Nightwisher's Systems In "Luxman's Room" And Beyond: Some New And Lots of Vintage

Did another trade tonight: Traded my Nakamichi PA-5 amp for

Luxman LV-105 integrated amplifier
Luxman T-100 Tuner

The LV-105 sounds excellent. Hooked up to my Paradigms I think it may sound better than the LX-104. Lots of thick bass and a warm top end. My first working tube anything.

The guy I traded with was really cool. Spent like an hour and a half talking about this stuff and listening to gear. Says he'll check for more Luxman gear as he pulls out more equipment from storage - his collection is massive. He was happy the Luxman gear was going to someone who would appreciate it and I was glad of the same for the Nakamichi.

20181104_190315.jpg

Also moved the LX-104 to the bedroom to put it, the TX-101, and the F-105 to use.

20181104_194421.jpg
 
Last edited:
Got a new piece of Luxman gear:

A promotional Luxman jacket

Listed as an XL, but those old sizes are smaller, so it fits me perfectly (I'm a M/L). Won't be wearing it much of course.

View attachment 1320257

Moved my U-100 into the main rack to take advantage of all the inputs it has, the switched outlets, and the remote capability. Since this means I don't need the inputs on the T-407, I moved the T-02 back in.

View attachment 1320259
Luxman separates, KEF speakers and other good stuff.:beerchug:
I am too envious for words. I can't even find a decent second hand blu-ray player in this area these days.
 
Last edited:
Dude just curious, how come you like everything Luxman? Did yiu grow up on them? I'm kinda like the same way with Kenwood.
Well, at the least I guess I have a potential market for my stuff if I ever decide to move on.
Keep up the good work dude.
 
Dude just curious, how come you like everything Luxman? Did yiu grow up on them? I'm kinda like the same way with Kenwood.
Well, at the least I guess I have a potential market for my stuff if I ever decide to move on.
Keep up the good work dude.
Thanks.

I mainly fell in love with the looks, the quality, and the sound. The champagne gold is just lovely and is my favorite, but they have many nice-looking designs. Then there's the suckface units which have their unique coolness. I also like the look of the various iterations of the logo, mainly the 80s era version. The advertising literature is cool too (of course most hi-fi literature is as well).

Lately, I've had a goal (fetish?) of having a matched system with matched Luxman components and accessories to have the same looks and/or quality throughout the main system. In other systems, I like to have that level of quality and experiment with their other deisgns. It helps focus my saving and purchasing.

I didn't grow up having any experience with Luxman, but the Luxman gear I've acquired brings me close to the level of my grandfather's high end system, which was where I drew much of my inspiration.

They also still make high end equipment, so the plan is to eventually to transition to some of their new gear too.

That's the best I can do to explain.
 
Last edited:
A couple new finds:

Paradigm CC-150 Center

This will pair nicely with the Atoms and 3se's I have. I've been thinking of using the Paradigms in a HT system. Needs a refoam first of course.

20181110_171700.jpg

And some new art for my listening room

20181110_171551.jpg

Had to get the matching beer of course. Album pictured is Rare Futures - This Is Your Brain On Love, which has flashing LEDs in the cover. I got it in blue vinyl (in the second pic below).

20181110_002135.jpg

The needle on the Audio Technica cartridge I had been using gave out, so the 2M Red is back in rotation.

20181110_001008.jpg
 
I finally got an Eames!!!! From Goodwill, no less.

Well, not a real one of course, but one of the closer vintage replicas. Based on Google searches, this appears to be a Selig version. The main differences are that it reclines and has exposed screws. Otherwise, it could just about pass - the dimensions and legs are closer than other vintage replicas. A replica is fine by me, because it gets me there and I'll probably never want to sink what the originals cost into a chair. I like being able to just about sit straight up and recline, so in that way it's better than a real one.

20181116_163001.jpg

20181116_163016.jpg

20181116_164755.jpg

I have it setup in my dining room (unfortunately sans ottoman). I would put it where my Poang is, but the Poang won't fit anywhere else. Not the ideal location, but it'll do.

20181116_232255.jpg
 
Last edited:
Some new Luxman:

DA-100 Digital to Analog Converter

My first newer piece of Luxman gear. This one came all the way from Japan, since there's not much of a used market for the newer US distributed Luxman gear at the moment. I have a step down transformer hooked up to it. I also added the rubber feet to the bottom to give the amp some space (that's the best place for the DAC right now).

The DAC sounds excellent. In my A/B test with the Emotiva, everything seemed tighter and more refined. It has a few more features than the Emotiva, which I would imagine contributes to this.

This gives me all Luxman gear at the top of my setup. The Toshiba DVD player is now the only non-Luxman component I use regularly. The D-404 could go in its place when fixed, but the Toshiba is a beast and more reliable.

20181129_141435.jpg

And a few new pictures of the full setup. The Eames ottoman is now in the living room, which opens the space up.

20181129_141445.jpg

20181129_141457.jpg

20181129_141511.jpg

20181129_141522.jpg

And some cool Luxman brochures and manuals courtesy of @luxmaster . Cool for display and coffee table reading, and maybe a little shopping ;) I've actually been shopping out of a PDF of the "Traditional Excellence" catalog for a while now, so it's really exciting to get an original physical copy.

20181129_141747.jpg
 
So now, a bit fuller post on the Lynnfields.

These came in a trade yesterday in which my KEF Q100s and LS50s went to one of the local guys I do business with. Yeah you read that right. And yes, we did an A/B with them.

The Lynnfields offer a full, detailed sound with a wide, deep sound field. The LS50s, in comparison, offer a similar level of detail but lacked in soundstage depth and width. The LS50s, despite their truly amazing soundstage for their size, just never gave me the soundfield size I wanted. The Lynnfields are more in line with the Polk SDA-2s in that regard, but more detailed. The Lynnfields have more air up top than the LS50s. We both noticed the LS50s were more forward, leading to vocals popping out more. However, the Lynnfields beat them in total depth and sound separation. The micro detail the Lynnfields bring out, especially noticeable on acoustic guitars, is incredible and beat out the LS50s. Even with all that detail, they are a bit more forgiving of the recording quality than the LS50s.

These are the Series II, so there are tweaks that corrected whatever went wrong in that dreadful Stereophile review (that's unfortunately still at the top of the Google search). If they had sounded as bright and screechy as those guys thought, my smooth and balanced LS50s wouldn't have gone out the door.

The rosewood cabinets are gorgeous. Of course, I'm a sucker for such veneers, which is why the Q100s were in the walnut and not the more common ash black. Of course, when buying it's not always an option.

These beasts are heavy at 100 pounds each, but luckily split into two pieces. The top module weighs 32 pounds, while the bottom weighs 68 pounds (so basically the bottom model is about the same size and a tad bit heavier than the VR40s).

Speaking of the VR40s, there's definitely some commonalities in presentation due to their lineage from the Lynnfields. The VR40s do place more emphasis on the center image and lack some of the refinement (still one of my favorites). Both are also 3 way with the Lynnfield/VR tweeter mounted below the midrange with dual woofers (all the drivers also are close in size).

All this is to say maybe I shouldn't have strayed from Boston Acoustics in the first place...

20181210_212754.jpg

20181210_212836.jpg

They came complete with the original manual/brochure, which is probably the most detailed discussion of a speaker's manufacturing and design I've ever read.

I have the carpet spikes for them and I may experiment with them, but I don't want to move these beasts again for a while.

20181210_213018.jpg

These are the most complex binding posts I've ever had. They can be TRI-wired/amplified. Also, they're about the same depth as the VR40s and just a bit wider than the LS50s, which meant they could slide right into the setup without moving anything else.

20181209_222937.jpg

Close relatives.

20181209_222833.jpg
 
Last edited:
Grabbed another pair of speakers today:

Pioneer HPM-1100s

I've always wanted to own HPMs since my dad has owned HPM-100s and HPM-900s since college (and I recently helped him get a second pair of 100s on BarterTown). I'll probably have to fight him for these lol.

The woofers aren't original, but the price more than reflected that. Otherwise are in excellent shape. (I have the complete grills as well.)

These things are big.

20181213_210849.jpg
 
Ah, the time-honored tradition of ruining great speakers with $12 trash Thump! car speakers. Glad I'm not the only guilty one. ;)

I would imagine you intended to replace them?
 
Ah, the time-honored tradition of ruining great speakers with $12 trash Thump! car speakers. Glad I'm not the only guilty one. ;)

I would imagine you intended to replace them?
Of course. Originals are going to hard to find, but that's the plan. If not, I'll at least put something more worthy in there.
 
I'd say it was a good day:

Pioneer XD-7 Speakers
Acoustic Research AR-2ax Speakers (the early version with rubber surrounds)
Pioneer TX-5500II tuner
Pioneer PL-512 Turntable with Pioneer/Empire CE2000e cartridge

Everything works. The XD-7s will need new foam. ARs need some TLC.

20181214_221659.jpg

Hadn't gotten around to posting it, but I got a Luxman AS-5 speaker switch a week or so ago and moved the U-100 out of the main system.

20181208_174120.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom