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Come on, all proper audiophiles know that Windows provides a more transparent sound, Apple being slighty more "sharp", or fruity if the system has warmed up well.
Luxman/Accuphase/Yamaha - Quality?
- Thread starter Paulq2
- Start date
Come on, all proper audiophiles know that Windows provides a more transparent sound, Apple being slighty more "sharp", or fruity if the system has warmed up well.
davidavdavid
davidavdavid
later today I shall be picking these up for a local fellow here in the States:
L430. integrated and T240 tuner bundled together circa '82-'84
should be nice to go some of vintage Mission and/or Celestion speakers in my guest room aa yet another satellite system
L430. integrated and T240 tuner bundled together circa '82-'84
should be nice to go some of vintage Mission and/or Celestion speakers in my guest room aa yet another satellite system
S-Man
StrivingON
You seem to have condemned all conventional amplifiers based on their bass performance with 3.5" 'full range' speakers.
chris peacock
Active Member
So, is your accuphase amp about 40 years old?
You sound like a big Windows fan. I use both, and prefer Mac, but I don't rage on about it on an audio forum.
Unless one or both of the Mac and Windows PC are doing some sort of DSP on the stream, they should sound identical through the same chain (DAC, amp, speakers). The mac would have to be doing something pretty amazing to be changing the sound of the audio by mis-handling the digital stream. When digital audio is corrupted it doesn't get 'cooler' or 'less depth' or 'poor stereo imaging'. So maybe I misunderstand you. What exactly do you think the Mac could do to influence the sound when it is producing a digital stream?
chris peacock
Active Member
Earlier in the thread you said they sounded terrible ... that doesn’t line up with working like a champ ...
S-Man
StrivingON
SteveS1
I heard that, pardon?
You are the one claiming analogue type differences between a couple of non-analogue devices. The CD player analogy is a false equivalence, different dig-analogue conversion and output stage in each player.
JTC
PFM Villager...
Moving away from the bizarre claims above, can I ask a simple question:
With these Japanese amplifiers, and the Luxman in particular, who in the UK can service/repair them if it should be required some years down the line? As you know, I'm close to pulling the trigger on the 590 but - apart from the cost - the thing giving me just a little bit of pause is to get the reassurance that it is reliable and serviceable to justify being a 'final' amp. I'm not expecting problems, but equally if I still have it in 20 years time, it would be good to know that it can be readily serviced, caps changed or whatever it needs. The fact so many of their older amps are still in regular use is promising, but then these are not the 70s amps and likely incorporate differences that might make it difficult in the future.
With these Japanese amplifiers, and the Luxman in particular, who in the UK can service/repair them if it should be required some years down the line? As you know, I'm close to pulling the trigger on the 590 but - apart from the cost - the thing giving me just a little bit of pause is to get the reassurance that it is reliable and serviceable to justify being a 'final' amp. I'm not expecting problems, but equally if I still have it in 20 years time, it would be good to know that it can be readily serviced, caps changed or whatever it needs. The fact so many of their older amps are still in regular use is promising, but then these are not the 70s amps and likely incorporate differences that might make it difficult in the future.
As long as the service/repair involves analog components it should be possible by good repair person, provided a service manual is available. The 590 doesn't have a built in DAC or streaming, which I consider a big plus for longevity. But it may still have a microprocessor to handling the various button and input selector functions.
I had a B&O Beomaster 4500 that developed a fault a few years ago. It had an EEPROM that had failed and needed replacement. Fortunately I was able to buy the same part and get the correct firmware installed. The chip just plugged into a socket on the main PCB. But it could be a different story for the Luxman.
Out of curiosity, if you power off/unplug the Luxman, rotate the input selector knob, then turn it on again, does the input change? If so, it might be truly old school (e.g. mechanical rotary selector), which would be great IMO.
I couldn't see myself ever investing a significant amount of money in any of the high end all in one boxes that couple high end analog with streaming/DAC/network capabilities (Audionet, Devialet, etc.). Too much to go wrong, or become obsolete in 10-20 years. But the Luxman seems like a kind of beast that could be serviced in the long term. Hard to tell without poking around inside!
notevenclose
pfm Member
Depends on the brand to a large extent I would think. Assuming you purchase from a UK dealer, then the dealer and local distributor are your first resource (dealer would normally forward to distributor for you if that's deemed necessary). Beyond that, who knows?
Relatively few of the smaller Japanese manufacturers export directly, typically they'll employ an agent and establish a distribution/service network for say Europe or the US markets. I think I'm correct in saying Accuphase used to arrive in the UK on that model, I don't know if things are different under the new distributor.
I had a two box CEC where both transport and DAC suffered a major lightning strike a few years back, that was returned by the UK distributor to their German HQ for a rebuild.
I'd have thought you're on fairly solid ground with Luxman, there's an IAG office in Huntingdon, which I think employs a number of service staff.
And as has already been pointed out, the design/complexity of the product will be a factor as well. Personally I wouldn't touch anything from the likes of Devialet with a bargepole, to me that's just a doorstop looking for something to prop open (mind you, don't they just throw some of their stuff away and give you a new one?).
Equally, anything imported direct from China is probably best viewed with at least one sceptical eyebrow raised (not that I'd be buying it at all).
If you want real security, the moral is probably buy a Sugden.
Ultimately though, 20 years?
Hah!
We'll all be dead by then anyway, either 'The Donald' will trigger WW3, a mutated Covid/Ebola hybrid virus will mean you can turn to soup even while typing on a hifi forum, or the machines will have risen and decided we're an infestation (another reason not to buy a Devialet, just in case the f*ck*rs become sentient and start trolling me on social media).
JTC
PFM Villager...
Why, though? Small firm, could go the way of many smaller firms in the UK. No guarantee they'll be around in 10 years, though obviously I hope they (like most UK manufacturing) thrive. Or do you mean something about the simplicity of their products relative to others? or maybe you're just alluding to the fact that they are designed and built in the UK, so no expensive overseas shipping to deal with?
I would have loved to get an IA-4 in at the same time as the Luxman. It's the comparative test that would settle this, although I daresay either is a solid choice. Sugden warranty is non-transferrable apparently, I read. Not sure about Luxman. Both 5 years I believe.
notevenclose
pfm Member
Bit of all of that. But even if Heckmondwicke were to be taken out in the first wave of The Donald's tactical strike, hard to imagine you couldn't find a competent service bod (or bot?) who could keep it on the road.
Assuming of course there's any electricity.
That said, would my current candidate dream amp be a Sugden?
Of course not. Never mind 20 years, we might all be dead by Christmas. ;-)
I guess I should relay my experience of Yamaha's customer service, seeing as I own an A-S2100 and they're in the thread title...
When we experienced a local area power outage with the amp seemingly failed (actually had entered protection), Yamaha were prompt in their replies for troubleshooting and arranging for local service from a third party but well known and respected service agent. In the end, it was quick and easy fix but the process otherwise seemed good and straightforward.
When we experienced a local area power outage with the amp seemingly failed (actually had entered protection), Yamaha were prompt in their replies for troubleshooting and arranging for local service from a third party but well known and respected service agent. In the end, it was quick and easy fix but the process otherwise seemed good and straightforward.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
It appears you and I fundamentally disagree on most of what you say on this thread. Firstly, I've yet to hear a computer audio based system, at any price or level of sophistication, that produces a musical experience much beyond what you can get with a well-chosen budget CD player. So if you like the computer stuff, that's fine, but we're probably never going to agree on what 'good' sounds like.
Secondly, you keep insinuating that Accuphase is poor, based on your experience of product which is approaching 50 years old. Current (and recent) Accuphase is an entirely different proposition. Apart from anything else, the preamp technology is completely different.
Thirdly, any native English speaker would infer that 'working like a champ' means 'performing superbly, at the very highest level'. So, to the extent that you want to compare 'sounds good' or 'working fine' with 'working like a champ', then the latter description would automatically be taken to mean the performance was significantly ahead of the other descriptions.
Fourthly, you've pitched in to this thread pretty much from cold, quite assertively dismissed Accuphase, and according to your profile you joined on Monday. I suspect an agenda.
Rockmeister
pfm Member
I'd phone IAG and ask your question, but my view is that all amps made outside the UK will just be sent to any local indi repair shop near you. As long as they source Luxman parts (which they must I'd guess) then you are as well off as any imported amp. If this is such a deal breaker, then buy from a UK company that has its own service center.
IAG are at : +44(0)1480-447700
S-Man
StrivingON
At the risk of agitating the situation, but to provide an alternative opinion, I feel I should mention my experience of a budget class D amp which a fellow PFM'er lent me (and I sincerely hope he doesn't read this ).
I cannot remember which amp it was, however I do remember that it was "the one on DIYAudio that everyone is raving about". It did look very similar to a TPA3255 (but then they all do, don't they!).
I plugged it into my semi-active system in place of my usual class A/B amp powering the mid/treble (100Hz upwards). It sounded much more different to my usual amp than any of my other amps (KT88 PP, class A zero GF, other class A/B amps, LM3886 amp with regulated PS etc.). Initial impressions were that it was super detailed and tight/crisp sounding. However after a few tracks it was apparent that the amp was doing something quite strange to the music. I really should have measured the distortion spectrum, frequency and transient response to see if there was an obvious reason for the weird sound. This was one of the very few amps I have come across that I really could not live with. I would liken the sound to a highly pixelated picture with the colour and contrast turned up way too high.
).I cannot remember which amp it was, however I do remember that it was "the one on DIYAudio that everyone is raving about". It did look very similar to a TPA3255 (but then they all do, don't they!).
I plugged it into my semi-active system in place of my usual class A/B amp powering the mid/treble (100Hz upwards). It sounded much more different to my usual amp than any of my other amps (KT88 PP, class A zero GF, other class A/B amps, LM3886 amp with regulated PS etc.). Initial impressions were that it was super detailed and tight/crisp sounding. However after a few tracks it was apparent that the amp was doing something quite strange to the music. I really should have measured the distortion spectrum, frequency and transient response to see if there was an obvious reason for the weird sound. This was one of the very few amps I have come across that I really could not live with. I would liken the sound to a highly pixelated picture with the colour and contrast turned up way too high.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
I have a NuForce amp, which I think is Class D. I like it, but while it's rated at 60W, it's pretty gutless. I'm beginning to think Class D Watts are the opposite of Class A watts, ie, less usable welly than the numbers would suggest.