Luxman L505u . . . why not?

Lol! Jim, before you shoot yourself in the foot yet again, reread what you've written. And I say this not to defend the Leben at all- I don't own one, or Luxman, yet.
Twice now you have used the Leben with speakers you obviously don't like, the diatones and the thiels. And twice you blame it on the Leben. Before you write off the Leben, you need to use it with either the speakers you own or something very similiar. I don't know the sound of the diatones, but I've never liked thiels, at least the ones I've heard. You describe them to a t. And again I say your luxman is masking that. The top end on the Harbeth is extended yet sweet. And that's what the Leben showed.

Again, speculation only, but from what I've read, the newer Luxman gear is equal to or better than its predecessors. Even though it's not mentioned much, yet, maybe because of it's price point, 6k, the new version of the 38q is supposed to be stunning. It's odd that people are either buying the new lower priced entries or the top two expensive models. Obviously none of the new gear by Luxman is in your price area now. Is the Leben used?

Keep at it...

Hello Chashas1: Yeah, I'm new to this and I know now it's almost useless to test-listen on equipment other than your own. It was fun trying, though. It seemed to me that logically if one amp sounds better or worse than another through several different speaker systems then it is likely a similar relationship would hold with your own speakers, but this subject involves loads of factors of acoustics and taste as well as that simple "logic," which is becoming ever so clear to me, so that "logic" might not hold at all.

The shop has a policy of dibs: Interested parties put their name on equipment, and have rights to buy it, in order of when they put their name on it, within 3 days of being listed. If your name comes-up, then you can buy it, and if you return it within 30 days you get 90% of your money back.

I was not first on the list on either listening, and therefore I could not buy it and test it at home for 10% of the price, which I would certainly have done had I had that chance. I figure that price is like a night out in the pub here in Japan, but much more interesting and rewarding, and it is how I happen to have the Prima Luna at home now. I have one more week with that amp before I return it.

During my second listening someone bought the amp, and based on what we heard we didn't really feel bad about it.

If I made a mistake, then just to let you know I wasn't using bullets, but bombs to shoot myself in the foot with, because the Leben was in beautiful mint condition and had the Mullard tubes people seem to prefer, and many on here will probably go cry when they read this: it was only about USD $1000, it's normal price in Japan where local audiophiles apparently don't generally consider it so great.

That means that, had my number come-up and was able to buy it, even if I disliked it at home I could have sold it to someone overseas who really appreciates it and made a hefty profit.

My number didn't come-up, and I couldn't have owned this particular Leben even if I wanted to.

I wonder how else can I choose the best amp when I have no chance to listen on my own equipment?

I wonder how else can I choose the best amp when I have no chance to listen on my own equipment?

Take it with you. While not your room, at least it is your speakers. Not always easy, but it is an option. Or, buy low enough to resell if you don't like a piece.

Mushi mushi, Jim! oh no, you didn't make a mistake, you were only going on what you heard -at the time. That's not always an easy task. Great prices over there, I'd say.

I didn't realize when mentioning other options that you were looking solely for used, although, all the newer Luxman is much cheaper over there than here, as you can tell from the earlier part of this thread.

One thing I've think you've learned, with your specific tastes you really should get whatever amp to your home to use with your speakers, unless you take the speakers out of the house!
There's a thread under Speakers now that might interest you, someone compares the Harbeth 30's with your speakers.

Well, keep at it. Take a break and go eat some shishamo for me, lots of it.
Take care
Chas

Thanks Chasas1 and Brianmgrarcom. My speakers weigh 42 Kg each and are rather bulky, so lugging them over to the stereo shop aint easy at all.

As far as buying cheap so I can resell if I don't like it at home, so far I've been lucky with doing that. I've purchased all my components that I have so far that way, and one that I am less impressed with. I would have bought the CS300X for a home trial, too if it was available for me and I liked it more, mainly because it is so highly recommended by experienced people like you guys.

As for prices, it goes both ways. Imported stuff is pricey, even though the current exchange rate should dictate otherwise. A new Ah! Njoe Tjoeb here costs about double what it costs in the US, for example.

Part of the reason you guys are paying such hefty prices over there right now is the exchange rate, but new stuff over here isn't cheap at all.

Used Japanese stuff can be very reasonable, mainly because it is often in excellent condition. Most of my components are in minty brand new condition, even my 25-yr-old speakers.

I'll go read some of that Harbeth vs NS1000x thread, which will be good for my learning since I just now heard them with three amps, including one like my own and my own CD player, with my own music.

One thing I am trying to learn is better audio-related vocabulary to describe what we hear. It reminds me a lot of wine tasting.

As for taking a break, point well-taken. Stressed-out with too much work over here. I hope it doesn't show too much in my posts. As for Shishamo, I love those, too, but the season is past already, at least for the local catch. There are always wonderful, super-fresh, super-high quality fish of many other sorts here all year at very reasonable prices relative to other foods, though.