D-03X 播放機在數字電路方面採用了獨立的左右單聲道模式,每個聲道使用了一片德州儀器 PCM1975 DAC 數模轉換器和一個高精度時鐘模塊,能夠為准確的聲音重播奠定基礎。D-03X 還可以通過 USB 輸入結合免費的 LUXMAN audio Player 電腦軟件(適用於 Mac OS 和 Windows PC)播放各種數字音頻文件。該軟件可解碼 WAV、FLAC、MP3、DSF、DSDIFF、ALAC 和 AIFF 文件。而且支持 Bulk Pet 模式,即是 “Bulk Pure Enhanced Technology”,它能優化數據打包向 DAC 傳輸,減輕了主機 CPU 和設備 CPU 的處理負載,減少了讀取和再現之間的工作量,從而增強了再現的穩定性,並起到提高音質的作用。
電源部分和模擬部分都是相當足料,為了獲得一個穩定電壓,採用了一個大型的電源變壓器,每路供電都採用獨立穩壓電路和大容量濾波電容作為儲能使聲音純正穩定。輸出部分採用分立元件作為堆砌,真平衡線路設計,對於一台 2萬多元的 CD 機來說可以說是非常認真交足功課。
聽後感
聲音方面,我們試聽了平時試音的唱片以和測試了 MQA CD 和普通 CD 的對比。如果從播放普通 CD 來看,聲音方面表現已經相當收貨,聽大棚交響樂出來的動態和層次都非常高水平表現,她的聲音大氣,而且畫面感非常好,音樂的起伏連貫過渡做得非常舒服,你可以感受到她的聲音很快速,但是絕對不是刺激型的聲音表現,她是屬於淡定穩重型。聽劉雅麗的《我和春天有個約會》人聲飽滿之余,形體感很出色,口型准確,關鍵是后面伴奏的鋼琴也能聽到木味十足,一切的細節似乎都是為了音樂而服務,沒有夸張任何一樣東西,讓你很容易投入到音樂裡面去。至於 MQA CD 由於我們手頭可以對比的的隻有《達人十年》金 CD 和 MQA UHQCD 可以提供對比,的確,MQA CD 的表現是可以提供到更豐富的信息量,但是 MQA目前片源出品並不很多,不過我們可以通過她來播放一些流媒體音樂網站上的 MQA 音樂資源,相信會發現更多好的音樂。當然如果你隻把它當 CD 機使用也是絕對夠班,隻要你把 USB 也能用上去播放高格式文件,那就真是物盡其用,他的 USB 口聲音效果也是相當優秀,聲音質感相當好,而且沒有數碼味,高格式的播放自然而流暢,密度感超高,一機多用實在超值,如果你預算 2萬多買一台 CD 機,我會強烈推薦 D-03X,實在不容錯過一台用心之作。
先來《一鼓作氣》MQA- CD 中的〈橫刀立馬〉,還未係最高規格、只 24bit / 88.2 kHz 之下,能量、空間、場面表現已經唔講得笑!各式大小的鼓、銅鈸、敲擊樂器所擺開的場面之從容,層次、定位、 結像之鮮明,完全超出我預計。音色之生鮮、聲音之生猛活潑、線條之明確、中低音之有力及踏實,令我聽見聲音結構的立體感、實在感。
再來有兩套 Hi-Res CD Sampler,一爵士樂內容、一古典樂內容,最重要是每套內附一 CD 及一 MQA-CD,兩碟音樂內容一致,即同一音樂選段,有齊 16bit / 44.1kHz 的 Red Book CD 及 24bit / 352.8kHz 的 MQA- CD,可供即場 A / B 比較。有比較之下,確係無情講、無法回頭。毫無懸念 24bit / 352.8kHz 的 MQA-CD 將動態對比大幅拉闊,音場大幅度 3D 拓闊,每一種樂器聲音皆更精緻,見 Hi-End 味。
有 MQA「魔法」即如上述般超班,沒有之下又如何? 那就得看 CD 的錄音質素。Hélène Grimaud 的《拉赫曼尼洛 夫第二鋼琴奏鳴曲》,只係 Red Book CD,D-03X 仍有本事令我聽到拉得開闊的一高一低延伸、實在的能量,但更可貴者是令我感受到琴音變化的結構與動感。Isabelle Faust 《JS Bach – Sonatas & Partitas》,單一把小提琴,響度夠、精神又細膩,聲音氣團、諧波空氣立體又實在。 René Marie《Live At Jazz Standard》中的〈Where or When〉,René Marie 的嗓子、絮音鈸、鋼琴,三者相互距離所營造出的空間,開闊而從容,再一次証明,D-03X 的音場營造力確有一手,即使係 CD、只要錄音有質素,即成! René Marie 的歌聲,在沒有刻意修飾或調味之下,演譯、 唱腔在轉彎抹角中,滲出一絲、一點旖旎動人的韻味。 敢肯定,D-03X 的人聲必不會叫人失望,女聲如是、 男聲亦然!陳奕迅〈六月飛霜〉,有力的控訴中見細膩演譯,不是甚麼喉底聲,而係在於咬字、用力位細緻又立體,急速的抑揚頓挫間激出情緒、透出感受、帶出態度。 於《Blue Coast Collection 3》的〈Rolling In The Deep〉 重播中,除結他有彈力、見有金屬感,以及低音提琴沉穩有韌勁外,人聲同樣感染力強而自在,主音 Melissa Reese 的唱腔,在用力及咬字的轉角位上滲出媚態,和音 Keith Greeninger 則以磁性的唱腔襯托,令整件事來得更立體。 之所以感覺更立體,亦如剛才一次又一次提到,D-03X 令我 聽到聲音變化的結構。
說回這張〈第三號交響曲〉,確是近期一張非常出色的古典 CD,杜托版的低頻已經十分不簡單,但楊頌斯的卻更強。我最喜歡它第一樂章的慢板部份,管風琴的低音有如一道牆,不時以一股暗湧向聽者直迫過來,雖然聲量是輕輕的,但能把人淹沒!它強勁之餘,又不會喧賓奪主。我發覺楊頌斯喜歡較豐滿的低頻,令樂團的其他聲部有一個很好的承托。這一段的弦樂就在這穩固的承托下,優美地歌唱。CL-1000 就能非常稱職地傳遞這個特色!在第二樂章的第二部份(Maestoso),管風琴以強勁的和弦進入,然後加入弦樂、銅管、木管、鋼琴等,非常堂皇!最後的定音鼓,把樂曲推到最強的高潮結束!CL-1000 把這一段爆棚樂段爆得不亦樂乎!有如在海旁看煙花大匯演,對樂團的立體感與通透度都有很好的表現,特別是深度,能把弦樂、木管、銅管、敲擊等不同組別的前後位置,都交代得比現場更為清楚!真的!在現場,如果你閉上眼聽,也不能把位置分辨得如此清楚!畢竟聽 Hi Fi與現場是兩回事,但這也是聽 Hi Fi 的樂趣之一!聽這作品,絕對是前級的分析力的一大考驗,稍為弱一點,就不能把各種樂器播得如此清晰。而強弱的對比,亦反映 CL-1000 高分析力的另一指標。
人聲動人氣氛一流
對一部前置放大器!我對分析力的要求是排在最高的,甚至在音色之上。我認為高分析力的前置,音色不可能差;反之,音色差,分析力就不會高!CL-1000 首先給我的印象就是高分析力,同時亦帶來動聽的音色。上面聖桑的管弦音色就十分出色,很有質感,最強音壓時仍只有飽滿而無刺耳。人聲呢,我揀 T David Roth 的SACD “Meet You Where You Are”。Roth 的木結他非常好聽,那鋼線的音色突出卻又柔和。他的聲音也一樣,突出又柔和,略為低沉,CL-1000 優異的中頻表現,把 Roth 滿滿的感情毫無保留地送上。
再來一張(Rita Payes In New York),此碟甚多鋼琴、色士風、長號、敲擊、Bass 等獨奏片段。CL-1000 的高分析力輕易把各樂器的形體真實重現,尤其是那些吹管的氣息,當然不能不提 Rita 成熟中帶稚氣的獨特聲線,非常吸引;最重要的爵士氣氛,一室洋溢!
Continuing its modern take on traditional Japanese purist amplification, Luxman finally offers a MM/MC phono/line preamp partner for its ultra-retro MQ-300 valve amplifier
Review: Ken Kessler Lab: Paul Miller
Just over three years ago I had my first taste of cost-no-object Luxman [HFN Nov ’16] in an achingly long time. The company has had its ups-and-downs, but fortunately its new owners – IAG, home to Quad, Wharfedale, Audiolab and Castle Acoustics – realise what a plum brand Luxman is, so it was expected that the flagship MQ-300 power amplifier which so charmed me would be followed by a worthy preamp. Enter the alluring CL-1000, at £16,000 a grand more than the power amp and looking every penny of its price.
To clarify what Luxman offers, the company has three main amplification ranges (as well as turntables [HFN Oct ’19] and digital source components). The three comprise the NeoClassico ‘minis’ [HFN Nov ’19], the solid-state models [HFN Jan ’18] and the vacuum tube offerings, of which this is the dearer of two preamps.
MODERN CLASSIC
But this isn’t any ol’ high-end preamp, for it is, after a staggering 45 years, the successor to 1975’s C-1000. This should have special resonance in the UK because I believe that our own Tim de Paravicini, of EAR Yoshino fame, had a hand in the design of that much-sought-after classic. You have to put them side-by-side to tell them apart. Rotaries and toggles in similar locations, a lavish wooden sleeve – Luxman knows how to handle retro with panache.
Aside from the lack of remote control, this is absolutely a 21st century offering. Valves long ago ceased to be anachronistic or sentimental, and are now permanently a sub-genre of contemporary high-end, just as this unit also benefits from numerous advances not available in 1975 – hence its true modernity. In keeping with current practice, it accepts one balanced source, three RCA line sources and phono via an input labelled ‘Ext In’.
Why the odd tag? I grabbed the Japanese catalogue at the Tokyo show, and found inside a photo of the rear of the CL-1000 without phono stage rotaries, so I’m guessing it’s an option in some markets. What we get are adjustments for MM with three gain levels and six capacitance values and MC with three impedance/gain settings to match most cartridges. I tried two of each of varying characteristics and found gain, headroom and other parameters perfectly suitable, while the phono stage is deathly quiet, to boot.
Another nice touch are two sets of RCAs and two balanced XLRs for outputs. Though you can only run either/or, selected from the front panel, both pairs within the chosen type operate concurrently. Hence you can feed either two amp/speaker combinations simultaneously, or you can bi-amp via a split crossover. You just cannot run one balanced and one single-ended, or all four, at the same time.
SHEER MAGNETISM
That loaded fascia may reek of the era before the minimalists took over, but every function purists deem deleterious to the sound can be defeated. The tone controls have user-selectable turnover points, there are polarity inversion switches for main output and balanced input, a ‘line straight’ bypass, a low-cut filter and – for those who have archive recordings on LP or tape – a mono/stereo selector and balance rotary.
Meanwhile, above the balance knob is a light that blinks when the unit switches on, and which glows steadily in playback state. Then there’s the ‘Articulator Function’. This is a procedure in which the device generates a special toneburst to demagnetise the transformer cores, ‘for an even higher degree of sonic purity’ according to Luxman.
Ready to listen, I was first treated to a waiting period when the row of lights next to the Articulator went through their sequence. It degausses the system, a practice that’s not so whacky as to be unique: some years ago, Gryphon sold a system demagnetiser, Air Tight offered a cartridge demagnetiser, as does Luxman in its EQ-500 phono stage.
Unlike switchable polarity inversion, degaussing is difficult to assess here because the CL-1000 goes through the process every time you turn it on, and I cannot find any way to defeat it from activating at switch-on. It’s not impossible, though, if you do want to try to hear a difference beyond the automatic degaussing when powering on because you can manually activate the process whenever you like simply by pressing the button on the fascia.
Despite never hearing that demagnetising was an issue that needed quotidian attention, I am not prepared to suggest whether or not Luxman is making a mountain out of a molehill. It remains to be seen (or heard) and I prefer to be generous and to look upon it as a form of automatic maintenance, as the switch-on sequence is hardly an intrusion, and it relieves us of having to worry about it, like valve auto-biasing or a self-defrosting fridge. And after all, anything that makes my life easier is welcomed with open arms.
TRANSFORMERS AND TUBES
When purse strings are relaxed, the high-end audio designer has several routes open in the quest for the ideal ‘analogue’ volume control. Beyond a high quality film potentiometer there’s always the option of a switched attenuator using a ladder network of resistors to offer precisely calibrated ‘stepwise’ control. Then there’s the transformer route, realised in its most simple form as a purely passive control offering some +6dB of voltage gain at the expense of a high and variable output impedance. Luxman may use a pair of transformers in the CL-1000 but its ‘LECUTA’ (Luxman Electronically-Controlled Ultimate Transformer Attenuator) is closer in execution to the volume control regime used in Nagra’s HD PREAMP [HFN Nov ’18]. Here a tube line buffer (employing E88CC triodes) is combined with a transformer employing 34 secondaries that are switched in combination to provide very fine adjustment in volume. A further E88CC-based line stage, with super permalloy output coupling transformers, delivers a more consistent output impedance, and though ~480ohm is still on the high side, the CL-1000’s extended frequency response remains less sensitive to volume position than is typical with transformer-based preamps.
SILK DEGREES
Used with Audio Research REF75SE and D’Agostino Momentum Stereo power amps, which are balancedinput-only, I also had the opportunity to try it with the Audio Research REF160S in both single-ended and balanced modes – and you already know I preferred the latter configuration. Even from cold, the CL-1000 exhibited two initial impressions that stayed with me throughout the listening sessions.
First and most notable is its utter gracefulness. There is no shortage of subtle,
refined preamps on the market, but this unit exhibits such finesse that I found myself turning to overly familiar works just to hear if it could eke out more low-level information or infinitesimal details. With the 50th anniversary edition of The Beatles’ Abbey Road on the turntable, I decided to wallow in the masterpiece that is the medley on Side 2.
It certainly possessed a forensic quality that drew my attention to disparate musical events, but the magic was in doing so without sounding hygienic, aggressive or disciplinarian. Instead, it sounded –and there is only one word for it – ‘silky’. Whether reproducing raucous moments – ‘Polythene Pam’ burst from the speakers with the force of a military march – or ‘Because’, the CL-1000 retained an overall behavioural mode that inferred peerless consistency – the second of its most notable virtues. It was delivering reference-grade detail, neutrality and coherence.
As an unintended benefit, especially for listeners who feel the need to dissect music, the openness and transparency were of such a revealing standard that one could, if masochistic enough, listen for edits. I resisted digging out ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ or ‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!’ or other tracks assembled from myriad splices, but you get the idea.
TIME LORD
This is not, however, a caveat warning of painfully analytical behaviour. The sound remains of a seamless, mellifluous whole, such that I was continually reminded of full-range electrostatic speakers. When I turned to one of the ‘showoff’ recordings in my arsenal, the 60-year-old score to The Music Man, the spoken-word ‘Rock Island’ verbal assault that opens the post-overture proceedings was presented as what is best described as a holographic spatial event.
Why is this important, or, crucially, beneficial? Because that is one of the most irritating experiences in the history of Broadway, despite the recording being awarded ‘Best Original Cast Album’ at the first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1958. It’s just a bunch of whiny people shouting at each other in a rhythmic pattern. Hearing it once is enough. But so life-like was the reproduction through Luxman’s CL-1000 that I was drawn in, with spider/fly irresistibility. Hell, I even ‘Gary, Indiana’, which was sung by a screeching, lisping 11-year-old.
Is rendering the unlistenable ‘listenable’ a virtue? I can think of no higher compliment for a piece of hi-fi equipment. After all, it’s one of the bases of my obsession with open-reel, which even has me playing Ray Conniff, Mantovani and the like. Which led to another revelation: what the CL-1000 does with massed strings and huge orchestras is something to behold.
It was, however, an SACD that had the greatest impact. (I beg you: try it!) As dazzling as is The Thelonious Monk Quartet’s Monk’s Dream on One-Step LP, the SACD should be regarded as a milestone in this digital format. Via the CL-1000, it recreated the necessary club-like intimacy small-ensemble jazz albums demand to sound of their best.
The CL-1000’s part? It reaches into its own past, as well as that of the music itself, to deliver such vibrancy and realism that one might even suggest it is a time machine.
HI-FI NEWS VERDICT
At the risk of alienating those of you who think hair shirts are comfortable, the Luxman CL-1000 unashamedly marries truly stellar sonic performance with the sort of perceived value – and build quality – that eludes much of the high-end. It is a delight to use, it leads to hours-long listening sessions and it is so gorgeous that you’ll want to fiddle with the controls just for the tactile rewards. Magnificent!
SoundQuality: 90%
LAB REPORT – LUXMAN CL-1000
With the LECUTA volume cranked fully clockwise, maximum gain is +15.1dB (XLR in/out) with a channel imbalance of 0.12dB at +6dB gain. Maximum output is a substantial 19.5V with distortion increasing steadily with level from 0.0025%/100mV to 0.014%/1V and 0.15%/10V. This holds true from 100Hz-10kHz but THD increases marginally at higher frequencies (0.032%/1V/ 20kHz) and more obviously so at very low frequencies to 0.08%/ 20Hz and 0.9%/5Hz. This is more likely a function of the input and output coupling transformers than the dual-mono E88CC tube line stage [see Graph 2, below]. The triode stage is also very quiet, revealing an A-wtd S/N ratio of 100dB (re. 0dBV) and a residual noise of just –97dBV (14μV). The response is extended, showing a lift in the ultrasonic to +1.7dB/100kHz but, more worrisome for vinyl sources, a +12dB spike at 3Hz. The low cut filter [dotted trace, Graph 1] is mandatory for LP-based systems.
The CL-1000 has a versatile MM/MC phono stage even if the gain is not exactly as advertised! In practice the ‘+38dB MM’ input is closer to +54dB while the +57dB and +66dB MC options (40/10ohm loading, respectively) are closer to +73dB and +76.5dB. This means the CL-1000 is rather better suited to low-output MMs and MCs than you might suspect, without there being a trade-off in either the input overload margins or S/N ratios. In MM guise the CL-1000 has a sensitivity of 2.1mV with a generous limit of 90mV (32.6dB headroom) and a wide 86.2dB A-wtd S/N ratio. For MC (low/medium and high gain) the figures are 225μV and 150μV for sensitivity with overload limits of 10.5mV and 7.5mV, and 73.6dB/67.0dB for the S/N. Clearly ‘MC Low or Med’ are the settings to choose for 95% of likely MCs.
回看 2017 年,當時我們在東京訪問過 Luxman 前社長土井和幸先生。他指出,品牌已重回日本 Hi Fi 品牌銷量榜三甲之列,而且消費者平均年齡比另外兩個品牌為低。他們致力向多線發展,利用 DAC、耳擴等產品開拓年輕人市場,另 一方面又不會忽視銀髮族對真空管的鍾愛。 當品牌傳承到現任社長川上晃義手上,將原本兩個發展 方向進行匯流,成為 NeoClassico II 系列的 D-N150 CD 機、 SQ-N150 真空管合併機,齊集機身細小、CD機、USB DAC 及真空管等四項元素,而且售價不高,就算是社會新鮮人稍為努力已負擔得起,創造出令兩輩發燒友都感興趣的新系 列。
A4 Size
D-N150、SQ-N150 是 NeoClassico II 系列成員,特色是佔地面積同為 210 x 297mm,即是一張 A4 紙大小,一般書桌也能容納之,只需要為 SQ-N150 真空管合併機機頂留有空間散熱即可。Luxman 向來喜歡在真空管產品上加入木材元素, 與晶體管的銀色鋁合金外殼形成對比,而 NeoClassico 則是結合了銀色鋁合金外殼和真空管,為熟悉 Luxman 的朋友帶來新鮮感。而造工方面,是品牌一貫的高水準。
D-N150 是一款 CD 機,它用上與高級型號 D-380 一樣的 CD機芯; DA晶片是德州儀器 PCM5102A; 品牌強調機內所用的元件都經過實際聆聽去作出挑選,包括變壓器、電容、 作為機內接線的無氧銅等等。 CD 以外,它亦擁有 USB 輸入,支援最高 PCM 32bit/192kHz。這也是第一款備有 Bulk Pet USB 技術的 Luxman 產品。Bulk Pet 是日本 INTERFACE Co.,LTD. 的專利技 術,能夠透過調整電腦 CPU 的工作情況去改變聲音表現,並 設有四種聲音模式供用家選擇。雖然調整CPU需要用上同步傳輸技術,但實際的數碼音頻訊號傳輸還是以非同步方式進 行,即是 USB DAC 還是可以通過緩衝記憶體暫存數碼訊號, 然後重新配上時脈訊號。