Luxman Integrated - What do they sound like

agrippa29 posts01-20-2019 7:57pmMy amp is a Luxman L-550AXII, but sadly I’m unsure how to explain the differences between it and the many other amps I’ve owned. Fortunately there’s no shortage of reviews to be had by googling, all of which are pretty much raves.

Suffice it to say that it’s the best amp I’ve owned, including gear that cost between two and 3 times as much. Being a Class A device with only 20W (in Class A; it does of course transition into Class A/B when pushed hard) speaker matching is something to keep in mind and you wouldn’t want to pair it with, say, 83dB/4Ohm speakers. uilder3141 posts01-21-2019 10:44pm

590AXII is 30W Class @ 8 ohms. Has the classic Class A sound with a nice midrange bloom. Just note it runs out of steam pretty quickly so a fairly efficient speaker is a must IMHO.

The L-590AX is 30W/channel Class A into 8 ohms, then switches to A/B. It will actually put out over 90W/channel into 8 ohms, and nearly 160 into 4 ohms.

I have looked on Luxman's website  and have not found anything in the specs that states either the L-550AX or the L-590AX transitions to class A/B when driven beyond their 20W and 30W respectively.
I have had a L-550AX in the past with Harbeths and found it lost dynamic when driven to higher volumes.

valinar, go look at the link I posted in one of the first replies of the thread. My answer is based on measured performance of the amp. I’ve always wondered why Luxman wasn’t more forthcoming, it seems like they wanted only to focus on the class A output of the amp, disregarding the rest.

Here you go, I found a review by the same people of the L-550AX, they measured it at 66W into 8 ohms, and 121W into 4 ohms. Take from it what you will I guess.
http://www.navratilaudio.cz/novinky/Test%20L-550AX%20-%203%20str%E1nky.pdf

My own remark was also the result of reading a review of the original L-550AX where measurements were made. I can’t for the life of me remember the site, but I do remember they stated an output of 78W when driven to the max.

It would have been nice to have the full skinny from Luxman, but obviously they want people to think of these amps as pure class A devices. Which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion, as people would likely buy them in order to pair them with less inefficient speakers if the max output was detailed, thereby quite possibly negating the whole point of owning a Class A amp.

Thanks builder1 and agrippa.

This was an interesting review .... despite having separate pre and power in main system - this review made me lust after simpler things. Speakers / integrated / streamer / deck

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2018/11/25/hi-fi-review-luxman-590-axii-integrated-amplifier-review-by...