luxman score

basite

I took a headstart...
Hi all,

a while ago, I went dumpsterdiving at a containerpark, and saw this nice silver faced receiver looking thing, it looked pretty decent...

Turned out to be a Luxman R-800 receiver, which was the older brother of the TOTL R-1050, so also a fairly top of the line model...

I could use another receiver, build a nice little radio system :)

Needless to say, I took it with me :)

here are some pics:

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and a nudie:

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it's in a fairly good state, the front is in a very good condition, with only a few dings and scratches on the top (which, I cannot remove though :()
the vinyl cover is in a good shape too, only at the bottom it's slightly damaged, but I might veneer it this summer. It's pretty well built, also pretty nice lay out, separated symmetrical output stages, good quality caps, nice big beefy transformer,...

when I checked it first, it seemed that somebody has already been busy on it, some screws were missing (nothing special, replaced them all already), and all the dial bulbs were missing :(
maybe these were broken and the original owner couldn't find correct replacements, and then tossed the thing altogether, such a shame that such a nice receiver ended up in a container park :(, I managed to find the correct replacement lights though!, they're very large fuse style lamps, I could only find 4, there should be 5 in there, but these lamps are pretty much extinct, the shop owner where I bought them couldn't even order them again. It works though, the dial is pretty much completely lit. I might rebuild it again, and fit new, other lights, I could leave it like this too, after all, it works...

it weighs about 13 kg's, and puts out 40 watts/channel @ 8 ohm :)

at home, I measured the DC offset and got very good results, at 2,4 milivolts left, and 14 milivolts in the right channel.

I hooked it up to a pair of NL advent speakers, it sounded pretty good at first sight, I had to install new screws to attach the antenna, and while at it, I installed a 75 ohm cable antenna too, since I have pretty much NO reception in my room with any tuner/receiver so far...
I also installed a new powercord, I didn't trust the original anymore, it had been tangled together since it was first bought, over 35 years ago...

now I had some more time to listen to it, and it actually sounds Pretty damn good!, nice warm sound, it's got a fairly nice phono stage too :), this is definitely a keeper :)

I am planning to properly clean it up this summer, possibly recap it.
I'll see about it :)
I'm a happy camper, this unit goes for 200 euro's or so here, and I found it for free! :)

there is some more info about it, and specs here on TheVintageKnob

anybody have experience with this unit? or things what to look at?

Keep them spinning,
Bert.
 
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That has to be one of the cleanest internal layouts I've ever seen. Looks like they hide all the wires beneath the sub-chassis. I'm working on my NAD 3150 right now, which has a maze of wire harnesses running every which way. :(
 
That has to be one of the cleanest internal layouts I've ever seen. Looks like they hide all the wires beneath the sub-chassis. I'm working on my NAD 3150 right now, which has a maze of wire harnesses running every which way. :(

yes, it is very clean indeed, and even beneath the sub chassis, the wires are pretty well layed out, this'll be fun to work on :p

I did just notice, not always, but sometimes when I fire her up, there is noise in the left channel, which fades away after a few seconds, I don't know for sure, but could this be a capacitor? one of the big filter caps, maybe? after the noise has disappeared, it works just perfect. The noise comes back when you turn it off, for a second or so...

it's not always, it's more likely to happen when you haven't used it for a couple of days, and turn it on then...

legal eagle said:
That is one fine fine find. How does it sound in comparason to other Luxmans?

well, Luxman didn't make that much receivers, it wouldn't be fair to compare to their more high end separates, but as far as their receivers go, the sound is very similar to the R-1050, their 'best ever-receiver' which was made 2 years later. fairly powerful sound, especially for a 40 watt/ch receiver, warm-ish sound, good detail :thmbsp:

Just for fun, I hooked up my second pair of Advents (well, franken advents, really - thanks dad :( - )
and I can honestly say, that it has no troubles, at all, driving a pair of stacked advents :thmbsp::music:

This'll be a fun summer project! :)

Keep them spinning,
Bert.
 
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Congrats-it looks like it had a pretty soft landing in that dumpster.

yeah, I think the previous owner still had some dignity and respect left for her, and kindly placed it in the dumpster, instead of just throwing it in...

there was this other silver faced thing there, which hadn't been so fortunate though :( (couldn't make out what it was, nothing really that special though)
 
That is a great unit! The sound of those 70's units (Rec, Amps and Tuners) are the reason people started going after the later "higher end" stuff... These were the units that put them on map.
 
I have always wanted a Luxman anything. Nice save on this one I'm sure she will come to life for you soon enough. Probably has twenty more years in her.
 
Is your noise on any input? Can you describe the noise?

I only tested on the tuner, as it's the input most used, and as I mentioned, it's not always, so I can't properly test if it's on other inputs too...

it's well, noise, it sounds like pink or brown noise, and it doesn't go louder when I turn up the volume. It's only in the left channel, and fades away after a sec or 3 - 4, then the amp is dead quiet again.


i think it only occurs then the amp is turned on after it hasn't been used for half a week or so. Also, when the receiver is turned on, it gives sound directly after you push the "on" button, it doesn't "warm up" or something, there is no click of a relay, same when it's turned off: you turn it off, and the sound "fades away", like it's draining out of the big filter caps until they're empty...
I don't know if this is abnormal, could be that the amp was designed like this...

I hope this helps :)
 
I have a Luxman 700qx integrated amp from around '73, and one thing it has in common with yours is that there's no venting on the top of the case to let heat out (and dust in) - how'd they manage that?

I've never seen it on other manufacturers stuff from that era.

edit: D'oh! Looked again, and yours is vented at the back - maybe I need two coffees today.
 
There's no question that the place to start with almost any amp is to replace all the electrolytic caps and clean the pots very thoroughly. Many, many problems will be solved with this work.

After that, I'd start thinking about real troubleshooting, if it's still necessary.
 
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