Luxman L 505 F Test
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Page 1
REVIEW
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man's l-505f are popular, and
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hilst Japanese giants
like SonycTEAC.
Pioneer et al. have all
made some stunning
stufl - the equal or
better than anything
else - when the lancy takes them.
the fact that they also make plasma
screens. Dictaphones and/or DVD
players does not invest their brands
with audiophile kudos. at least in the
minds of those outside Japan who
rarely see their statement products.
However. the Japanese hi-fi
market is a huge one. and there
is space aplenty lor specialist
manufacturers like Luxman. It's a
small to medium sized company
in Japanese hi-fi terms (although
would be considered relatively large
in Brit specialist standards » think
Naim Audio). and has consistently
produced interesting and highly
competent products that always
stand out from the crowd. Indeed.
Lux' has been around since I925
[see LUX LIFE].Also like Naim
or Quad. Luxman engenders
tremendous brand loyalty; customers
keep coming back for more. and the
secondhand resale residuals are high.
The Luxman L-505l is precisely
the sort ol thing well heeled Japanese
audiophiles aspire to it. It's actually
the baby of the 'f range. which also
consists of the L-507l and L-509f
models. Not that you'd know it by
looking. though...
The Luxman L-5051 boasts
heavyweight (2 I kg) construction.
studio-style lront panel power
meters and brushed titanium-gold
aluminium lront panel - all of which
hark back to some of the classic
Japanese designs oi the l970s,This
behemoth (467x l 79x440mm) sports
a claimed 90W RMS per side into
80hms. Fit and finish is top-notch.
and inspires confidence the way the
switches and knobs all have a positive
and smooth action.The brushed
golden finish of the thick aluminium
lront panel is very impressive. giving
the amplifier a real sense of class. and
looks especially nice in tandem with
the backlit lront panel level meters.
If this latter feature gets the
purists tut-tutting in disgust. then
they'll not be happy to learn ol the
(shock. horror!) tone controls and
loudness button. Fear not though.
dear reader. as these are easily
defeatable. though one should not
dismiss these items so readily. In
addition there is also the inclusion
ol a Subsonic' filter button For
use with LPs. and also a Record
Selector switch which - again - is
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also defeatable.A quality headphone
socket and MM/MC phono stage
are also included in the package as
standard. plus a rather tacky looking
remote.
Around the back are some pretty
standardJooking gold-plated phono
sockets. as well as a set of Balanced
Line Inputs which should result in
even higher sound quality with a
source equipped with the same. One
nice option is the ability to separate
the pre and power sections of the
amp by removing a link between
phono sockets.This allows the L-
505! to be used either as a pre
amplifier or a power amplifier. though
the performance is so good as an
integrated unit I really dont see the
point
Whipping the top cover oil.
internal construction is first-rate
in true high-end Japanese fashion.
Component quality is high with
plenty 0! Nippon Chemicon and
Elna capacitors being used and
- somewhat uniquely these days
for a solid-state design - carbon
film resistors! According to Luxman
every component has been especially
selected on the basis of sound
quality which gives it more of a
hand crafted' appeal rather than
some generic bunch of parts thrown
Page 2
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together ad-hoc. Most of the parts
are custom-made for them as
well. which really does make this
design something Special. Special
mention must also go to die huge
mains uansformer and bank of PSU
capacitors which supply some 9400uF
capacitance per channel.Apart from
the shared PSU the design is a dual-
mono one.
The most interesting and
groundbreaking facet of this new
design is what Luxman describes
in their literature as the ODNF
circuiLAccording to Luxman their
new design alleviates the need to
have phase compensation circuits or
negative feedback in the musical path.
This. say Luxman. results in a circuit
which accurately isolates distortion
components from music signals and
completely cancels them out' (sic).
'The circuit features such an ultra.
wide range. ultra-high slew rate and
ultra-low distortion that it does not
use phase compensation for the
amplifying circuits of music signals.
Their new technology also ensures
that the need for a DC servo circuit
is alleviated. again improving sound
quality.All very well and good in
practice then. but the proof of course
is in the pudding. How would the L<
505f taste!
SOUND WAN"
I started the Luxman out with
a slice ofVan Morrison from his
'Moondance' CD. and was greeted
with a very monochromatic and hard
edged sound which lacked any sense
of life or emotion.This was after
three days worth of constant running
in. Oh dear I thought - it looked like
a case of beauty being only skin deep
for the L-SOSf. It really did sound
like an Old School transistor design
from the nineteen seventies! Being
a studious sort.l decided to give it
another week of running in before
I started listening critically. Coming
back to the amplifier after a week
was like listening to a totally different
design - the rough edges were mostly
gone and the sound had opened out
beautifully. It was so day and night'
that it was almost disturbing; those
who do not put much stock in the
running in' phenomena would surely
change their minds after hearing
this...
In some respects this still sounds
like a solid-state amplifier - more
on that in a moment - but I was
delighted to hear such a delicate and
grain-free midrange performance. it
wasn't showy or brash as solid-State
can be. and iu5t allowed the music to
speak for itself. Listening to Debussys
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La Mer one could quite easily
distinguish the various characters of
each instrument being played - the
patina that transforms the music into
a living. breathing entity. String tone
in particular was very smooth and
free from the sheen which taints
lesser equipmentYou could really see
into the performance.
Stage depth and width were
equally delivered in this same
effortless - but never boring
- manner. Its midrange performance
reminded me of a good valve design
such as the Quad ll Forty. no less.
Treble quality wasn't quite up to the
midrange performance. possessing a
hint of typical solid-state brightness
which could cause problems with
some partnering equipment. but
didnt detract from otherwise
fantastic iob the L-505f was doing
elsewhere, Each CD i played I
listened to all the way through. and
enjoyed. I can't really give the L-505f
any higher praise than that!
Proof that the PSU design in
the Luxman was a good one was
evident on the bass drum which
begins Fleetwood Mac's The Chain'.
It was very powerful and full-bodied.
but without any hint of strain
- the sound iust emerged from
the speakers as if the band were
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