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Luxman/Accuphase/Yamaha - Quality?

Had a couple of similarly-afflicted chaps round to listen to my new system setup yesterday. They'd not heard this since I had my full-blown Naim active setup and before I rearranged the room to move the seating area a fair bit closer to the speakers. Their views, which I value, were very positive. In my view, the Accuphase does bring with it a nicer, more laid-back Class A sound, perhaps not so good for rock and lively music but better for gentler fare. As I've gotten older I tend to lean more towards the latter in my listening sessions, so overall more enjoyable. Something that stands out now, and one of the first positive differences I noticed, is the ease at which I can now follow bass lines and patterns. This was also picked up on by my guests.
 
Suffolk Tony said:
I rearranged the room to move the seating area a fair bit closer to the speakers.
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Usually, the further back you are from the speakers, the more laid-back/diffuse/relaxed the presentation becomes. If you've moved your seating forward and still get a more relaxed sound, you've probably brought about a sea-change. I'm assuming the same speakers as the active Naim powered. Did you consider valves, Tony, or, for that matter, Sugden or Vitus

Yes, age has elicited a gradual change in listening genres here as well, but rhythmic stuff, as long as it has melodic content, still gets played. I try to avoid funereal music though; too close for comfort!
 
Suffolk Tony said:
Had a couple of similarly-afflicted chaps round to listen to my new system setup yesterday. They'd not heard this since I had my full-blown Naim active setup and before I rearranged the room to move the seating area a fair bit closer to the speakers. Their views, which I value, were very positive. In my view, the Accuphase does bring with it a nicer, more laid-back Class A sound, perhaps not so good for rock and lively music but better for gentler fare. As I've gotten older I tend to lean more towards the latter in my listening sessions, so overall more enjoyable. Something that stands out now, and one of the first positive differences I noticed, is the ease at which I can now follow bass lines and patterns. This was also picked up on by my guests.
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I recognise most of what you say above, Tony from my own slightly more limited experience of the E650. The only thing I’d say is that I’ve not detected much lacking in the presentation of rock (but then again, I’ve never lived with a Naim system, albeit my Albarry stuff is on a similar page I think). I don’t listen to all that much rock, though, so I’m not best placed to judge. But modern, well recorded rock (eg Steven Wilson) is awesome in my experience, and I can’t imagine that Naim would bring more to the party.
 
ToTo Man said:
Buy a couple of these in the mean time, they might just surprise you! :)

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=271976814620
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So I thought take your advice and bought these. I have never had balanced XLR cables in my system before as my previous amp only had rca connections. So these cables arrived this morning and I connected them between my Luxman 509x amp and Audiolab MDAC+ and put a Stevie Wonder cd on...........Oh wow, I couldn’t believe the transformation, literally opened the sound right up, I am completely blown away. I was always in the camp that cables are cables and only make small differences. These have just transformed the sound. Thanks
 
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Mike Reed said:
Usually, the further back you are from the speakers, the more laid-back/diffuse/relaxed the presentation becomes. If you've moved your seating forward and still get a more relaxed sound, you've probably brought about a sea-change. I'm assuming the same speakers as the active Naim powered. Did you consider valves, Tony, or, for that matter, Sugden or Vitus

Yes, age has elicited a gradual change in listening genres here as well, but rhythmic stuff, as long as it has melodic content, still gets played. I try to avoid funereal music though; too close for comfort!
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Hi Mike, I'm not a big fan of valves, having moved from a dalliance with them many years ago to Naim. Funnily enough, we were discussing Sugden yesterday. Not heard their stuff recently but I've always had a bit of a soft spot for them. One of my other visitors has a Vitus, another old mate also, but I heard the latter's one & it failed to blow my skirts up at the time, and they're very expensive for what they are.

Advancing age is pertinent; there are a host of possibilities I could have listened to, but really I'm not inclined to these days; I'm pretty happy with what I've got.
 
Peter Finney said:
So I thought take your advice and bought these. I have never had balanced XLR cables in my system before as my previous amp only had rca connections. So these cables arrived this morning and I connected them between my Luxman 509x amp and Audiolab MDAC+ and put a Stevie Wonder cd on...........Oh wow, I couldn’t believe the transformation, literally opened the sound right up, I am completely blown away. I was always in the camp that cables are cables and only make small differences. These have just transformed the sound. Thanks
Click to expand...
The magic doesn't come from the cables themselves but rather from the method of transmission and, in particular, whether your amp and/or source was designed for optimal performance with single-ended or balanced transmission. In cases of the latter, it's likely that even a 99p balanced cable will outperform a £1k single-ended cable, assuming it's been made correctly.
 
Well I’m delighted with the result. I had hoped the balanced cable would be better but it has completely exceeded my expectations. Thanks again for posting the link.
 
I'm exploring possible options to pair with higher-efficiency large Tannoys. Anyone using Luxman class-A into 15" DCs? The top-end Luxman is around £7k so quite a bit over my budget but not out of reach either. Not having heard one, is it really that good? I mean, it looks good but how does it compare to other options in that price bracket? Would I regret getting one out on demo to try (for fear of having then to dig deep)?
 
JTC said:
I'm exploring possible options to pair with higher-efficiency large Tannoys. Anyone using Luxman class-A into 15" DCs? The top-end Luxman is around £7k so quite a bit over my budget but not out of reach either. Not having heard one, is it really that good? I mean, it looks good but how does it compare to other options in that price bracket? Would I regret getting one out on demo to try (for fear of having then to dig deep)?
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I once had a pair of Tannoy Chatsworths (12" MG's) paired with a Luxman L550AII and it wasn't a great pairing . The mids and highs were fabulous but the Luxman strangled the bass giving it a staccato quality , I blamed it on the Luxman's damping factor being too high . I switched to an Accuphase amp ( E203 ) of a similar vintage to my Tannoy's and it was a much better match .
 
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Mike Reed said:
Usually, the further back you are from the speakers, the more laid-back/diffuse/relaxed the presentation becomes. If you've moved your seating forward and still get a more relaxed sound, you've probably brought about a sea-change. I'm assuming the same speakers as the active Naim powered. Did you consider valves, Tony, or, for that matter, Sugden or Vitus

Yes, age has elicited a gradual change in listening genres here as well, but rhythmic stuff, as long as it has melodic content, still gets played. I try to avoid funereal music though; too close for comfort!
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I can identify myself as one of the visitors enjoying Tony's hospitality and system yesterday. Thanks again Tony.

Mike, normally I would agree with you regarding distance from speakers, but in this case there are a couple of other aspects in play. The room is quite long and had (until recently) a bare wooden floor. The fairly close proximity of the walls and a low ceiling with DBLs firing down created a bit of a corridor effect. It meant an unavoidably large amount of room got into the sound, compared to how the seating is now. Sitting closer improved my appreciation of detail, focus and tonal balance which were definitely helped by reduced room reflections and a thick absorbant rug between seats and speakers. This has to be considered when comparing the amps.

The Accuphase had full control of the speakers, big soundstage as before but with a greater sense of ease. When we occasionally turned the wick up things stayed that way and didn't harden up or become shouty. The articulation in the bass and low end in general was really impressive, especially given the substantial drop in quoted power output. I can hear why Tony is happy with the change, it was all very enjoyable and a lot of real estate has been reclaimed.
 
Suffolk Tony said:
One of my other visitors has a Vitus, another old mate also, but I heard the latter's one & it failed to blow my skirts up at the time, and they're very expensive for what they are.
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I was only considering the class A Vitus, which probably limits the choice to 2 or 3 and they're even MORE expensive! Interesting that the DBLs are more accommodating of different amplification than I'd've thought, but I've only heard them at shows. The SBLs, though, I had for a while (with upper Naim) but I wasn't enamoured of their 'cool' presentation. ProAc References followed those; talk about chalk and cheese!

A recent Sugden Masterclass power in the classifieds did stir my interest, but I'm already class A into ESLs, so not sure what s/s would bring to the party.
 
early said:
I once had a pair of Tannoy Chatsworths (12" MG's) paired with a Luxman L550AII and it wasn't a great pairing . The mids and highs were fabulous but the Luxman strangled the bass giving it a staccato quality , I blamed it on the Luxman's damping factor being too high . I switched to an Accuphase amp ( E203 ) of a similar vintage to my Tannoy's and it was a much better match .
Click to expand...

I've run Luxman L550A11 with Cheviots (12" HPDs) for the last 5 years and am very pleased with the synergy. My Cheviots are on low stands which lifts the centre of the dual concentric cones level to ear height. It makes the bass much tighter and coherent.
 
Coming back to Luxman for a second, has anyone done a direct comparison between their class A/B and class A amps (with speakers that can be happily driven by both)? I'm wondering if I should try to borrow a Luxman to try, even if they are more money than I'd planned on spending. I keep telling myself: this is the 'forever' amp. Would a L-590AX be that amp?
 
So, would the lower power class-A sound better than the higher power class A/B models (into 93dB Tannoys, listening levels medium, rarely high)? Again, I'm fortunate that there is a nearby dealer with whom I could probably arrange a home-demo. But they also have a lot of other amps, and i want to minimise the hassle for me and for them.
 
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