Amplifiers from the big [expensive] brands in Japan?

Jack,

Have the audio shop owner educate you and if she is very helpful then give her your business and stick with her.

Hey Jack,

It's a real shame the prices are going or have gone up, if you can get a discontinued Luxman model jump on it before the new models with post-covid prices roll in.

I will say I'm a luxman fan.  I got here after a long ride with a bunch of other SS amplifiers, from Sumo to Parasound to custom built Class D (sounded fine), and ended up at Luxman and couldn't be happier.

There's a lot of things I haven't heard though, including Accuphase.  I've heard Esoteric at a show and I just was not drawn to it.  Can't even remember anything about it.

So, Luxman:  Tremendous extension in the bass, and treble.  It makes speakers sound bigger and go further.  Liquid, almost tube-like midrange and smooth as glass treble.  To my ears, neutral without being syrupy or excessively warm like Parasound. I've heard D'Agostino amps in the same room and those are two amps that sound really close to each other.

The one technical negative is how they have the headphone amp set up.  They drive it directly from the amplifier, with a high value resistor.  If you use any sort of hard to drive headphone amp that output is probably not going to be for you. 

I also like Luxman a lot more than Pass and about the same as Ayre.  If you are auditioning amps, the Pass and Ayre sound distinct enough you might also see if you can listen to those. 

Accuphase, Luxman, and Esoteric are all very highly respected and excellent sounding equipment.

I have passionately pursued high end sound for over fifty years… starting right out of college. There is no end to improvements across the board to million dollar systems. I would suggest that you make a habit of spending some time in the best room each high end audio place you go. Not because you are going to buy, but to appreciate how good it can be… and also helpful to calibrate your ears to good sound.

There are many different “kinds of sound” you can pursue… airy 3-dimensional soundstage with incredible detail, heavy bass and midrange Rock systems, and natural musical systems, etc… and all combinations in between.

One common observation is you can experience a system and think… this just couldn’t be better…. Walk into another room and just be blown away with how much better the system sounds. So, you don’t know what you don’t know. A good dealer can guide you… help match the system to your current tastes. They are likely to change over time.