Get a Luxman CL-38uC. It sounds great with my Nagra Classic amp.
Do not buy the Luxman NOS CL-35 preamp. It does not sound as good as the CL-38 Preamp. I have both
Luxman Preamps
My Luxman M-10X power amp and Blade One Meta orders supposed to come in this month(I ordered them back in Aug). I'm having a hard time deciding what preamp to run the M-10X with. Right now, I have a Luxman 595ASE which I was going to use the front end as the M-10X preamp. However, the 595ASE is a class A integrate and draws full power as soon as it powered up. And it gets hot. So It may not be the best component to use as a preamp.
The best obvious choice would be the current C-900U but the problem I have with it is that a replacement C-10X is on the horizon for next year. However, it will cost quite a bit of money. Since my listening setting is "Line Straight" and do not need any of the tone control from the preamp, does it matter if I'm using C-900U or C-10X or any other older pream with line straight?
Are all "line straight" from Luxman preamps the same? If this is the case, perhaps I can get a 507z, 509x, or future 509z integrate and use it as the front end of the M-10X power amp. The only thing I see here is that the integrates don't have a balance pre-out option like a dedicated preamp.
Give this a try for 30 days and return if you do not like it, the Benchmark LA4 preamp at $2500. I have one in my office system with AHB2 mono amps and it is my favorite preamp from the many preamps that came through the system in the past 2 years. I was considering getting the Luxman M-10X amp for my upcoming KEF Blade 2 Meta. However, I narrowed it down to a KRELL or CODA amp instead (owned both lower end models before). With either of these new amps I will buy a second LA4 preamp.
I have heard the Luxman C900u preamp with the Luxman m900u amps and loved the amps, but was not interested in the preamp. I do not want a preamp to add to the sound of the system. |
@yyzsantabarbara |
The AHB2 monos will not cut it with the Blade 2 Meta, no matter what that Stereophile review says. I love the AHB2 but it won’t sound over the top great with the Blade 2 Meta. There is not enough power in those amps for the Blades. I had the Thiel CS3.7 recently with the AHB2 and I loved it and hated it at the same time. Not enough power. The following amps had a better power match with the Thiel: CODA #8 KRELL DUO 175XD Parasound A21+ D-Sonic something LSA Voyager 350 GAN All these amps drove the Thiel more dynamically, more oomph! I sent an email to KRELL today and got news that the new KRELL KSA i400 amp was released today. That is what I will use with the Blade 2 Meta and the Benchmark LA4 preamp.
|