Luman LV-105u - some listening and some thoughts

Bigerik

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I had a chance to borrow back my old Luxman LV-105u. I had sold this in the beginning of last year to a friend and fellow AK'er, who proceeded to fully recap it, change the tubes and generally give it a total overhaul. I must say it is a different beast then when I last heard it.

For those who don't know it, the Luxman LV amps are very unique hybrids. Keep in mind that they were released in 1983! They use a passive pre-amp, with a very nice,obviously non-passive phono stage - both MM and MC. On the amp side, it gets very interesting. It is a tube hybrid differential amp, with Fets, bjts, triodes and Mosfets. The tube used is the 6FQ7.

How does it sound? Interesting. Still getting used to it, but it has a very smooth, mellow character to it. My first impression was that it was lacking a little sparkle up top. But it sure does do the mids nicely. Bass is a little on the thin side, but nice and controlled. Build quality is fabulous. And the little window through which you can see the tubes glowing is a fun feature.

I have lots more listening to do, so I will update as I go. But overall, I have to say it is a very sweet little amp.
 
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As an aside, there is probably more bad information regarding this amp in the online world than near enough anything else. Other than the Oracle Alexandria/Prelude combo.
 
I spent some time with one of those a few years back - didn't own it, but it was on "extended loan". I also had the matching tubed CD player. I found it a pleasure to listen to - not lacking in top end at all. As you said, very warm sounding perhaps not all that neutral, but what a nice sound. IIRC, I was using the two with a pair of ProAc Tablettes.

Wouldn't mind having some Luxman from that era again...I owned an LV-100 for a while, and ended up giving it to a friend. Great stuff.
 
I've always loved the look of that amp. I also have a tube-hybrid- Vincent SA-31- which has my preamp for several years, and I love the sound.
 
I used to have one when I was selling them. Nice sounding piece.

Agreed, lots of bad info out there. The classic is of course "tube pre amp with Mosfet power amp".

Disagree strongly about build quality. I'll take one of your favorites, the PM665 any day, noisy little switches and all!
 
I used to have one when I was selling them. Nice sounding piece.

Agreed, lots of bad info out there. The classic is of course "tube pre amp with Mosfet power amp".

Disagree strongly about build quality. I'll take one of your favorites, the PM665 any day, noisy little switches and all!

Rumor has it that they both came out of the same factory. Not much to choose between the two quality wise that I can see. Except no stupid little switches. :)
 
I am trying to put together a nice vintage two channel system for my bedroom, and have had trouble figuring out what exactly i would be happy with.

I had just happened upon a LV-105 this past weekend, and i immediately loved it. I had never heard about it before last weekend, but before i made an offer, I thought it would be best to do some research on it.

I would have to ask you guys a simple question for you probably, but important to me. I would not be doing any repairs on this amp myself, i would have to take it to a stereo shop if the need arose.

Is there something about this amp that would make it difficult to fix, or work on for the regular repair person?

Is this thought to be a problematic amp?

I hope not, because i really liked it, the sound, design, everything...

I'm not sure i would buy that amp in particular, if not that one, maybe hunt on ebay for a while, any thoughts?
 
Rumor has it that they both came out of the same factory. Not much to choose between the two quality wise that I can see. Except no stupid little switches. :)

I guess the HK and Lux are pretty close. For about the same money as the LV-105 you could pick up an Audiolab 8000A or one of the second generation Cyrus amps. If you want to talk construction quality, those two were in an entirely different league.

To answer the question of the 105 being troublesome, a while back I Googled it to look up some specs and was astounded at the number of hits from people who had broken ones and could not figure out how to get them running again. From that I guess they are not particularly reliable/durable and are not easy to work on.
 
Bought new and used up until a little while after joining AK... about ten years ago... Fond memories paired up with contemporary Phase Tech PC60/50 combo.
 
I've got an LV 105U here.. picked it up cheap because it had no output.. Needless to say it hasn't been fixed yet. Reading this makes me want to get it fixed even more!
 
A few years ago I was considering buying one, after having heard it at a friend's place. However, my tech at the time mentioned that he has worked on this amp and it was a nightmare to deal with it due mainly to its unusual topology (somehow, servicing involved lots of extra time due to the way the different sections of the different boards were spatially ordered). That's all what I remember from what he said, and perhaps I'm not 100 % accurate in my transcription.
 
Actually the hardest part of the overhaul was getting to the tubes, the rest was a breeze and well worth it!!!! Yup, I did the work on this baby, shotgunned the caps after repalcing 4 tansisters and 6 resistors outta spec............ WOW, what a difference, cleaner, tighter and much more focused sound!!!! Love the whole tube buffer idea also!!!! Oh, and as for reliability, a redue of the power supply board is a minimum must!!!!!
 
The problem with regards to repairs is not the topology per say or it being anymore complicated or difficult then other amps. They are very easy to work on actually. When I first encountered these during warranty repairs the most difficult thing was getting the faceplate off which really isn't hard once you know where all the plastic tabs are :D The only difficulty of repair I see now is repairing a blown output stage as the mosfets are NLA. It still can be done but it's not a simple solution.

I have to highly disagree with the OP regarding build quality. It leaves a lot to be desired and although not quite BPC it certainly is more typical of many other's of the 80's era. Thankfully the sound was another story IMO.
 
The problem with regards to repairs is not the topology per say or it being anymore complicated or difficult then other amps. They are very easy to work on actually. When I first encountered these during warranty repairs the most difficult thing was getting the faceplate off which really isn't hard once you know where all the plastic tabs are :D The only difficulty of repair I see now is repairing a blown output stage as the mosfets are NLA. It still can be done but it's not a simple solution.

I have to highly disagree with the OP regarding build quality. It leaves a lot to be desired and although not quite BPC it certainly is more typical of many other's of the 80's era. Thankfully the sound was another story IMO.

Hmmmm, interesting, I thought the build quality for that time period was pretty good, not the best but at least at the level to be an above average competitor of that day.................. if memory serves that was around the time ( of its release) that most gear was pretty crappy build quality of the big companies anyways, ah well, sounds pretty damn good to me!!:thmbsp:
 
It'd be great to know what speakers and source are being used with the Luxman.
I used to sell Luxman for years, and am very familer with the old line from about '79 and up to the Alpine/Luxman days.
I just picked up a Lux R-115. from same era.
I loved the Tube series, and the LV-105 was one heck of an integrated for the price.
With due respect, compared to brands like H/K it would put them to shame in any sound room, in depth and musicality.
I would compare HK closer to Yamaha's tonal quality and put Luxman in a higher bracket.
 
In today's terms if I were looking for a bit of retro and with a hint of tubes what would they be worth ? I can get it revamped fairly easily
 
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