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Luxman integrated amplifier burn-in

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vesuvian

pfm Member
I've just started auditioning a Luxman L550AX II integrated amplifier and would be interested to hear from other users of Luxman integrated amps about the changes in sound quality perceived during burn-in of a new unit.

My speakers (Contrast Audio Lens) are a high impedance (16 ohms), high sensitivity (95 dB) design and my 1.8W SET amp (yes, 1.8W) sounds so much more powerful, colourful and generally engaging at the moment!
 
Mine sounded great from day 1 but definitely improved a bit after a while. Also, that 16 ohm thing might be an issue, not sure. Also, the Luxman sound is muscular without any flab and a flea-powered SET might have got you confusing bloom and euphonic distortion for power. But I don’t know your amp, and it could be that it’s just better with such a speaker.
 
The rule of thumb is 100 hours for many amps probably including yours.
Some amps are good sounding right of the box but I usually recommend not to draw any conclusions before a few weeks anyway.
 
Took a couple of weeks before I acclimatised/warmed :) to the 590 Class A presentation after using mainly Class D and Lyngdorf amps for a few years. Not really heard any great improvement letting it warm up, sounds good from the off, same with any SS amp I’ve had. Not sure if that’s burn in more likely it’s just me getting used to the way the Lux presents the top/mids a bit different to the Bel Canto and Lyngdorf amps.

The EQ-500 does need a bit of a warm up, maybe an LP side for it to be pretty much there, presumably the valves are why.
 
There is none IME. If you hear changes it's just you listening in a new way.
Amps are not human. They don't get mature after 5 or 10 hours when the caps et al settle down.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

The dealer tells me 150 hours of burn-in is required but I've yet to hear from him what sorts of changes I can expect. In my experience you know from the outset whether a component has potential and is worth persevering with.

I know the Luxman amps are conservatively rated but doesn't the 20W/40W of class A power into 8/4 ohms spec mean that my speakers are being driven by approximately 10W of solid-state power?

I got the same disappointing result with a couple of low-power First Watt solid-state amplifiers I tried about a year ago, but given the almost universal praise heaped on the Luxman thought it was worth trying.

Believe it or not, the Denon PMA-1600NE (70W/140W into 8/4 ohms) I tried a few months ago (and sold, thinking I could find something better) sounded pretty good, so perhaps I should have looked to one of the class A/B Luxman amps?
 
vesuvian said:
Thanks for the replies so far.

The dealer tells me 150 hours of burn-in is required but I've yet to hear from him what sorts of changes I can expect. In my experience you know from the outset whether a component has potential and is worth persevering with.

I know the Luxman amps are conservatively rated but doesn't the 20W/40W of class A power into 8/4 ohms spec mean that my speakers are being driven by approximately 10W of solid-state power?

I got the same disappointing result with a couple of low-power First Watt solid-state amplifiers I tried about a year ago, but given the almost universal praise heaped on the Luxman thought it was worth trying.

Believe it or not, the Denon PMA-1600NE (70W/140W into 8/4 ohms) I tried a few months ago (and sold, thinking I could find something better) sounded pretty good, so perhaps I should have looked to one of the class A/B Luxman amps?
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FWIW I have definitely experienced ‘burn-in’.

Yes, it’s probably psychoacoustic in most cases but that don’t mean it ain’t real!

What First Watt amps did you try, out of interest?

My first thought was that your speakers might sound over-damped or over-controlled with the Luxman.
 
vesuvian said:
Thanks for the replies so far.

The dealer tells me 150 hours of burn-in is required but I've yet to hear from him what sorts of changes I can expect. In my experience you know from the outset whether a component has potential and is worth persevering with.

I know the Luxman amps are conservatively rated but doesn't the 20W/40W of class A power into 8/4 ohms spec mean that my speakers are being driven by approximately 10W of solid-state power?

I got the same disappointing result with a couple of low-power First Watt solid-state amplifiers I tried about a year ago, but given the almost universal praise heaped on the Luxman thought it was worth trying.

Believe it or not, the Denon PMA-1600NE (70W/140W into 8/4 ohms) I tried a few months ago (and sold, thinking I could find something better) sounded pretty good, so perhaps I should have looked to one of the class A/B Luxman amps?
Click to expand...

20W into 8 Ohms class A usually means 10W into 4 Ohm in class A but it will give 40W class A/B into 4 Ohm.

Yes you will have only 10W absolute max power into 16 Ohms but it will be all class A and in fact nowhere near leaving class A at the point where it clips.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
20W into 8 Ohms class A usually means 10W into 4 Ohm in class A but it will give 40W class A/B into 4 Ohm.

Yes you will have only 10W absolute max power into 16 Ohms but it will be all class A and in fact nowhere near leaving class A at the point where it clips.
Click to expand...
I can't speak for the particular amp in question, but I know mine is rated as 30w class A into 8ohms, 60w class A into 4 ohms. I don't have the manual to hand but I seem to recall it saying something warning people from connecting two sets of 8 ohms speakers (since it has dual outputs) which presumably means that maybe it's not at its best into 16 ohm designs. I really don't know, 16 ohm speakers would seem to be something of a rarity these days....
 
I think burn-in is fictitious. By the time the brain and ears have adjusted, it is too late to return any new equipment. Genuinely, I would be amazed if there is any scientific basis, whatsoever, for the concept.
 
JTC said:
I can't speak for the particular amp in question, but I know mine is rated as 30w class A into 8ohms, 60w class A into 4 ohms. I don't have the manual to hand but I seem to recall it saying something warning people from connecting two sets of 8 ohms speakers (since it has dual outputs) which presumably means that maybe it's not at its best into 16 ohm designs. I really don't know, 16 ohm speakers would seem to be something of a rarity these days....
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Hmmm.

If I'm not mistaken, when you hook two sets of speakers to an amp they are connected in parallel, so two 8Ω speakers per channel would be a 4Ω load to the amp.

1/(1/8Ω+1/8Ω) = 4Ω

I'm sure someone else can verify.
 
JTC said:
I can't speak for the particular amp in question, but I know mine is rated as 30w class A into 8ohms, 60w class A into 4 ohms. I don't have the manual to hand but I seem to recall it saying something warning people from connecting two sets of 8 ohms speakers (since it has dual outputs) which presumably means that maybe it's not at its best into 16 ohm designs. I really don't know, 16 ohm speakers would seem to be something of a rarity these days....
Click to expand...

VERY unlikely indeed! It would need to run at 4 X the class A current of a 30W into 8R class A amp. The amp under discussion is certainly 20W class A into 8R and 40W class A/B into 4R.

As booja30 said above two sets of speakers used with the usual Japanese "Speakers - A, B, A/B" switch would connect them together in parallel for 4R. This should not be an issue for your amplifier. Two pairs of 4R speakers would not be good...

A 16R load is the most easy-peasy load for an amplifier!! Half the power you would get into 8R but half the current as well
 
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vesuvian said:
Thanks for the replies so far.

The dealer tells me 150 hours of burn-in is required but I've yet to hear from him what sorts of changes I can expect. In my experience you know from the outset whether a component has potential and is worth persevering with.

I know the Luxman amps are conservatively rated but doesn't the 20W/40W of class A power into 8/4 ohms spec mean that my speakers are being driven by approximately 10W of solid-state power?

I got the same disappointing result with a couple of low-power First Watt solid-state amplifiers I tried about a year ago, but given the almost universal praise heaped on the Luxman thought it was worth trying.

Believe it or not, the Denon PMA-1600NE (70W/140W into 8/4 ohms) I tried a few months ago (and sold, thinking I could find something better) sounded pretty good, so perhaps I should have looked to one of the class A/B Luxman amps?
Click to expand...
Your dealer, is suggesting an amount of time that allows you to get used to what you are now hearing. When (or more probably, if) he gets back to you with a list of what, in the amp, changes after 150 hours, please post it here if you don’t mind. His new Science must be worth hearing .
 
vesuvian said:
I've just started auditioning a Luxman L550AX II integrated amplifier and would be interested to hear from other users of Luxman integrated amps about the changes in sound quality perceived during burn-in of a new unit.

My speakers (Contrast Audio Lens) are a high impedance (16 ohms), high sensitivity (95 dB) design and my 1.8W SET amp (yes, 1.8W) sounds so much more powerful, colourful and generally engaging at the moment!
Click to expand...

So were you expecting the Luxman to sound better than your SET, or what?
 
Woodface said:
Burn in is a myth. An amp should get up to speed in a few minutes.
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Not at all. There is such a thing as burn in with new equipment. Also depending on the amp design (Class A /Class AB) there maybe a warm up period before the amp reaches optimal performance. This is true for both valve and solid state amplifiers. My Mark Levinson ML2's use to take 2 hours to warm up from turn on before they started to sound good. It's one of the reasons why Naim users leave their amps on continuously.
 
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