I'm thinking of buying a Luxman R-3055 that seems to be a reasonable deal if not a score. I seldom see Luxman in my area, although I did manage to get a R-1030 that made me fall in love with the brand and of course now I want something with a bit more power. It seems that the general consensus is that a 1040 or 1050 would be better than the 3055. Anybody care to take a crack at describing the difference, and would that difference justify basically a doubling of the price. I realize this is all subjective, but I am interested in opinions.
luxman advice
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AMPHEAD
Active Member
By the late seventies, when the R-3050 was made, Luxman was having some financial troubles. Most of their products were cheapened with lower quality parts and those leaned towards more popular massed produced electronics of the late 70's and eighties. The earlier gear like the R-10XX receivers were better made with higher quality parts and quality manufacturing, and do sound more high-end. However, when Alpine Electronics purchased Luxman in the later eighties, the quality went up again for a short time and the R-1XX black face series receivers from around 1988-1990 are excellent and sound very good with solid design and parts.
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Agree....R-10XX are better made...Look for R-1050 or 1070. I would also look for LV-109 "http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=492378" my recap. I few steps up...
I have a Few Luxman's...R-1050, R-1070, (3) R-117, (2)LV-105U, LV-109, L-100, L-480
It's like the Lay's slogan..."You just cannot Buy just 1"....
Baron K Rool
Well-Known Member
Luxman R-3055 is better and more modern than the earlier R-10x0 series. Better sound quality, clarity, accuracy. Definitely a big step up from your 1030 which frankly is a bit poor.
Luxman made some of their best gear in the early 80's, and their absolute best gear in the late 80's. Most of this wasn't available in North America, though, which explains the negative comments above. You got shafted good.
Luxman made some of their best gear in the early 80's, and their absolute best gear in the late 80's. Most of this wasn't available in North America, though, which explains the negative comments above. You got shafted good.
AMPHEAD
Active Member
I disagree with Baron K Rool on many of his comments. The very late 70's early 80's were not a good time for Luxman and they cut costs to try and stay a float. It shows in the circuit topology of their typical product line at that time ( including the R -3055), and all their standard product line with USA and Europe distribution. Yes, they continued to make a higher level of product in Japan, but those pieces stayed mostly on their shores.
When it comes to sound, we all have our opinions, but I must ask Baron K Rool how many Luxman pieces have you owned? I have had three: a L -85V, R-1070, & R-115. I still have the R-115 and I do agree with Baron on the late eighties being good, but they are not the absolute best of all the Luxmans. I don't think you will find many who think the pieces like the R-3055 have better sound quality than the early to later 70's or later 80's Luxman units. Alpine Electronics purchased Luxman in 1984 and revamped the line, introducing the Black face series in the later eighties, using many of Luxmans original circuit designs. Alpine sold Luxman in 1994.
I also noticed that CohibaJoe has owned many Luxman pieces and I agree with his choices also.
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Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
The R-3055 is really just a larger version of the R-1030 which was a late addition to the bottom of the R-10xx line of receivers. You can see the cosmetics of the 1030 moved away from the 1040 and it looks like the 3055.
The 3055 was the next gen 1050 with the duo-ß circuit. It was less expensive, 550 vs. 695 new but ALL manufacturers selling regular gear were dropping prices. Look at the L-580 integrated amp vs. the L-110 it replaced and one sees a good bit of cost cutting. Much less intricate faceplate/cabinet and such but the sound of the L-580 is very good and the unit sells for good money.
I did not know we needed to own a lot of Luxman to make comments here, but I have a few pieces. If I had known just how good they were when I was selling them I would have gotten even more of them...no not really, they were pricey new and I wanted to move higher up. Shoulda bought an LRS rack though. Wonder if we count the Luxman cassette with adjustable while plying skew control as a component as I have some of these, too.
If you like the 1030 grab the 3055 and let us know how it compares...first it is more powerful by almost 2x so it may be fun to have that extra power. These are much scarcer than the R-10xx series as the 10-series were sold for a number of years and the 30-series were sold only for a year or two before we were spared from buying separate units and could buy everything matched in a vinyl-clad, glass-fronted cabinet with speakers that matched the cabinet size. We have to thank the manufacturers for dumbing down the purchase decisions and foisting junk on the listening public.
The 3055 was the next gen 1050 with the duo-ß circuit. It was less expensive, 550 vs. 695 new but ALL manufacturers selling regular gear were dropping prices. Look at the L-580 integrated amp vs. the L-110 it replaced and one sees a good bit of cost cutting. Much less intricate faceplate/cabinet and such but the sound of the L-580 is very good and the unit sells for good money.
I did not know we needed to own a lot of Luxman to make comments here, but I have a few pieces. If I had known just how good they were when I was selling them I would have gotten even more of them...no not really, they were pricey new and I wanted to move higher up. Shoulda bought an LRS rack though. Wonder if we count the Luxman cassette with adjustable while plying skew control as a component as I have some of these, too.
If you like the 1030 grab the 3055 and let us know how it compares...first it is more powerful by almost 2x so it may be fun to have that extra power. These are much scarcer than the R-10xx series as the 10-series were sold for a number of years and the 30-series were sold only for a year or two before we were spared from buying separate units and could buy everything matched in a vinyl-clad, glass-fronted cabinet with speakers that matched the cabinet size. We have to thank the manufacturers for dumbing down the purchase decisions and foisting junk on the listening public.
AMPHEAD
Active Member
Blue Shadow: Didn't mean to imply that ownership was required for comments, but when someone asks for comparisons and sound differences, it's nice to mention what you had to compare against. I too sold Luxman back in the seventies at a High-End audio store. Brands included Accuphase, Nakamichi, Yamaha, Sony ES, Luxman, and others. And it's not to imply that the R-3055 and others in that series sound bad - they don't. But they are indeed made cheaper and I think in the long term the others will retain better value. And to my ears, the earlier and mid-seventies units offer a bit more of the sound signature that made the original early Luxman series popular with audiophiles, and helped coin the description of Luxman as the "Japanese McIntosh ".
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Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
OK, now I have to have worked at a High-End audio store? just roll with it, it is funny.
The brands you mention are not really high end, just the better of the mass marketed units and yes, some of those offerings are very nice chunks of gear even today.
What we need for the answer to the OPs question is someone that has both and can compare the 1050 to the 3055. Then that person could answer the question of whether the lower numbered unit is worth twice the price...No it is not. The 3055 is a very good receiver and so close in time to the 1050 it probably won't show much sonic difference and may well be better in clarity and accuracy as BKR has stated.
Most companies did not spend the entire new model budget designing cheaper, lower quality units. Luxman was still concerned about sound quality when the 3055 came out as it was designed well before the Alpine takeover was even being discussed.
The brands you mention are not really high end, just the better of the mass marketed units and yes, some of those offerings are very nice chunks of gear even today.
What we need for the answer to the OPs question is someone that has both and can compare the 1050 to the 3055. Then that person could answer the question of whether the lower numbered unit is worth twice the price...No it is not. The 3055 is a very good receiver and so close in time to the 1050 it probably won't show much sonic difference and may well be better in clarity and accuracy as BKR has stated.
Most companies did not spend the entire new model budget designing cheaper, lower quality units. Luxman was still concerned about sound quality when the 3055 came out as it was designed well before the Alpine takeover was even being discussed.
AMPHEAD
Active Member
Blue Shadow: "just roll with it, it is funny" I could not agree more :yes:
I don't know your age, but I'm 61 and back in 1975 - 1979 when I was selling audio and pro sound equipment, most those brands I mention were called "high-end" by most. Some of the "esoteric" brands at the time were Mark Levinson ( founded in 1972 ), Conrad Johnson ( founded 1977 ), Krell ( 1980 ), etc. I think you get my point. They were unknowns and of very limited distribution., ( save perhaps in your neck of the woods).
If Accuphase, Luxman, and Nakamichi were not called "high-end" in the mid-seventies, then brother, I have a bridge to sell ya! :headscrat
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I have a 3055 I am in the process of restoring. There are only 75 electrolytic caps vs quite a few more in the 10xx series. So that tells me it’s a cleaner design? It’s 43 years old and all original and the last service sticker was from 1987! All of the caps are general rubycons which I am guessing where cheap at the time but only one was visually failed but still tested within spec. Some had leaked what looked like a light yellow glue. One of the main 10000 power filter caps had leaked and was corroded. The other looked brand new and oddly they both tested okay.
Anything that can last 43+ years has to be a quality design and very good build quality.
Anything that can last 43+ years has to be a quality design and very good build quality.
I have since restored an R-1040 which has the same basic architecture and amp board as the 1050. They do sound beyond good and it’s an entirely different circuit. The 3055 is a duo beta and also is a high quality build with better signal to noise vs the 1040/1050. I think they are both awesome but different. The second R-3055 I restored, everything under 4.7uf was replaced with films. On the 1040 I used less films and more Nichicon UKL. All general duty on the 3055 were replaced with Nichicon upw on the 1040 it was Elna Silmic II and Nichicon UFG. The main power filter caps on the 1040 were Mundorf and the 3055 were Kemet. The tuners on the 3055 appears to be more stable and better sounding. The outputs on the R-1040 are hitachi and the 3055 are sanken. This is after two bare metal restorations of 3055’s and 1040.