To our ears the Hegel lacked dynamics, musicality, dimension. The Luxman very musical lacked bass control and output. The old BEL power amp in stock form was just better in every way.
Happy Listening.
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my 2 cents i am a big hegel fan, they are wonderful amps for the purity of sound they deliver, but they are made in china to reduce cost and they hardly pass as audio jewelry in my experience, sonically they do not take a back seat to luxman's solid state, i personally believe the upper models marginally surpass the luxmans for bass control and treble purity (i have heard the 509x and 507 models) but i can understand, those attracted to luxman will usually not be attracted to hegel, and vice versa |
Congratulations on the Luxman L-509x. I don’t have experience with the Hegel but own the L-590AXII. It’s high quality in terms of sonic delivery and very good. The Luxman top models (509X and Class A 590AXII) not only sound musical but have high levels of refinement and detail. They sound closer to neutral and have a delicate refined touch as opposed to an energetic brute delivery of say Gryphon. The Luxman will let all the nuance and detail pass through to the speakers. Jjss49 mentioned about the lack of bass control of the 509X in comparison to the Hegel. As I don’t have experience with the hegel I can’t comment. Nevertheless, based on my 20+ years experience with more than a dozen amps which include integrated and pre power combinations, the bass accuracy and control of the Luxman beat them all. The bass of the Luxman may sound leaner and lighter than other amps which are capable of producing a fuller, thicker or punchier bass(which gives the impression of more bass). More bass can be seen as a good thing but the increased thick bass or midbass produced by inferior amps can sound bloated, unrefined or uncontrolled. In other words, a smeared undefined bass although the bass sounds more substantial. The bass of the Luxman is accurate, defined and controlled although it sounds slightly lean in comparison to the heavy bass response produced by other amps. You will hear all the detail and nuance in the bass with the Luxman while other amps which produce a fuller bass will mask the detail in the bass. Some costlier pre/power setups which I owned and currently own actually sound more colored/slightly inferior to the pure and musical delivery of the Luxman. The speaker and amp matching is of utmost importance and if you get that right, you will be immensely rewarded with a high quality sound from the Luxman. Just make sure your DAC or source is up to the mark and try to use good balanced interconnects if possible. Based on my limited experience I found that balanced XLR cables sound better than single-ended cables on the 590AXII. |
op says he has bought a luxman already, so this response is not regarding his choice of luxman (doubtlessly wise, no debate from me, luxman’s are excellent, have many many happy customers, clearly built to last) but just a few points to clarify on earlier posts
sorry @jjss49 didn’t say that ... @bigkidz did what @jjss49 did say is that he felt while both have excellent bass, he felt the hegel was marginally superior to the luxman in this regard - neither amp produces anything approaching bloated or slow bass
to be sure, buying a luxman (or a hegel) on ebay is pretty darned scary... mostly japanese sellers selling and shipping japan domestic market 100v pieces there... hopefully op did not err on this aspect... or if so hopefully he got a step-down tranny - granted op also did not state where he is located...
let’s see... why are there so many more honda accords on sale used compared to acura tlx’s... could be maybe because there are 8-10-x more units sold new? 🤔
this is very wrong ... anyhow, happy listening...
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