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The style may be \u2018retro\u2019, but this powerful integrated amp from a Far East legend is no exercise in nostalgia: it lacks fashionable digital inputs, but has serious sonic appeal Review: Andrew Everard <\/strong>Lab: Paul Miller<\/strong><\/p>\n OK, so it may help explain the whole \u2018vinyl revival\u2019 thing, from portable record players with greater tracking weight than a Caterpillar bulldozer to supermarket\u00a0own-brand LPs, but looking to the past will only get you so far. \u00a0Forget all that longer summers, colder winters and \u2018jumpers for goalposts\u2019 stuff: even nostalgia\u2019s not what it used to be. Products must stand on their own merits in today\u2019s competitive market.<\/p>\n RESOLUTELY ANALOGUE<\/strong> Now we have the L-509X, and while the basis is the same, this is a somewhat different animal, with a claimed output of 120W\/8ohm, rising to 240W\/4ohm \u2013 not that the L-590AXII proved exactly starved of power when PM lab-tested that one, delivering 95W\/8ohm and 165W\/4ohm. I have to confess to being something of an adherent to the maxim that a bit of extra grunt never goes amiss when it comes to the ease with which music is delivered, and so it proves with this new Luxman.<\/p>\n A bit of extra grunt may also be what you emit when called upon to unbox and set up the L-509X for it weighs a not\u00a0insubstantial 29.3kg. At least the effort gives you a reassuring sense of where all your money\u2019s gone, an impression that\u2019s reinforced when you have the amplifier in place, connected up and switched on.<\/p>\n The star turn, as on all current\u00a0Luxman amps, is the presence of the two illuminated meters, placed exactly front and centre, but the symmetrical layout of the substantial fascia is also highly pleasing, as is the attention clearly paid to the feel and weighting of the controls. There may not be the knowingly retro flip-switches of the wood-sleeved \u2018Classic Series\u2019 Luxman products, but even before you start using\u00a0it in anger the L-509X has a sense of substance and total quality \u2013 luxe indeed. The design here is very much classic\u2018 preamp and power amps in one box\u2019, with the two sections able to be split if required. And at heart this is a very simple amplifier, with none of that built-in DAC nonsense, let alone a sniff of a Wi-Fi antenna or Ethernet port \u2013 it\u2019s resolutely analogue, with no more than four line-ins on RCA sockets\u00a0plus two sets of balanced inputs, plus a switchable MM\/MC phono stage.<\/p>\n HARD AS BRASS<\/strong> The volume control\u00a0bears the legend \u2018LECUA\u2019, which looks like one of those meaningless Japanese\u00a0terms, right up there with Acura, Regia and Canter (the last of these an unfathomable designation for a range of trucks). In fact, LECUA is the Luxman Electric Controlled Ultimate Attenuator, here in its latest LECUA 1000 version, which controls both\u00a0volume and balance with a system directly connecting the substrate of the attenuator and amp circuits to reduce noise, and offering 88 steps of volume adjustment. Other claims for this design include greater resistance to the effects of vibration, enhanced accuracy across the volume range, and long-term durability.<\/p>\n This system is inherited from the company\u2019s C-900u flagship preamp [HFN<\/em> Sep \u201915], as is the buffering circuit in the preamp section, designed for optimal drive of the power amp stages. The output stage itself uses a push-pull configuration equivalent to that in the company\u2019s M-700u power amp, and outputs through copper alloy terminals said to have the conductivity of copper plus the hardness of brass. The switched connection to the output stages is via\u00a0high capacity\/low resistance parallel relays and thick copper wiring to maintain the claimed high damping factor. The whole plot is sustained via no fewer than six\u00a0independently rectified\/regulated PSUs fed from separate transformer windings \u2013 even the protection circuitry has its own supply. The substantial 600VA transformer, Luxman says, is a \u2018high inertia\u2019 design \u2018that does\u00a0not shake even under load fluctuations\u2019. Well, that\u2019s all good, then. The vibration-resistance goes beyond that hefty, thick panel work in evidence in the ventilation grilles in the top panel, for rather than use fancy damping feet in exotic materials, the L-509X simply sits on massive cast-iron supports. Sometimes a little brute force is the best way!<\/p>\n SWEET AND EASY<\/strong> It\u2019s not quite a \u2018take no prisoners\u2019 ultra-revealing amp of the brash and bright school, though the amount of information it delivers is frequently breathtaking,\u00a0and it never leaves the listener with the sense that something\u2019s missing. So however big and rich the bass may be\u00a0it\u2019s also entirely controlled, tight and rhythmic as well as having\u00a0wonderful character. From the growl of orchestral double-basses in a\u00a0spot of Wagner from the excellent overview of the composer\u2019s work by Iv\u00e1n Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra [Channel Classics CCS SA 32713; DSD64], all the way through to the snap and punch\u00a0of Kyle Eastwood\u2019s instruments on his recent In Transit<\/em> set [Jazz Village JV570146; 44.1kHz\/24-bit\u00a0download], this is an amplifier fully able to convey instrumental textures and techniques.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, while the brass\u00a0duo leading several of the Eastwood tracks can sound overly aggressive via some amps, the L-509X conveys them in fluid, attractive fashion without blunting either their breathiness or the metallic edge to the sound. In other words, it does excitement to spellbinding effect \u2013 just without the irritation. Even with a really dense mix, such as some of those on Squeeze\u2019s The Knowledge <\/em>[Love Records LVRCD004], this amplifier manages the impressive task of delivering the big, majestic wash of sound while still allowing the usual masterful lyrics and the individual instruments due clarity.<\/p>\n NO EXCUSES NEEDED<\/strong> That said, when you do treat it to a demonstration-quality\u00a0recording, such as Classical Opera\u2019s\u00a0lovely set of Mozart\u2019s Il Sogno di<\/sup>Scipione<\/em> [Signum Classics SIGCD499,\u00a096kHz\/24-bit], the LX-509X\u2019s warmth and vitality come together to\u00a0create a truly exciting presentation, the soundstage broad, deep and detailed, the presence and ambience almost uncanny, and the dynamics so wide open that one could easily forget all the machinery involved between performance and the listening experience. This amplifier\u00a0is no mere exercise in rose-tinted nostalgia, and needs none of those \u2018ah, but in those days…\u2019 excuses to be made. It\u2019s simply special.<\/p>\n HI-FI NEWS VERTICT<\/strong> LAB REPORT<\/strong><\/p>\n Power meters are always fun to watch and, here, are \u2018calibrated\u2019 in dB relative to full output. In practice the red \u20180dB\u2019 point is pretty close to Luxman\u2019s rated 120W\/8ohm but, perhaps more importantly, a 10W\/8ohm output is indicated at \u201315dB when the amplifier is cold and \u201310dB when it is warm… So treat the meters as decoration rather than a precise measure of level! Precision\u00a0is the watchword in our lab reports, of course, and here it was soon clear that while the L-509X might look<\/em> almost identical to the L-590AXII [HFN<\/em> Apr \u201916] its technical performance suggests a merger of the brand\u2019s C-700u\/M-700u pre\/power [HFN<\/em> Sep \u201915]. Indeed, where the former racked-up a full 2x145W and 2x250W into 8\/4ohm, increasing to 165W, 315W and 551W into 8, 4 and 2ohm loads under dynamic conditions, the new L-509X delivers a very similar 2x155W\/8ohm and 2x255W\/4ohm with a dynamic 183W, 342W and 507W into 8, 4 and 2ohm. With both the M-700u and L-509X, protection limits output to ~300W\/1ohm or 16.7A [see Graph 1, below].<\/p>\n In similar fashion, the integrated L-509X has \u20131dB response limits of 3Hz-42kHz (\u20134.6dB\/100kHz) while its 0.02ohm output impedance, rising to 0.05ohm\/20kHz and 0.43ohm\/100kHz still encourages a slightly earlier roll-off into tougher loads. Distortion is also very low at <0.002% from 20Hz-1kHz before rising gently to 0.03%\/20kHz (all at 10W\/8ohm). Where the L-509X scores, however, is in maintaining this distortion trend with increasing output, so THD is 0.0025% at 1kHz\/1W, 0.0026% at 100W and 0.0034% at the rated 120W. Meanwhile, bearing in mind its high +43.4dB overall gain (balanced input), the A-wtd S\/N ratio is a solid 86dB (re. 0dBW) while separation is >80dB midband. PM<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nYou see, there\u2019s not exactly a shortage of big-money integrated amplifiers out there, and launching the \u00a38500 L-509X\u00a0into that arena sees Luxman facing rivalry not only from other manufacturers, but also from within. After all, the company has a handful of integrateds on its books, all of which look somewhat similar at first glance, distinguished only by the colour of their meter illumination and price. The designation echoes the original L-509fSE, which first saw the light of day back in\u00a02002 as an attempt to combine the virtues of preamp and power amps in a single chassis, while slightly confusingly there\u2019s already the similarly-numbered L-590AXII [HFN<\/em> Apr \u201916].<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/famous-av.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/\u5716\u7247-1-2.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\u2018The Mael brothers\u2019 sound is an exercise in studied chaos\u2019<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nRecord out and monitor sockets are provided, along with pre-out\/power amp in \u2013 you could use the last of these to integrate the L-509X with an AV receiver or processor \u2013 and there are two sets of switched speaker outputs and a fascia headphone socket. The controls, though\u00a0there seem to be a lot of them on the front panel (somewhat at odds with the \u2018input selector, volume control and that\u2019s it\u2019 trend), are similarly simple. The input selector is one of the two beautifully precise knobs either side of those meters, while the identical-sized adjustments arranged below allow MM\/MC cartridge selection, record out, speaker switching and tone\/balance controls,\u00a0bypassable using the \u2018Line Straight\u2019\u00a0button. Oh, and there\u2019s a remote handset provided [see p39], also able to \u2018drive\u2019 a Luxman disc player \u2013 and turn off the L-509X\u2019s meter illumination too.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/famous-av.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/\u5716\u7247-1-3.png\")
\nNot that there\u2019s anything brutal about the way this amplifier plays music. Give it a while to settle down from cold \u2013 as PM noted during his lab testing [p39], when set to play at a given output level the meters kick up a bit after a while of\u00a0running, at which point the L-509X can be assumed to be cooking pretty well, and good to go. And the immediate impression is that, while there\u2019s no mistaking this for an amplifier with anything less than \u2018more than sufficient\u2019 power under the hood,\u00a0it sounds sweet, refined and entirely at ease, whatever the music you choose to play through it, and whichever source component you opt to use.<\/p>\n
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The L-509X rewards both \u2018lean back\u2019 and \u2018lean forward\u2019 listening, not least because it always seems entirely\u00a0in control of the speakers, with no sense of speed-impeding smear or overhang. Notes start sharply and decay realistically, giving a sound that\u2019s both immediate and delivered with real presence. It\u2019s a sound that even the wilful mayhem of the latest Sparks set, Hippopotamus<\/em> [BMG\u00a0538279612], can\u2019t catch out. Yes, the sound the Mael brothers deliver is an exercise in studied chaos,\u00a0but even those falsetto\u2019ish vocals are clearly audible in a track like \u2018So Tell Me Mrs Lincoln Aside From That How Was The Play?\u2019, which\u00a0is every bit as bonkers as the title suggests. It may not be quite what the Luxman engineers had in mind when they designed the L-509X but the fact it works so well shows that their amplifier has wide-ranging capabilities beyond the breathy jazz of so many hi-fi demonstrations.<\/p>\n
\nBig, rich, sweet and totally controlled: sounds like something of a soft listen, doesn\u2019t it? Yet\u00a0the truth is that the L-509X is all of the above in a good way, and none of those in a bad: it simply conveys the music in a manner that always seems exactly as it should. Don\u2019t look at the styling and expect all those clich\u00e9s\u00a0of amplifiers of yore \u2013 this is a bang up to date design, in both engineering and sound.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/famous-av.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/\u87a2\u5e55\u5feb\u7167-2018-01-08-\u4e0b\u53484.33.23-300x181.png\")
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