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I went from Class D to Luxman A/AB - And most of what you think is wrong

Hi everyone,

As most of you know, I’m a fan of Class D. I have lived with ICEPower 250AS based amps for a couple of years. Before that I lived with a pair of Parasound A21s (for HT) and now I’m listening to a Luxman 507ux.


I have some thoughts after long term listening:
  • The tropes of Class D having particularly bad, noticeable Class D qualities are all wrong and have been for years.
  • No one has ever heard my Class D amps and gone: "Oh, wow, Class D, that’s why I hate it."
  • The Luxman is a better amp than my ICEPower modules, which are already pretty old.

I found the Class D a touch warm, powerful, noise free. Blindfolded I cannot tell them apart from the Parasound A21s which are completely linear, and run a touch warm due to high Class A operation, and VERY similar in power output.


The Luxman 507 beats them both, but no amp stands out as nasty sounding or lacking in the ability to be musical and involving.


What the Luxman 507 does better is in the midrange and ends of the spectrum. It is less dark, sweeter in the midrange, and sounds more powerful, almost "louder" in the sense of having more treble and bass. It IS a better amplifier than I had before. Imaging is about the same.


There was one significant operational difference, which others have confirmed. I don't know why this is true, but the Class D amps needed 2-4 days to warm up. The Luxman needs no time at all. I have no rational, engineering explanation for this. After leaving the ICEPower amps off for a weekend, they sounded pretty low fi. Took 2 days to come back. I can come home after work and turn the Luxman on and it sounds great from the first moment.


Please keep this in mind when evaluating.


Best,

E
erik_squires
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
George,
What amps have you removed the output filters from so you can test your "idea"?
Your kidding, your tweeters wouldn't last a nano second, if you didn't know??.

What we have here creeping up are manufacturers using the threads to promote their new Class-D products, it’s not on guys, there was one removed/banned totally from Audiogon not so long ago, take heed.
tweak1
3,525 posts
 
Gfi
I believe that was Mike Mivera
Funny, I went to his site 2 days ago. Unless you are a prior owner of his kit you cannot get into his site. I emailed him good luck with that. Why he responded, I have no idea, but, he responded  thusly " already have $800000 worth of OEM orders on the go. Along with $200000 of orders from my members. So not going too bad".

Anybody buying it? Not me
bluorion
433 posts
 
For what its worth, I've had SS integrated amps for most of my life. I finally made the plunge this year and upgraded my system. I listened to quite a few preamps and amps and ended up getting a Modwright tube preamp and a Bel Canto amp. Wow! What a difference in sound (to me at least). This is also my first tube piece. I know they're not 'burned in' yet but it's a sweet sounding system so far. If I ever go back to integrated amps, I'd like to hear the Luxmans. Thanks for posting.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
I emailed him good luck with that. Why he responded, I have no idea, but, he responded thusly " already have $800000 worth of OEM orders on the go. Along with $200000 of orders from my members. So not going too bad".
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/84065033-987d-4a53-ac9f-172bca865101/dcmrb...
viber6
2,438 posts
 
ricevs,
Many interesting topics for discussion.  As you know, specs don't tell the full story of how an amp sounds in a system.  While I am not as technically knowledgeable as you or other manufacturers, I have learned that most of those specs are static measurements.  But music is all about dynamic transient responses, so static specs may be of little use.  Maybe square wave response is more relevant.  The rise and fall of the step requires an infinite bandwidth for perfect reproduction.  Slew rate, or any other transient impulse related measures?  Maybe designers know things which they keep proprietary, and confuse the public with these static specs.  The Merrills have distortion of as much as 0.08%, much worse than the D'ag Relentless, but I would bet the $15,000 price of the 114 that the 114 has better transient clarity than the Relentless.  Dan D'ag personally likes rounded full, bass heavy loud sound, whereas Merrill's goal is fast, clear, immediate sound in the 5th row of the concert hall.  In the end, the designer has a general sound preference which is expressed in all of his products, despite his specs which confuse the public.  The brass binding posts are a softer metal which contributes to warm, loose sound.  I used to listen to steel vs brass screws in the head shell of my tonearm.  I liked the tighter, clearer sound of steel.  So I would guess that the Relentless is still a softer sound than it could be with your tweaks.  Finally, when someone says that something is better, you have to know his values to decipher what that means.  If he likes warm, fuzzy tube sound, I know to go for the opposite of what he likes.
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