Is Luxman a poor man's D'Agostino ?

Don’t like D’ Agostino. Heared them. In Munich with S. Faber: not my cup off thee.. if you want a good amp. ( most natural sound): Ear by “de Paravicini”. Wavac 805m, Audio Note. In transistor: Soulution, Nagra ,Playback, CH,...

Forget D’Agostiono, just get Burmester amps, or integrated amp.That is a better comparison.

Wow!, Is this a joke?, Luxman sound is junk audio!, may be my opinion,  however,  I've owned both, and unloaded the Luxman as soon as it was fully broken in, it doesn't sound realistic at all, overly smooth sound, no dynamics,  bass, mid range,  bloated treble detail,  bought  Luxman listening to the amateur here on audiogon on that amplifier thread a lot of people should take it with a grain of salt,  take it from me, I listened to whitecamaross and lost thousands on a new Luxman that I couldn't wait to get rid of!.

I have the same CODA CSiB as @audioman58 but mine is a used unit from July 2018. I have Version 1 with the first 18 watts in Class A. I have heard the Luxman 509x and liked it but then I heard the Luxman m900/c900 combo on the same gear and the 509x didn’t seem that great anymore. The 509x is not that powerful. The CODA CSiB sounds better to me than the Luxman 509x. The CODA #16 amp is supposed to be killer but I have not heard it. Teajay compared the Luxman m900u and the CODA #16 and said the CODA was more powerful.

I am using the CODA on RAAL SR1a headphones that resolve like nothing else I have ever heard. I hear everything in the music with this setup and the CODA made the SR1a sound great (other amps did not do as well). I am surprised at how quiet it is. It is almost as quiet as my Benchmark AHB2 amps though not as crystal clear sounding as those. It is the Class A warm that is likely coloring things up a bit in what most would say is a nice way. I have also tried the CODA with my power hungry Thiel CS3.7 speakers and it sounded great with them. I prefer the AHB2 over everything but the CODA CSiB is excellent.

I have also heard D’Agsotino gear with a Wilson speaker costing over $100K. Dan A was doing the demo and explaining how he designs his gear. His design process did not win me over and the sound while good was not something I thought warranted the price. This was for $40K mono blocks. I have also heard other D’Agsotino gear at shows.

I will be getting a Krell K-300i integrated into the house soon and will compare it with the CODA. The Krell is for another floor stander. I have a feeling it will be at the CODA CSiB sound quality level and also more powerful than the Luxman 509x.

Luxman is a doorway drug. Not that I have ever inhaled.