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Luxman/Accuphase/Yamaha - Quality?

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.

I'm not so sure that's universally the case, any more than one can legitimately say all ported loudspeakers suffer from this or all direct drive turntables are afflicted by that. At worst, there are exceptions to every rule. Co-incidentally, I was discussing one particular brand of amplifiers with a speaker designer this afternoon, he was telling me that the amp manufacturer believes passionately in his Class D designs but the market prefers the AB models. Feeling is this is prejudice created by early/cheap/badly implemented designs.

And I had a lengthy chat with a designer of high end valve power amps recently who commented that he thought one of the best sounds at Munich in 2019 was being created by a system featuring Class D amplification.

Anyway, there will come a time when the only way you'll be able to buy a Class A amp from a dealer is if you meet him in an underground car park at midnight with a carrier bag full of tenners...
 
Class D amps are like newer DAC’s to me : many sound less than satisfying but the evolution goes so quick that a little aluminum box may or will blow away an amplifier 6 times the size and price !
That said though, I am still very satisfied with my dinosaurs Naim NAP 160 and Exposure IV double mono !
 
Looks like the internals of the 590AX-II in a more retro box. I’m not a fan of that particular aesthetic and it doesn’t make me want to reconsider my plans....
 
Looks like the internals of the 590AX-II in a more retro box. I’m not a fan of that particular aesthetic and it doesn’t make me want to reconsider my plans....
It's the missing VU meters, isn't it?
 
It's also a probably quite a bit more expensive, being about the same price in Japan (in Yen) to what we'd pay over here (in GBP) for the 590AX-II. And that's before the inevitable import duties, VAT etc. I'd expect it to be about £10k in the UK.
 
It looks like Luxman's stylists have finally recognised that we're not in the 1970s any more, and decided to move into the 1980s...
You may say that but I had a think about the look of the 590 compared to what I've had in the past. In many ways it's the most modern amp, aesthetically, I've owned. Maybe the Arcam 10 "DAVE" I had back in the late 90s might be more modern, looking as it did like a 90s amp, but everything else - and there's been a few - including EE valve amps (various) with their 50s/60s styling, Naim CB and olive, Crimson 640Ds, the McIntosh and even the AVI Lab Series all look more dated than the Luxman. From a distance you can see a direct link to the 70s but it has a very modern execution. I also once owned DNM amps which are Lovecraftian in their 'aesthetic out of time', looking as if they came from another dimension in a rather different world...
 
You may say that but I had a think about the look of the 590 compared to what I've had in the past. In many ways it's the most modern amp, aesthetically, I've owned. Maybe the Arcam 10 "DAVE" I had back in the late 90s might be more modern, looking as it did like a 90s amp, but everything else - and there's been a few - including EE valve amps (various) with their 50s/60s styling, Naim CB and olive, Crimson 640Ds, the McIntosh and even the AVI Lab Series all look more dated than the Luxman. From a distance you can see a direct link to the 70s but it has a very modern execution. I also once owned DNM amps which are Lovecraftian in their 'aesthetic out of time', looking as if they came from another dimension in a rather different world...
Yes, I know what you mean, and I'm sure you realise I was merely joking. 'Modern-looking' amps sometimes achieve that look by use of complex, CNC-machined cases that wouldn't have been possible in earlier times, rather than having any particularly modern aesthetic.

I think we have several distinct eras: 'classic' (valves, Leak/QUAD, etc); 'golden age' (in sales terms, perhaps) 1970s-80s, which the Accuphase/Luxman aesthetic persists with; 'minimalist' (black boxes, ushered in by the likes of Naim, Exposure, etc); and 'modern' (heavily-styled, Chord being an obvious one).

Some brands have their own identity, of course, including some mentioned above, but I'd suggest that a properly 'modern' aesthetic has clean and simple functionality - a bit 'Bauhaus', ironically enough - and eschews overly-showy styling. The Hegel aesthetic typifies that, I think.
 
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I also once owned DNM amps which are Lovecraftian in their 'aesthetic out of time', looking as if they came from another dimension in a rather different world...
Excellent, I didn't know that word but I am already trying to think of ways I might use it.
 
I see what you did there :) He certainly changed the direction of the thread and I thought it had run its course. Maybe not if it steers back towards its title
 
but I'd suggest that a properly 'modern' aesthetic has clean and simple functionality - a bit 'Bauhaus',

I really like Braun/Dieter Rams product design - I also find Audionet to carry the similar flag. Bar a bit of log and fascia text, their product design/ casework has remained unchanged for 30 years. It’s as timeless as they come IMHO.
 
I really like Braun/Dieter Rams product design - I also find Audionet to carry the similar flag. Bar a bit of log and fascia text, their product design/ casework has remained unchanged for 30 years. It’s as timeless as they come IMHO.

What's with that font though it's a bit extravagant and the brushed finish is a bit fancy too! ;)
 


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