circa 1980, that I inherited. Included are the 5M21 amp and 5C50 pre, which sound really good to me, though I am pretty much a tube guy. Also a cassette deck, equalzer, and tuner to match. This stuff is beautifully built and was quite expensive when new.

 

RE: One possible standout, posted on September 21, 2016 at 11:47:42
orthophonic
Audiophile

Posts: 861
Location: Central Florida
Joined: January 21, 2003
 I own a pair of MB 3045's and they are truly superb, one of the best I have eve heard.

 

I've got a 5m21 amp,built for the Australian market, posted on September 21, 2016 at 17:01:38
gonzo
Audiophile

Posts: 2512
Location: new england
Joined: November 28, 2002
 And I use a step down transformer to run it. It sound ok, but needs work and I never could decide if I wanted to sink $$ into it. I live in western mass, so I never found a good local tech to go through it. I haven't listened to it for a few years, but I have read that when it is working right, it's a great amp. Norm

 

RE: Point-to-point wiring?, posted on September 21, 2016 at 19:45:42
Iain42
Reviewer

Posts: 895
Location: Arcansaw
Joined: February 10, 2004

It ain't pretty because mine is a KMQ60 for kit but I plan on cleaning it up soon. Looks like hell sounds great.





High sensitivity, wide dynamic range, low distortion, and smooth frequency response. Pwk

http://www.itishifi.com

 

Interesting reading what others say about Luxman., posted on September 21, 2016 at 20:37:59
kff
Audiophile

Posts: 1033
Location: SE PA
Joined: October 19, 2006
 I sold the gear in the late 70s-early 80s. The best time to be associated with Luxman until the present truly very high end gear.

Read wiki about the company, started as transformer manufacturer...the base building block for a chunk of gear.

The MB-3045 tube amp, 50watt mono were designed by Tim using a proprietary tube but there are instructions to cover the amp to use 6550/KT88 and I have done this to my pair. Great amps for sure. The tube pre CL-35 III and CL-32 of the era were great, too.

Then came the C-1000/M-4000/T-110 pre/amp/tuner set, gorgeous and very capable. Followed by the Laboratory Reference Series gear that is totally over built. Each piece Amp, amp without meter, power led unit, preamp, tuner (2), eq, tone control unit and probably the cassette deck (haven't put my hands on a 5K50) feel like sold blocks of metal they are so heavy. work great too. We used and LRS stack in the soundroom and had all the power we needed with Magnepan and Dahlquist speakers and the amp was only?!? 100wpc.

The turntables were Micro Seiki built to Luxman specs (looks and such) and the PD-441 is a real looker, 444 dual armed and the 555 vacuumed platter. Nice units. The lesser tables weren't great but looked good and were decent enough.

That era we sold a lot of their receivers and only the R-1120 came back, regularly. The others were fine in that series. All looked the same sounded great and well I have a few of them and a number of other Lux pieces. Sure would like to get an LRS stack and even some of the Laboratory Standard Series (except the L-11 apparently) as this are great units, too.

They auditioned all the gear they made back then very seriously and were looking for a specific performance from their gear. They got it. Unfortunately, as the Audio world was changing in 1983 and the Yen had gotten stronger all manufacturers made their gear cheaper to meet a price point and Luxman, a top dollar brand struggled into the hands of Alpine for a number of years. Not quite the same stuff.

But their come back is nice, too expensive for me but some have excellent sound quality, fortunately. Glad to have em back.

 

RE: Why were vintage luxman so good? Any standouts?, posted on September 22, 2016 at 03:15:27
Scholl
Distributor or Rep

Posts: 1358
Joined: March 8, 2001
 I have a Panasonic branded 6bq5 integrated with LUX stamped parts. Output transformers are exceptional as well as the sound.

 

RE: Point-to-point wiring?, posted on September 22, 2016 at 08:52:11
Eli Duttman
Audiophile

Posts: 10455
Location: Monroe Township, NJ
Joined: March 31, 2000
 Certainly not great, but hardly a "spaghetti bowl".

Maybe replace the signal caps. with a mix of 716P series Orange Drops and Soviet surplus K40 PIOs.

AA sponsor Jim McShane has PTFE insulated hook up wire that could be useful in the refurb.


Eli D.

 

Thanks, for picture, posted on September 22, 2016 at 09:06:04
FenderLover
 Looks like they used quality components.

 

RE: Point-to-point wiring?, posted on September 23, 2016 at 12:07:54
Bold Eagle
Audiophile

Posts: 6936
Location: America's Heartland
Joined: May 27, 2001
 Eli,

I keep seeing folks using PTFE or Teflon insulated wire. What's so wonderful about that vs polyethylene, except for heat resistance? PE has lower dielectric constant.

Thanks,

Jerry

 

RE: Point-to-point wiring?, posted on September 23, 2016 at 12:42:55
Eli Duttman
Audiophile

Posts: 10455
Location: Monroe Township, NJ
Joined: March 31, 2000
 Heat resistance is VERY important. I've spent a fair amount of time using nail polish to re-insulate PVC covered wire that had melt back/"burn", after soldering. :>(

PTFE is very good in the heat resistance dept., but it is a major PITA to strip, without nicking the copper. If somebody has a good source for solid core, tin (preferred) or silver plated, 22 AWG "Tefzel" insulated wire I'd very much like to hear about it. "Tefzel" is intermediate between PTFE and "Kynar" among fluorocarbon polymers for heat resistance and ease of use.


Eli D.

 

RE: Point-to-point wiring?, posted on September 23, 2016 at 14:43:02
Bold Eagle
Audiophile

Posts: 6936
Location: America's Heartland
Joined: May 27, 2001
 Eli,

That's kind of what I thought; but I also see "Teflon" featured in other kinds of wiring like interconnects and even speaker cables. My thought about that was "I wonder if they know PTFE can store charge on it's surface?"

We once had a line of powder coating spray guns that used PTFE as the internal surfaces. From the friction of the powder running against it, the PTFE would accept electrons from the powder, leaving the powder grains with a net positive charge. Once the PTFE stored enough charge and the electric field got strong enough, the electrons would then "hop" from site to site along the PTFE surface until it got close enough to ground to discharge, or even arc over. It didn't seem to me that was a behavior you wanted in audio wiring. The phenomenon does not occur at low field strengths; but some power supply configurations might be high enough. FEP is a lot less susceptible. PTFE has a higher dielectric constant than PE, so you probably would not want it in coaxial cables. There, Foamed PE is probably the best choice for lowest dielectric constant (except for air).

Thanks,

Jerry

 

Now that was ..., posted on September 23, 2016 at 17:14:17
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001

Very interesting!

Dave

 

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