Luxman SQ N150, Luxman MQ 88uC, Luxman MQ 300, Luxman LX 380, Luxman CL 38uC...

[bluegrassphile]

Anyone familiar with these Luxman amps? I've read nothing about them on this or any other forum, although I'm relatively new to high end audio. Maybe they're more well known than I realize? Seems like the newer, more "modern" designs get most of the attention. They sure a have a cool, old school look. Wonder if they sound as good as they look? Mike, can you (or anyone else) tell us about these Luxman amps?

[bluegrassphile]

Anyone?

[joeinid]

I have the MQ-300 and it is superb. Wonderful sweet 300B sounds with Takatsuki tubes. It has air, and 3D with big sound stage. Feels pretty ballsy for 8 wpc. It's on the warmer side of neutral. It's an amp I can listen to all day/night long.

I even played it on my JBL 4367 when I had them. OMG! That was really great. It went plenty loud for me, but I did not push it on those speakers.

[bluegrassphile]

Thanks, Joe. Is it class A?

[joeinid]

http://luxman.com/product/detail.php?id=17


I don't really know, but Mike can find out.

[audio.bill]

That Luxman amp uses a single 300B output tube per channel, so it's inherently single ended Class A!

[joeinid]

Ah, makes perfect sense. Thanks!

All I know is that it sounds absolutely wonderful.

[bluegrassphile]

I'm in love with that amp. Such cool old school looks. I'll bet it sounds killer too. Might require some pretty high efficiency speakers.

[joeinid]

It’s a very strong 8wpc but speakers in the high 90’s efficiency would be best, I think.

Are you focusing on anything at this point?

[bluegrassphile]

Joe, I was thinking that any number of Klipsch speakers would sound killer with that amp. Mike could speak to some of the other brands that would match up well with your Luxman. I have no doubt that amp sounds gorgeous, especially matched up with high efficiency speakers. I also love the sound of class A amps.

[joeinid]

The MQ-300 are slightly warm and full with a sweet tone - a perfect balance to Klipsch and many others.

The standard Takatsuki 300B tubes are wonderful.

I bet at low to moderate volume, even the Super HL5+ 40th might work well.

My friend Bruce and I went to visit someone running 40.1 with 2A3 Melody amps with about the same power and it was great. Obviously Harbeth benefit from power but simpler music at same volume can be glorious.

[bluegrassphile]

Absolutely!

[mep]

https://www.harbeth.co.uk/library/mo...-01a_Power.mov

[Mike]

https://www.harbeth.co.uk/library/mo...-01a_Power.mov

Curious how accurate those meters are. Many companies meters are NOT accurate. More show than go. Curious if these are bang on accurate.

A.Wayne will tell us all we need a gazillion watts.

Here we are driving the C7’s with an 8 watt Viva amp, with a little headroom to spare.

https://youtu.be/MytKtPXsfLQ

And

https://youtu.be/AM0Gm3VONfY


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mep]

Curious how accurate those meters are. Many companies meters are NOT accurate. More show than go. Curious if these are bang on accurate.

A.Wayne will tell us all we need a gazillion watts.

Here we are driving the C7’s with an 8 watt Viva amp, with a little headroom to spare.

https://youtu.be/MytKtPXsfLQ

And

https://youtu.be/AM0Gm3VONfY


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I doubt power meters on power amps are calibrated to accepted calibration standards. My point in posting the video is to show people what the designer of Harbeth speakers thinks you need to drive his speakers. And those meters are measuring peak power and not average power like the meters on my Ref 75.

I’m still trying to figure how you design a ported speaker with the low sensitivity of sealed speakers. As for 8 watts driving the Harbeth speakers, I bet A.Wayne can hear the amp clipping without hearing the video.

[bluegrassphile]

Wow.....VERY revealing video. I'm speaking of the Harbeth video. I listen almost exclusively to (and play) bluegrass music with occasional forays into small combo jazz and traditional/jump blues. I'm thinking after watching the video that, for higher volume levels (say, 35% to 40% power or higher) the 125 wpc Luxman 509x I'm seriously considering will have "adequate" power. But will it have enough peak reserve for relatively distortion free listening at higher volume levels?

The Harbeth Super HL 5+ Anniversary Edition speakers I've purchased are not inefficient by any means but, according to the video, I wouldn't want to go any lower in power amp wattage than 125 wpc. FWIW and from what I've read the power output on the Luxman 509x is actually closer to 150 wpc. That's at 8 ohms. The Harbeths are 6 ohm speakers, so there would be a little more on tap yet vs 150 wpc. But keep in mind that 500 wpc + continuous power demand on the video.

I was surprised at the amount of continuous power required for this distortion free, relatively sparse recording. And 700+ watts for the peaks?!! Wow. I'm beginning to wonder if 125 wpc minimum is adequate with my application? Although I listen primarily to acoustic music, bluegrass is relatively dense and active music with up to 6 or 7 instruments and lots of 3 and 4 part vocal harmonies, often layered on top of the instruments and playing simultaneously. That also creates more power demand. There is a point where distortion is inaudible. But I don't have any way of knowing where that point is. Can inaudible distortion still have positive or negative effects on the sound? So how much distortion is acceptable? Does "some" distortion actually enhance the sound? Is 125 to 150 wpc going to be adequate for higher volume listening levels? Lots of questions created with that video.

[mep]

Wow.....VERY revealing video. I'm speaking of the Harbeth video. I listen almost exclusively to (and play) bluegrass music with occasional forays into small combo jazz and traditional/jump blues. I'm thinking after watching the video that, for higher volume levels (say, 35% to 40% power or higher) the 125 wpc Luxman 509x I'm seriously considering will have "adequate" power. But will it have enough peak reserve for relatively distortion free listening at higher volume levels?

The Harbeth Super HL 5+ Anniversary Edition speakers I've purchased are not inefficient by any means but, according to the video, I wouldn't want to go any lower in power amp wattage than 125 wpc. FWIW and from what I've read the power output on the Luxman 509x is actually closer to 150 wpc. That's at 8 ohms. The Harbeths are 6 ohm speakers, so there would be a little more on tap yet vs 150 wpc. But keep in mind that 500 wpc + continuous power demand on the video.

I was surprised at the amount of continuous power required for this distortion free, relatively sparse recording. And 700+ watts for the peaks?!! Wow. I'm beginning to wonder if 125 wpc minimum is adequate with my application? Although I listen primarily to acoustic music, bluegrass is relatively dense and active music with up to 6 or 7 instruments and lots of 3 and 4 part vocal harmonies, often layered on top of the instruments and playing simultaneously. That also creates more power demand. There is a point where distortion is inaudible. But I don't have any way of knowing where that point is. Can inaudible distortion still have positive or negative effects on the sound? So how much distortion is acceptable? Does "some" distortion actually enhance the sound? Is 125 to 150 wpc going to be adequate for higher listening levels? Lots of questions created with that video.

Do you consider a speaker with a sensitivity rated at 86dB 1w/1m as being "efficient?" Harbeth recommends a minimum of 25 watts to drive this speaker so one would think that 125 watts should be just dandy. It's all going to come down to your room size, how close you sit, and how loud you like to listen to your music.

[bluegrassphile]

Do you consider a speaker with a sensitivity rated at 86dB 1w/1m as being "efficient?" Harbeth recommends a minimum of 25 watts to drive this speaker so one would think that 125 watts should be just dandy. It's all going to come down to your room size, how close you sit, and how loud you like to listen to your music.

Yeah, perhaps 86 db is inefficient when compared to something in the Klipsch line. But looking strictly at the numbers in the Harbeth video the take home lesson to me is how much continuous power it really takes to satisfy power requirements in this rather sparse recording. I mean it's not saturated with musical instruments or vocals like some recordings and it still requires considerable continuous power to remain relatively distortion free. Let alone the peaks, some of which reach 700+ wpc. At least that's how I understand it. But I'm a new comer (again) to home audio so I could certainly be misinterpreting the numbers. If I am please feel free to set me straight.

[mep]

Yeah, perhaps 86 db is inefficient when compared to something in the Klipsch line. But looking strictly at the numbers in the Harbeth video the take home lesson to me is how much continuous power it really takes to satisfy power requirements in this rather sparse recording. I mean it's not saturated with musical instruments or vocals like some recordings and it still requires considerable continuous power to remain relatively distortion free. Let alone the peaks, some of which reach 700+ wpc. At least that's how I understand it. But I'm a new comer (again) to home audio so I could certainly be misinterpreting the numbers. If I am please feel free to set me straight.

The purpose of Harbeth making that video was to educate customers on the real power demands placed on amplifiers with their speakers. The lower the sensitivity of your speakers coupled with complex crossovers require greater amplifier power. Even though the Harbeth speakers have the sensitivity you would expect from a sealed design, Harbeth says they present an easy load on the amps because of their impedance.

[kiwi_1282001]

How much power should your amplifier have to properly drive your speakers?

Source: The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel, Published on Sep 23, 2016