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Luxman R-1070 - This One's A Keeper!!

zenith2134

zenith2134

Lunatic Member
Bought one today and man am I happy. This unit sounds more detailed and rich than mostly every SS piece I've owned (upwards of 15 vintage receivers, FWIW).

Its also got some unique features I have never seen before, like selectable IF width and FM attenuators. (Guess that would be handy if I lived next to a transmitter, lol).

I've always been an analog meter guy, but the LED peak meters are insanely awesome! And ou can take -12dB's off em for late night listening which is a plus for me.

Under the hood, she's got dual 15000 uF filter banks and seperate fuses for the left and right power. Wonder if this was a TOTL? (I know nothing about Lux gear, this is my first)

Any 1070 owners out there? Raise your hands!
 
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That looks similar to my R-1050 model, which is iit's younger sibling. There is also an R-1040, which is a little bit different. If the R-1050 is anything to go by, then I completely agree about the sound. It is detailed, rich, lush... just one of the nicest receivers to listen to, period.

Other receivers may be better for DXing or in other specific ways, but those Luxmans are among my favorites. They not only sound good, they look tasteful, too!

Congratulations on getting that R-1070. :thmbsp: I think (from the numbers I've seen) it is by far the rarest of that Luxman series.
 
I've got a 1050 that punches well above its weight both in terms of power and sound. I like the look of the Luxmans (Luxmen?).
 
Info very limited

Was the 1120 in the same series as the 1070? I have been searching on google and can't find any solid info on this unit. I don't think it was the TOTL though, but maybe. The Fm section is hot, I'm loving that part especially
 
The 1040, 1050 and 1070 were the same series, the 1120 came later. I sold Luxman in those days, so yes it was TOTL. I still have the 1050 I bought new in 77, still use it everyday, they are hearty machines.
 
I am sold on Luxman.That is a very nice unit you have there.I am sure if I had an older unit it would replace one of my current other make units.
R-117
 
Hi,

This series of Luxman receivers are among the best available in sound, reliability, and in build quality. They are superb units. This series are among my favorite Luxman pieces.
 
I have a black R1030 connected to my computer right now. I really love the way it sounds. I also love the way it looks, very elegant :)
 
Whew!!!!

Well gang, I thought I destroyed my Luxman's tuner.

Let me start out by saying, that every time I buy/score a vintage stereo item, I (almost) completely disassemble it to clean every crevice and feature. I usually blow out the tuning assembly with canned air, and clean all of the contacts in the unit.

Yesterday I opened up the Lux and did all of the above. When I reassembled it, the FM wasn't coming out of muting, and the signal strength was 1 or 2 out of 5 with my big 300 ohm antenna!

Was going crazy trying to find out what went wrong--AND THEN I REMEMBERED THE FM ATTENUATOR!

Sometimes you just outdo yourself :D :music: :smoke:
 
Extra switches, gotta know to use em or not sometimes. Good one, not like I haven't done something similar.

The R-1070 is the best of the bunch. I have found on the net, somewhere, what agrees with my memory that the 1070 was a later addition to the lineup, contrary to the other post. Interesting that it has the newer straight bar LED power indicators used in the L-amps and not the round ones.
 
That may be counerintuitive, the 1070 is better than the R-1120? Or do you mean the 1070 is the best until the R-1120 came out?

I understand the R-1120A was a step down from the 1120, but even though I've got a more powerful receiver in the Concept, an R-1120 (not A) remains on my ..."git it" list...

Susurus
 
You asked so I finally have to say it. While I was selling Lux, I don't remember the R-1120 as being a good, solid, reliable unit. I remember them sitting on Chirs' bench getting parts replaced. I don't know why this was the case other than the owners abused them as I don't know that they are less reliable from a build standpoint. It is possible, building too much power into that unit causing it to blow up on occasion.

As I stated the R-1070 came out AFTER the R-1040, R-1050 and R-1120. This I know from experience, we had the latter three for a while before getting the R-1070 because the R-1070 was not in the line-up until after the others.

If Lux knew about issues with the R-1120 they possibly could have corrected them in the newer 1070. If no changes were made, well the lack of seeing the lower powered units on the bench under warranty makes the highest powered of these the one I prefer. For these reasons, I believe the R-1070 is the best of the bunch. YMMV
 
R-1070 pics

Here's the deal; brought it in, left it half an hour to lose its chill, connected the LS2's, powered it up, took a few moments to work out the various controls (so different from Sony and Sansui which I am used to); connected the Terk FM Pro antenna and Presto! Works a treat (at least tuner - not tried tape/phono etc, but looking at the condition of this baby, this could be the best $19.95 I ever spent). Not a scratch anywhere. Faults: Missing rear right foot (hence resting on a folded towel), broken AM antenna mount arms (this is a strangely delicate design - but the good news is that I even have the complete piece that busted off, so some careful epoxy adhesive, a lot of patience while it cures and careful polishing of the arms will see it working as good as new); two lamps are burned out, one to right side of tuner dial and one over signal strength meter. Everything else working A1 as far as I can tell - not even any scratchiness of controls, which feel really 'classy' by the way. Anyway, once a replacement foot is located, the lamps sorted and the aerial fixed, I will give this side-by-side listening tests with my beloved Sony STR-7800SD - which would take some beating, I can tell you! My initial impression is that the Sony has a better tuner section, much more sensitive signal reception that the Luxman, but I will need to play with the Luxman more, to be fair; it is just too new to me to know how to get the best out of it yet. The Sony has exceptional Dolby FM, whereas I have not yet found any Dolby FM response from the Luxman - when I press the Dolby FM switch, it just works like a mute switch. I wondered if that's because the switch is designed to connect an external DOLBY FM unit (like my Sansui 9090)? If not, there may be a fault in the Dolby FM circuit - maybe someone can tell me whether this is a Dolby FM equipped unit and, if so, what the likely cause of no sound would be when the switch is activated? It still registers a strong signal, just no sound. Well, that's about it. Enjoy the pics.
 

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Blue Shadow said:
You asked so I finally have to say it. [...] For these reasons, I believe the R-1070 is the best of the bunch. YMMV
Click to expand...

Thanks for the straight scoop!

Guess I should wait for a R-117 instead of a 1120 to get a higher-power Luxman?? :sigh:

I suffered from inapplicable reasoning derived from Pioneer (where SX-1250 is better than SX-1050).

Or separates of the 1070 era would be splendid. Or a later model T-117 tuner... It's unlikely I'll see the not-for US distribution line.


Susurus
 
OscarEmmy said:
The Sony has exceptional Dolby FM, whereas I have not yet found any Dolby FM response from the Luxman - when I press the Dolby FM switch, it just works like a mute switch. I wondered if that's because the switch is designed to connect an external DOLBY FM unit (like my Sansui 9090)? If not, there may be a fault in the Dolby FM circuit - maybe someone can tell me whether this is a Dolby FM equipped unit and, if so, what the likely cause of no sound would be when the switch is activated? It still registers a strong signal, just no sound. Well, that's about it. Enjoy the pics.
Click to expand...

I have a 1070 that I use everyday as an FM TUNER in my living room home theater setup. When I bought it new I purchased the accessory vertical daughter board for the Dolby FM. You will need this board for the Dolby functionality.
 
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