New Luxman SS vs old Luxman tubes
Although this thread was started in order to report the experiences of a shoot-out/get-together, it seems like a good time and place to add something new, and a bit different. Please forgive me if this is a faux pas…
This is a short summary of a my recent experience with the thread title’s subject, but from a long-term listening perspective. In other words, just a couple more data points, with relevance TBD by you folks.
I’ve been listening to my Luxman L-505u integrated amp for a couple of years now, until I began replacing sections of it last fall. It is Stereophile Class A, fwiw, and includes a “wonderful” phono section (the only word I’ve seen used in reviews, and as an aside, not a focus of the review). It is a solid state class A/B amp rated at 100w into 8 ohms. It would be unfair to call it “bottom of the line” for Luxman’s range, but it is kind of a baseline for Luxman, with a few slightly cheaper models, but many more expensive, some very much so. It’s a pretty darn good sounding amp, beating the Hafler DH-110/DH-220 combo I had for quite awhile in every aspect I can think of, and probably beating the DH-220 fed by an Apt-Holman, although I gave away the Apt-Holman without directly comparing them. In short, a very respectable solid state amp, but not boutique. I actually bought it to drive Magneplanar 1.7s, which I got to hold me over until the first (black) pair of Quads were refurbished, which is still on the to-do list…
Last fall, after the speed control on the turntable in my avatar, the Teac TN-400, went haywire, I got a Marantz TT-15, which comes with the Clearaudio Virtuoso cartridge, and have been using it since. This is the source for all comparisons that follow. Although my Benz-Micro Wood SM cartridge on my Denon DP-1200 has a bit more detail, and a bit more tone and texture, the Virtuoso definitely wins on bass and forcefulness, and is not that far behind the Wood SM otherwise. For a person who has preferred MC cartridges, it’s a pleasant surprise, and quite capable. The turntable is in the next room, on a wall shelf I made, which has closets between that wall and the living room. So isolation should be excellent, especially at the moderate volumes I prefer for listening. At first I ran my older Luxman C-1000 as a phono preamp. There are 5 meter cables (Audioquest King Cobra) from the preamp to the main system in the living room.
After getting used to the TT-15 for a few months, I saw the Fosgate Signature tube phono preamp on the Music Direct site with a Black Friday discount on top of the closeout price. I got one. I described my impressions on this thread:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=633875
So, that’s one data point in my own tube vs. SS experience. Awhile later I got myself a Promitheus TVC (transformer volume control). This is neither tube nor SS, but a passive device that uses 24-tap transformers as attenuators. My experiences with it are here:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=649914
Now it’s down to the power amp, and its relevance to this thread…!
When I was away from home working in California, I bought a pair of Luxman MB-3045 tube amps (Tim de Paravicini) to go with my C-1000. They were unconverted, using the original, unobtainium sweep tubes, and one broke after four delicious hours. So, I doubled down, and got a pair of Luxman A-3000s, the same amp, but the Japanese domestic model that runs on 100v instead of 110v. They were converted, but incorrectly, and when they broke too, I had them converted to KT-88s the right way (triode) and put new Gold Lion tubes in. They are the basis for my last comparison, to the good ol’ L-505u’s power amp section.
They won. There’s simply more “there" there. Notes have beginnings and endings, with all the curlicues in between. Not that the L-505u just produces tones, but these are better. And I can hear more of them!
There are possible conflating factors, such as running without subs, and an ever-so-slight change in position. But I’ve run w/o subs before on the L-505u, and the position change was a fraction of a degree less toe-in, perhaps pointing at my ears rather than my nose...
Paul Simon - Greatest Hits is an old favorite. When he sings “…all that winter we shared a cold”, all traces of him actually having one are removed! The bubbles bursting and water drops splashing effects are totally separated from his voice. Two sides worth of little observations - “hey, that’s not three notes, that’s five!”, etc, etc. Liquidity. Or to coin a new audio phrase, all of the curlicues!
I’ve got an all-tube analog rig now, and it’s sounding glorious. It kind of reminds me of the difference between a good MC cart and a good MM cart, actually. I’m hearing the textures and detail of the Wood SM, but I’m still using the Virtuoso! I hope this pair lasts for awhile; the new tubes may help in that regard. According to the tech, these amps have resistors that are designed to burn up when a tube fails, to protect the transformers. Idiots replace these with wire-wounds, and up the fuse values. Morons, like the tech for Shelley’s Stereo in Woodland Hills, ruin output transformers anyway, on their bench. But that’s another story. I just hope these keep running for awhile. I’ve never heard a good SS class A circuit topology amp with the Quads, so that question remains, but right now, tubes are winning.
Remember, these are driving Quads, so YMMV.
Comments?