Luxman L-550A II or Accuphase E-202?

I know everything is subjective including the opinion I will give you but here goes. The luxman will probably save you money and give you fantastic warm listening with great depth and excellent clarity. On the other hand the accuphase is very well built using hi grade components inside. It too will give you great sound and transparency. If I was in that ballpark of equipment I know I would want the accuphase.

Thanks! The Luxman is no longer available anyway, but I was leaning toward the Accuphase, so your comment only serves to reinforce that position.

Cheers!

I own the Luxman L-590ax integrated class A amplifier and it is excellent. The class A design makes the music sound very real to my ears. Yes, the class A amplifier runs warm (some people say hot) but is is not a problem as long as you keep it on an open shelf. Based on my positive experience with Luxman, I would encourage you to listen to one of their class A integrated amplifiers and not their class A/B designs. Based on my previous amplifier, the Ayre AX-7e integrated, the 590ax has more detail, the bass is much better, it is clearer and the overall sound quality is much improved over the Ayre unit. I like the 590ax very much and highly recommended it.

I read about the 590ax, and it does sound nice, but it is out of my price-range, unless I find a used one, which is what the 550a was. I will keep it and what you said in mind as I continue my search, though.

Another excellent choice is the Ayre AX-7e Integrated amplifier. Its list price is $3,500 and used less than $2,000. This unit sounds best when used with balanced inputs. See:
http://www.ayre.com/ax7e.htm