Luxman R-117 and Sansui AU 919 comparision

[melofelo]

Until you have recapped these amps the comparison is meaningless.

The AU919 is one of the finest amp ever built.

Amen..It certainly looks the part. :yes:

 

[retrex]

Specs do not lie, the 919 measures better. Having compared the 717 and 919 side by side, I thought the 717 to be sharper and clearer. To my ears, the 717 was the faster sounding amp. I would concede the 919 has a better preamp. The 919 preamp has a separate transformer which likely accounts for the better preamp performance.

Getting back to the proposition at hand, I still think the R117 beats them both. I've also a pair of Luxman M117 power amps and thought the R117 was superior as well.

SoCal Sam, I see your pair of M117s, raise you three Adcom GFA565s, one Adcom GFA585, one Yamaha MX-1 and one Yaqin MC100B. Guess which amps are sitting in their boxes and to what I listen to. Hint, starts with an R and sounds like heaven.

One point of clarification, I think the original unrecapped R117 trumps the M117 as well. I haven't listen to an original unrecapped R117 on my normal system in a year or more, but I have one running on the signal provided by an original unrecapped TP117 through Magnepan MGI-Improved in my workshop as I putter with the whatever electronic gear I work on. I really like the way this thing sounds and can't recommend it enough, in any form.