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Luxman/Accuphase/Yamaha - Quality?

Warszawa said:
Only dealers know the margins so for once I'd suggest listening to Keith.

Accuphase are quite a unique case as they don't seem to have particularly good global distribution. This seems to result in them being 40% more expensive than Luxman. (https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/luxman-accuphase-yamaha-quality.241821/page-9#post-4023733)
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I'd contend Accuphase is/was much more typical of the model for smaller Japanese manufacturers. Luxman has the economy of scale and clout of IAG's global marketing behind it, only the larger players generally have their own global marketing and distribution, and these are companies typically active in a wide range number of market sectors.

Smaller, or at least lower volume, Japanese manufacturers have struggled in recent times particularly in international markets, my old favourite Sansui comes to mind but there are numerous others. Luxman is a prime example, they were in decline and batted about between owners for a very long time before IAG stepped in.

'Artisan' operations such as Kondo followed the export agency model for decades, I think it's only recently that some companies have started to look at being more in control of their own destiny.
 
Japan: 605,000 yen - 8% VAT = 556,600yen = 3.979 GBP
UK: 8.000 GBP - 20% VAT = 6.400 GBP
Germany: 7.429 GBP - 19% VAT = 6.018 GBP
 
Generally if a UK manufacturer produces a product a UK dealer could buy this product for anything between 55- 75 % of the retail price,depending upon the manufacturer, a further discount may sometimes be given for demo stock.
When the same product is sold from the manufacturer to an export market distributor or distributor/dealer they may be paying anything from 25-35% of the domestic retail price.
So the dealers both 'distributing' and selling to the end user will have a bigger profit margin on their imported products.
Everyone has to pay VAT whether in the UK or when exported they pay VAT & import duty to the established system in their country.
The above is IME and not IMO.
I would suspect it similar for most countries.
Everyone has to pay shipping normally, though apparently Glen Croft was known to deliver amps in his Porsche.

The shrewdest business model I've seen within the Hifi industry is where the dealer took a discontinued good design from an established quality manufacturer, had slightly better finished enclosures made, refined the design a little creating a base model, then using better quality components from established manufacturers upgraded the initial design, then removed part of it into a seperate enclosure, thus creating a 'range' of models all utilising the same enclosure.
The dealer then sells this directly to the end user at a competitive retail price, no distributor, no dealers, no discounted direct price, all profits to the dealer/manufacturer.
 
There comes a point when you are so impressed with the gear (in this case Luxman L-590AXII) and have no more desire to look at anything else. All you want to do is to maximise the amp to bring it to higher level of performance since you're so in love with it. Wait, it's not the amp but the music. You enjoy the music so much that you don't think about anything else anymore except for one thing.

Right, enough of drama. To cut a story short, do any owners of the Luxman L-590AXII, L-509X or Accuphase equivalents use a higher quality power cord on the amp? If yes, what are the cords and any perceived differences? FWIW I will be trying a Furutech cord terminated by the cable and plug of my choice (UK plug) very soon and perhaps look for a used Acrolink Mexcel cord (US plug) in the near future.
 
@ryder IMHO you're missing a vital part of the 'link' with the (tuned) Chord speaker cables you're using!! .. Before messing with expensive power cables (which i personally don't believe make a difference) you should sort out whats going on upfront.

If you want your power loom to have a positive effect build one of these. Cost was c £400 all in. 5m of mains cables to use in the build and loom was £10.


 
Cereal Killer said:
@ryder IMHO you're missing a vital part of the 'link' with the (tuned) Chord speaker cables you're using!! .. Before messing with expensive power cables (which i personally don't believe make a difference) you should sort out whats going on upfront.

If you want your power loom to have a positive effect build one of these. Cost was c £400 all in. 5m of mains cables to use in the build and loom was £10.


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Sorry, what is this? It looks like a power conditioner but the 3 cables look like interconnects rather than power cords?

The Chord Signature XL speaker cable sounds fine.
 
I use a Naim Powerline on my Accuphase E650, but that's only because I had one left over from my Naim kit. I've not done a comparison with other power leads because I can't be bothered at the moment, but one rainy and cold winter's day I might do a comparison.
 
TheDecameron said:
ColinL. He’s yer man for MBL. Extreme MBL.
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Ive not heard any of the Accuphase / Luxman amps driving MBL's so I can't comment.
I venture, given the efficiency of the MBL's (or more correctly, the lack thereof), they would be fine for some of the smaller models.
Camverton of this parish drives the MBL 126 with a Quad amp and/or a MBL integrated and likes the results.
 
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ryder said:
Sorry, what is this? It looks like a power conditioner but the 3 cables look like interconnects rather than power cords?.
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Yes its high current conditioner with 2x 20A common mode and RFI filters on the output of the DC blocker. The Neutrik Connectors are by far the best for mains connections and they legitimately don't need fuses. There is only one (fancy) Furutech 13a fuse in the MSHD plug at the wall socket.
 
Cereal Killer said:
Yes its high current conditioner with 2x 20A common mode and RFI filters on the output of the DC blocker. The Neutrik Connectors are by far the best for mains connections and they legitimately don't need fuses. There is only one (fancy) Furutech 13a fuse in the MSHD plug at the wall socket.
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I've thought so. Yes, a quality power conditioner that does not limit the current to the equipment / affecting dynamics and sound quality is the way to go. Some power strips also claim to do an equally decent job but the better power conditioners are more ideal with the job but they usually come at a cost. The difficult part is in selecting a suitable one that does not limit the full potential of the system. Some of the power conditioners in the market are rather costly.

Currently I'm sticking with my power strips, cheap but decent. I will likely experiment or invest in a better strip or power conditioner in the near future. Currently very limited funds to do it all together. I would like to try the Furutech cord first which doesn't cost much money.
 
Although I've 8 dedicated radials for my system, left over from Naim days, I question whether valved amplification really benefits from any form of optimising mains electricity feed. To my mind, it may well lie in the difference between transformers used (toroidal in s/s v t'other). Anything which 'conditions' electricity (except a regenerator) using anything resembling a filter is and has always been a no-no for me, but with a full radial system there was no need for anything else. Neither do I think decent power leads vary in the same way as do I/Cs as plug/socket connections, fuses, ring mains etc. will all have their (negative) effects on impedance before the mains lead. Only the case fuse comes after.

Just a theory, mind and I still use my radials for each piece of kit 'cos it costs nowt and affords a level of control and isolation which can be useful sometimes.
 
scotty38 said:
How are they isolated?
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From the domestic rings? Separate 8 way c.u. connected to meter via junction box, so separate from the meter. 6 x 10mm2 and 2 x 6mm2 hard-wired to 100 amp connectors behind pattresses . A bit o.t.t. but what the hell. Seemed the sensible thing 12 years ago when I had fairly major internal works done to various parts and to widen my living room and bring my kit forward for ease of rear access. All kit changed since then, though.
 
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