Luxman 590AX II Break-In

Kef Reference 1 Meta speakers, Aries Cerat Helene DAC, Einstein Last Record Player CD player feeding DAC. I'm awaiting an Innuos Pulsar. Room is a converted mill building with drywall and exposed wood ceiling 16x18. Music is lifeless right now.

You need to deal wiht your room, in general.  How big is the room and where are the speakers??

Sadly I was not able to find frequency charts, but my impression of other similar KEF models is it’s very neutral, with good tonal balance and extension. meaning, the bass peaks at the right place and the rest drops correctly.

However! It may be too hard on-axis, and in an untreated, reflective room may put out too much treble energy relative to the bass.

So, experiment with these things:

• Put it closer to the rear wall
• Keep it away from side walls
• Minimize toe-in (keep speakers flat to rear wall)
• Turn down the treble on the Luxman. It has excellent tone controls.

If you find the tone controls work, it’s a great sign you may have too many reflections.

Another experiment, bring the speakers out to the room and sit very close to them. That’s what the speaker / amp sounds like without the room. The difference between that and listening normally is all in the room.

Was the bass better with the amp you had prior to the Luxman?

@erik_squires 

Thanks, great advice. I am currently 1ft. from the rear walls with a slight toe-in. I am still questioning the break-in time. Many have stated at least 300 hrs. Also, the KEFs are brand new and need some time. Right now, this is not an involving system by any means. I question whether a 509X would have been a better match.

@swede58 

This is a brand-new system, so I do not have a reference.