Pass Labs int 60 vs. Luxman 590 uX ii

I would look at the Naim Audio Super Nait 3 integrated. Naim and Focal are part of the same company. My dealer sells both Naim and Focal and they make an excellent pairing.

wisdom here i think...

Doh, I retract my retraction so deleted it. 

Here's the piece I find important.

Per Luxman's website, the 590 has:

Bipolar 3-parallel push-pull

But the 509 has:

Bipolar 4-parallel push-pull

Implying a lower output impedance.

Is this critical?  No, but my experience is that amps are more sensitive to a speaker's impedance than we believe from the pure math. On the other hand, the 507 also has only 3, and I find it very capable, but .... my speakers have a higher minimum.

So, if you had the chance to listen to both, I'd 100% recommend you listen to what happens in the mid bass as a factor to consider.  It may be zero, you may even like it.

Also, yes, the 590's actual power output for music listening will be the equal of the 509/507.

Best,


Erik

Can you elaborate on your statement regarding the mid-bass, Erik. I'm not sharp enough to know what you're getting at.

Maybe related, maybe not, but one of my first impressions with my amp was how well it took control of the bass. Admittedly, it was a huge step up from my prior (antiquated) piece.

Hi  builder3

Again, want to emphasize that what's important is the performance, not the theory, but here goes.

The lower a speaker's impedance is, the harder to drive, the more likely an amplifier is to sag, or produce less output in that region than the rest.  The "ideal voltage source" theory, where the output is the same across all frequencies, regardless of impedance, will always fail if the speaker impedance is low enough. 

Here are the measurements for the 1037, which lets us talk about this with specific frequencies in mind:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/focal-electra-1037-be-loudspeaker-measurements

For this particular speaker, the hardest areas to drive are between 30 Hz and 300 Hz.  In this case the issue is more towards the true bass than mid bass.

Focal tends to make speakers which are "demanding" for amplifiers, especially in the bass/mid bass region.  Since bass is the largest signal swing in music and the impedance is lowest there, this is a tough to drive speaker.  Not as tough in absolute terms as others, but difficult nonetheless.  To some, these speakers will appear "discerning" of amplifier, and I worry audiophiles take it to mean they reproduce music better. 

In any event, where the impedance sags below 4 Ohms is a place to listen when comparing amplifiers.  However!!! Just because it produces less bass, is not disqualifying, you might like that, and it may make a better amp/speaker/room match.