I have a friend with a Luxman 509x. Luxman integrated amps can usually be used as a stand alone amp or a stand alone preamp. I own a Luxman stereo amp paired with an Audio Research Ref 5 SE. the SE is important. It pairs better with SS amps. It sounds amazing. More importantly I have the friend with the Luxman integrated that he uses with a tube preamp and it also sounds amazing. If you really want that warm sound I would go with VAC or CAT. When paired with a solid state amp it is the best of both worlds depending on your speakers. I tell people all the time to get your foundation right. That way any source can be hooked up to it and sound amazing. I demoed the Luxman preamp and compared it to my Audio Research preamp. It was cool to have all those tone controls and extra features. In the end when your preamp is right you don’t need any extra features. A really good used tube preamp is about $5k to $6k. I would count on you replacing the tubes. Sorry but it’s hard to trust that the tubes were replaced and tube hour clocks can be reset in seconds. In an Audio Research you are looking at about $500 to $700 with the 6550 tube. Do not buy them from the factory. Way too expensive and they started swapping out the original Sovtek 6550 for the cheaper and not as good EH 6550. I hope this helps and I know this works.
Luxman leaves me wanting
My current system is a Luxman L590-AXII driving DeVore Gibbon Super Nines. My source is Lumin U1-Mini (w/Sboosterj and Denafrips Venus II. Also a Rega P3. Speaker and interconnect cables are circa late 90s Cardis Cross There is a lot that is right about the sound of my set up, but I feel it’s lacking fullness in the midrange. When I turn on the loudness on the Luxman, I get the meaty weight in the mids I’m missing, but at anything but low volume, it alters the sound in a negative way.
I had considered a tube Integrated before I got the Luxman, but liked the L590 when I heard it. Now I’m wondering if I should have gone with tubes. (At one point I had a BAT Pre w/ a Classe amp and loved the bloom in the mids and vocals). I’m attracted to the LTA 40+ from the good reviews and long tube life. I’d be interested in hearing one with my speakers, but there are no dealers, so I could buy and return if I’m not thrilled, but wanted to know anyone has heard the 40+ with Super 9s. Also interested in other options to get a richer sound. Budget is around 8k.
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Seeing the title of your post I immediately thought of the Synthesis A40 like @Larryi above. I had the A40 powering a pair of Audio Note speakers whose specs are not far off from the Devores you are currently powering and it made them sing. The internal DAC in the A40 is outstanding and you may find it an upgrade from Venus II with the right cable. I regret selling the A40, I upgraded to the Synthesis 98 DC mono blocks, as I will be purchasing another for my family room system.
John |
@dweller Schiit does make a 4 band tone control/EQ, and with a Luxman you can put it between the preamp and the amp sections, but Luxman's own tone controls are not bad either. I think the OP should experiment a little more with them first. |
One option not mentioned yet is to get a basic equalizer like a Schiit Loki Mini (4 band) or Lokius (6 band). They are inexpensive ($150/$300 respectively) and can be switched in or out of the circuit without twisting the knobs. You could then experiment as much as you want to better tune your Luxman to your liking. The loudness button on your amp only gives you a single fixed version of what they think should happen and it sounds like that doesn't match very well with your expectations. And, there is always the digital option with Room or other devices, but that's a bigger change to your source than just inserting a Schiit equalizer. Just another option for you before you throw some big dollars around. |
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