Integrated Amp to match with Magico A3

The Luxman 509X does sound its best when it is pushing lots of power, but I listen to lower volumes (60 dB or so) at night and the Loudness button has a fantastic curve that really kicks in and compensates for the otherwise lacking lower volume levels. It sounds amazing at any volume through La Scala IIs. 

Agree with ebm. If you can audition Esoteric you should. 
Their F-05 class AB 120w/ch or the F-03A pure class A 30w/ch is subime sounding with the right speakers. 
If funds permit you can go to the top of the SS Japanese heap with their Grandioso series (F1). All 3 models include an excellent MM, MC Phono stage. No DAC though. 

Hegel 590, Audio Research Foundation integrated, Gryphon Diablo 300. 

freesole OP56 posts11-17-2018 9:26pmBrought my LM 805ia to test on the Magico A3’s today and wow. It sounded (to my ears) so much better than with the Hegel gear that the Magico’s were being demo’d with. No issues with driving the A3’s on the 805ia at all. Even the shop owner acknowledged that he was a bit taken back because he did not expect the pairing to sound so good. He remarked at how he didn’t think the A3’s sounded as good with any other amp pairing he had in store and proceeded to ask where I got my Line Magnetic from. More dynamic and warmth - both were very present characteristics that I heard today. Also heard some surprisingly deep, low end bass that I don’t know that I expected with this pairing - considering the specs on paper recommended 50W minimum to drive these speakers. I would be very happy with this combo.

Tomorrow, I test the Daedalus speakers. Hoping to audition both the Argos V2 and the Athena V2.


He is looking for the speaker to mate with Line Magnetic 805ia SET amp and got very happy with Magico A3 yesterday.

@jsqt " At lower volumes when I am listening at night, the L-509X loses a little bit of its sparkle and depth, and I’ve found I can replace this by using my vintage Luxman CL40 as a preamp, and using the L-509X’s "Separate" setting (basically HT Bypass)."

I was following along some of your post to learn more about the 509x. I saw the statement above sometime back and it stuck as being a negative on the 509x at low volumes. You seem to contradict that statement with your post on this thread. Can you elaborate some more on the sound of the 509x at low volumes? Does the sound have most of the freq response to it or do you lose something when the volume is turned down. How about the imaging? I notice that in my bedroom integrated (Peachtree Nova 150 the imaging gets a little off at the lowest volumes.)

The Mark Levinson 585 was one amp that I have heard that was able to keep the freq  response even at low volumes. Another integrated I have not heard yet, the Lyngdorf 3400 is also supposed to be great at low volumes.