Luxman M05

[likrish]

Hello everyone,

This is my second post here,

I just bought a new Luxman M05/C05
Combo based on some of the impressions
People had on numerous forums,
I must say it sounds good to me but not as good as I expected, for me the sound is a little hallow especially in the low mid section,
And it makes the amp sound a little ditached, perhaps it is in need of a good service, any how my question is do you know of any upgrades I can do on this amp to make it sound better more full,
And if so can u write down the specific part numbers u used ?,
Any different/better transistors I can use , capacitors ext...,
Thank you very much .

 

[Ds2000]

I had a nice pair about 15 years ago, and my impressions weren't too different. The soundstage was a little "flat" and they had a dark-ish sonic character. I sold them, my only regret in that regard was that I could have gotten more money for them had I held on to them. I don't miss their performance.
They were replaced with an EK Eagle 7A, which was an eye opener.
I'd be curious to know how they sound after you do some servicing of the 2.

 

[likrish]

Thank you for your replay,
I will keep u posted
After I'll do the service/upgrades
On them .

 

[likrish]

Anyone?

 

[Bostown]

Sounds like a case of not having a good fit. now that could be anything from a good fit with your personal taste, or something else like your speakers, source gear , cabling, room acoustics the list goes on and on. The beauty of the Audio hobby is that if you don't like it, then someone else might. The second hand market is FULL of options. find something else. Why get into extra expenses with modifications etc. Mods are usually about getting ADDITIONAL performance out of gear. Not an expense folks take on just to get baseline performance out of gear.

Call up a buddy , borrow his or her speakers or source and see if you still have the same criticism. Far cheaper than dumping hundreds of dollars in Esoteric Caps and other components into it. Suppose it still fails to perform to your liking , you're at an even bigger loss so if it were me. I'd try other things in my set up and if there's no positive gain in performance, I'd just buy something else and start the process over again. No matter how cool something looks or how rare and cool guy factor it has based on web chatter ( people may not readily admit it but having the highly desirable "cool" unit sometimes weighs in more than it's performance. because you gain a seat in that club) That's a topic for a different thread though.

if I don't like the way something sounds in my space I move on but NOT before sampling other things that may actually be the source of my discontent with the sound. Fewer times than NOT , was it the amp or Pre-amp but a combination of other factors in conjunction with the amp and pre-amp. In that case having access to lots of alternatives is a positive despite it being another rationale , regardless of it's legitimacy, for audio hoarding

 

[likrish]

Hello again,
Sorry it took me this long to respond ,
Thank you Bostown for your reply and let me just say you're absolutely right,
But people can swear it's the best amp they ever heard in their life so I'm trying to see if there is truth
To the meter what ever the cost,
I have a lot of different equipment... speaker , cables , amps, preamps, and
My listening room is acousticly treated ,
So maybe it's the amp sound signature which in this case would mean
It doesn't worth its price what so ever.

 

[sanford12]

To me it sounds like you have an amp in need of a recap. I had a Luxman R1050 that played well so when I picked up a L450 and it sounded like someone threw quilts over the speakers I knew it wasn't right recapped the whole thing and it is the amp I've kept. Great sound wonderful phono section. When hooked to the Atec Boleros the mids are rock solid, bass is accurate and when hooked to the Martin Logan LX16's the highs are outstanding. There's no reason for that lack of mids other than it needs some TLC. When a Luxman is right it's hard to beat them.

 

[Mark B]

Have you tried the M-05 with a different preamp? I found an interesting comment about the C-05 on The Vintage Knob.

"According to some owners, the C-05 isn't the super topper the M-05 is and there is "something slightly not quite right" with its sound signature... Maybe a problem with some production runs?"

 

[tyeeslayer]

According to the Vintage Knob.....According to some owners, the C-05 isn't the super topper the M-05 is and there is "something slightly not quite right" with its sound signature... Maybe a problem with some production runs ?
http://www.thevintageknob.org/luxman-C-05.html
Perhaps a different pre-amp is in order.

 

[tyeeslayer]

Have you tried the M-05 with a different preamp? I found an interesting comment about the C-05 on The Vintage Knob.

"According to some owners, the C-05 isn't the super topper the M-05 is and there is "something slightly not quite right" with its sound signature... Maybe a problem with some production runs?"

Looks like we are on the same page, you are just a little quicker on the key board then me.
I have the M-03 / C-03 combo and they sound wonderful.

 

[Mark B]

When I buy gear 30+ years old that hasn't been restored I have it refurbished as a matter of course. I wouldn't judge the sound quality of the M-05/C-05 in original condition.

I bought a pair of Kenwood L-09M amps in original condition and they sounded awful. After being restored (by EchoWars) the L-09M's are superb.

 

[likrish]

Thanks everyone for your resposes,
This is truly a great site...,
So I did try it with different pre amps one of them was CJ PV12 ,
The other was costum made tube preamp build by a friend ,
I have a lot of different gear in my home .
I will try the recap route and see what happens I'll keep you posted thanks again.

 

[restorer-john]

Definitely try a different preamplifier. The Lux power amp stages are rich and warm- they all have a similar character.

I had a C03/M03 combination, sold the C03 as it was a 'lightweight' sound to my ears. The M03 is the opposite. When paired, they tend to even out. I would expect your M05 to perform quite differently with another preamp. Try a Rotel or even a NAD or if you want something special, try an Accuphase.

I use my M03 in conjunction with either a Sony TAE77ES or my Accuphase C-11 preamp.

 

[tyeeslayer]

Definitely try a different preamplifier. The Lux power amp stages are rich and warm- they all have a similar character.

I had a C03/M03 combination, sold the C03 as it was a 'lightweight' sound to my ears. The M03 is the opposite. When paired, they tend to even out. I would expect your M05 to perform quite differently with another preamp. Try a Rotel or even a NAD or if you want something special, try an Accuphase.

I use my M03 in conjunction with either a Sony TAE77ES or my Accuphase C-11 preamp.

I actually found the C-03 quite lively, although the phono stage ls lack luster. Different speakers could account for the difference here.