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

Digiti said:
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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Thanks Digiti,
Next time you open up your unit, can you let us know the circuit board reference number for the Dolby FM board? If you have a manual, that might even list the number of the board...that way, AK owners of the 1070 can try to track down the board using the part number as a search term. Many thanks, OscarEmmy.:thmbsp:
 
Thats nice and all, but how the heck are we gonna find the need for a Dolby board if no one broadcasts in Dolby anymore? Maybe for strictly the collector's value of it, but still, eh...
 
zenith2134 said:
Thats nice and all, but how the heck are we gonna find the need for a Dolby board if no one broadcasts in Dolby anymore? Maybe for strictly the collector's value of it, but still, eh...
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Good point. The only station in my area that broadcast Dolby FM way back when was WQXR in N.Y.C. I have not used this feature in years.
 
Blue Shadow said:
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.
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I wonder if the R-1070 came out at the same time as the R-1120A. They both have the same LED power indicators.
 
That's funny, because when I listen to my local FM stations through my Sony STR-7800SD (which has Dolby FM), I prefer the sound with Dolby FM engaged compared with standard stereo FM - significantly boosts high frequency, and I like a strong top end. Just a personal taste. I am not sure if they broadcast in Dolby FM - I live out in the flatlands of Indiana's corn country - for all I know, I could be getting signals from Amsterdam:D
 
By chance does anybody know where i can get a user manual for my R-1050? Also, do you guys find the phono section produces significantly less SPL than the other inputs, or do i have a problem. thanks in advance!
 
You can get the service manual at the hifiengine:

http://www.hifiengine.com/manuals/luxman/r-1050.shtml

Not the owner's manual you wanted, but...

If you have any questions about the 1050, the folks here know the answer so ask away.

The low output from the phono. Can you light all the LEDs with a higher volume setting? If so, you probably don't have a problem. Cartridge output may be a little lower than the amp needs to match volume with the other inputs. If you can not light all the LEDs (on the less sensitive setting) then you may have a cartridge that needs a step up or there may be a problem. What cartridge are you using?
 
I'm contemplating one of these at the moment, but can't find specs online anywhere. Anybody know if it's 4 ohm speaker capable?
 
Well, it's a little late but Yes the Luxman R-1070 is fine with a 4 ohm load. It is a terrific receiver and quite conservatively rated : just what one would expect from Luxman circa 1978. This was a couple of years before they would be purchased by Alpine.

The choice of Wide or Narrow FM filters is a really welcome touch for a receiver, and the filter sets are well chosen. Sweet FM section! It pulls an NPR station in Blacksburg Va. right into my listening room in Belews Creek, N.C., and that is probably 125 miles or so! I suspect that if anyone has marginal FM performance from one of these, an alignment is in order. As to using "Dolby FM" these days, it is just as well that Luxman made the plug in board optional, because Dolby operates as Encode on the broadcast and Decode at reception. It was completely abandoned before 1980, and nobody broadcasts in Dolby FM anymore.

I'd love to see bench specs on one of these: this is a very strong 70 watts, so I am guessing there is a lot of headroom.
 
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The superb Luxman R 1050, like the 1070, is very neutral sounding in a GOOD way. You also have enough power for anything but "power hogs" (maybe AR-3a's wouldn't be perfect if you like 'em loud). I have used Boston Acoustics A-100's, EPI 200A, KEF 103.2, Advent (original Large), AR-14, Wharfedale Emerald Series and a new pair of Monitor Audio Silver RS6. Some of these were just passing through while I recapped them, but they all sounded great. Any speaker you like (except perhaps electrostatics) will match with one of these and there are lots of sweet sounding speakers! I guess you would want to first decide on modern or vintage, and then perhaps "East Coast" or "West Coast" sound, and after that it becomes ultra subjective.
 
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Used to run mine with a/d/s L-780 bookshelves which are 3 way, 89dB @ 1w/1m. It was nice. I too would recommend the Boston A-150. Great speaker, and matches well with a LOT of vintage SS gear.
 
I've got a Luxman L-30 (30 wpc) that I use regularly with a very early pair of PSB Avante bookshelves. The pairing is excellent. I've also got a pair of PSB Passif I and a pair of Passif II. It seems that many of the early PSB offerings provide great performance for little money, and match well with Luxman components.
 
(R-1070 Thread Update)

OK, I just found some interesting info on the Luxman R-1070. The August 1979 issue of Stereo Review has the debut of this receiver pegged at the '79 Summer CES Show, which was probably in July of that year. Generally, manufacturers were "Showing" mid summer and trying to fill the pipelines by late August to early September. Anyway, it appears that the R-1070 started shipping in quantity by the last quarter of 1979. Of course, "quantity" here is subjective, since Luxman was not building the numbers that Pioneer, Marantz and a few others were pumping out. The "Retail" was $795. I am still amazed by the superb sound of these Luxman receivers!
The outputs are discrete at a time when many other manufacturers were moving to Sanken modules, which are pretty much NLA these days. Yamaha, for example, was using the modules on everything below the TOTL CR-2040. I expect the same was true of the XX80 series Pioneers, as well as many other companies, so the discrete output section on the R-1070 is a nice touch. The FM section is as good as any receiver I have (big Marantz and Suis included) and it has a rather unusual switch for Wide or Narrow FM filtering: very useful with adjacent stations, and a feature generally reserved for upper end Tuners.
Still, the main thing is, these Luxman receivers sound sweet: warm, yet detailed and never too bright. Check one out if you get the chance!
 
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Basic Specs for R-1050:

"Still have my owners manual:
55 w output , max. .05 % harmonic distortion , 10 hz - 50 khz freq. response , S/N is 66db for phono, and 86db for monitors and aux." -- from an AudioReview posting
 
Conservative specs. The transformer is quite robust but heat sinks are not for a crowded space (compare Sansui 9090DB?). On the 1120 I'd like to see M-2/SX-1250/16.5 level heat sinks; later, Lux tried thin herringbone, vertical channels, even heat pipe tech.

Always replace those lights. In some cases they affect more than just the lights in there.

Yes narrow/wide FM switch is great to have. Kenwood KR-9050, Luxman R-117/115 do. Expect good separate tuners to have this feature; very few receivers did. (OTOH Dolby FM on my 1050 and 1070 are vestigial organs).

Not many receivers really aspired to sound as good as separates...so I appreciate the few exceptions...even those whose MSRPs cost as much as their good separates. :yes:

OscarEmmy ever post a comparison to his Sony? :dunno:
 
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I read a magazine review of the R-1050. In their tests, it output a little over 100 watts per channel into 4 ohms. Above 70, for 8.
 
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