Bookshelf Speakers for Luxman 590axii?


Hi All - 

I’ve been running a Luxman 590axii in my office for a couple of years with Buchardt S400 MKii speakers. While the pairing is good I think the Luxman really need an easier speaker to drive. This is a secondary system and I’ll be switching in the Luxman and new speaker every few months for variety. It’s a smallish room and there is a listening chair about 8 feet from the amp/speaker set up. 

I’ve been intrigued by the Graham LS3/5 speakers…

 

The other components in the system:

  • Gold Note DS-10 Streamer/Dac 
  • Lessloss speaker cables 
  • Cardas Clear Reflection power cable 
  • Revelation Labs IC 
  • Puritan 136 power conditioner 

The Luxman 590axii is rated as 30 watts of class a, but goes into Class AB up to something like 90 watts at 8 ohms. While that may be true, I’ve personally come to the conclusion this version of the Luxman shines best with an easier speaker load so it stays in class A. The Buchardt’s start distorting pretty quickly once the volume goes up. 
 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! 

 

 

 


 

 

128x128bluethinker

A few things come to mind as differences:

The Fritz is a fuller sound particularly given the lower end extension down to 37Hz. They are rear ported.  It’s a more balanced speaker wrt its flat response curve. It does not accentuate any particular frequency.  It is also a very smooth speaker that is well integrated (tweeter and mid/bass driver).  It uses a series crossover which helps with both the driver integration and the flat impedance curve.  They play everything well.

The Falcon Q7s have a low end extension to maybe 60Hz.  They are a sealed box design which makes what bass they do play a bit tighter.  They are brighter and do have a bump in the midrange of the response curve.  Mine have the Gold Badge crossover which smooths out the edginess in the high frequencies.  They are very good for small space near field listening, particularly for vocals, jazz, etc.

I have a couple of subs in my system so I don’t really notice any lack of low frequency response from either speaker. 

Both speakers have excellent soundstage, imaging, and transient response.  If you have a broad range of musical tastes I think the Fritz would be a better fit,  but I’ve played every kind of music out of the Falcons and they’ve done well with it all.

The Fritz will play much louder but the Falcons aren’t really designed to be played at concert levels. That said the Falcons will happily play at 75-80 db all day which is louder than I usually listen.  If you like the sound of the Grahams you will like the Q7.  The Q7 is a kit, though you can have Falcon pre assemble it, which is what I did.  It’s also half the price of the LS3/5a.  I would get the Gold Badge crossover as well.  One last thing, the Q7 is basically an LS3/5a in a slightly larger cabinet.  Here is a link to a review

https://www.stereonet.com/uk/reviews/falcon-acoustics-q7-loudspeaker-kit-review

@bluethinker I’ve owned the Falcon Q7. An outstanding small stand mount. Your Luxman is plenty sufficient to drive the Q7 or the Falcon LS/35a!!

Bluethinker

I'm a happy owner of Buchardt Audio S400 MkIIs, and agree they open up when driven with more power (or at lease amps). I've had Fritz Carbon 7s in my system on loan, and I really did love them.....in some aspects better than the Buchardts.

I personally would not buy the Buchardt S400 MkII replacement, until the Buchardt E50s are out and reviewed....but they too will need power at 4ohm and 85db