Luxman T-117 Tuner

This tuner is clearly better than the FT-11 by a substantial amount. I have owned tens and tens of tuners including the two tuners you asked about. If you can get this tuner for $225 or less in excellent condition there should be no question in its purchase if you like a solid state design.

"$225 or less" for this tuner that retailed for $700 about a decade ago? People still talk about this one, and the RAVE Stereophile review it received.
"$225"? Good luck.
Tuners usually hold their value better then most other components. Why? Because nothing has changed much with FM lately.
The last T-117 we had, which wasn't mint, sold on an AUCTION for almost $400.
This is an excellent tuner, and it is in a different league when compared to most other Luxman tuners (except maybe the 5T50 Lab series).

BTW, if anyone has one in the $225 range, drop us an email, I'll buy it for my own use,
but I sure wouldn't offer anyone $225" for an item that goes for almost $400.

[email protected]

Yes, Brian, that is its value unless you sell on an Auction where people who may not have done their research get too emotional and artificially bid up a T117. Very few people research tuner values as completely and nearly daily as I do. I love what remains of the best of FM both its diversity of music and ideas (that is assuming you are not listening to the 95% of stations owned by 2 or 3 corporate interests).

I have found Audiogon.Com Bluebook Service as a good general guide for used equipment price points. Their conclusion as of today for the T117: $180 market price retail.

Regarding you buying one for $225 if there is one anywhere. How does one in reported mint condition for $200 sound?

Here is the ad (better hurry up though) it has been sitting around nearly the 30 days ads run (26 days as of today):

http://gonmain.iserver.net/cgi-bin/cl.pl?misctunr&1007314835&class&3&4&

LUXMAN T-117 MINT CONDITION
Asking $200.00 obo
New Retail $600.00
Condition 8/10 AGS
Days/Views 26 / 475
Ship cost Plus shipping
Ship from 12 lbs from 91205
Ship to USA only
Included No box or manual

About Seller Hchg888 (15)
(send email) (view feedback) (other items)

Pay Terms Money Order, PayPal

Description
Hello,

I have for Sale a Luxman T-117 AM-FM Tuner.
Unit Is in Mint Condition, without orginal
box or manual. Grading Due to Age Only, Unit
in Perfect Working Order."

That should just about do it.

Cheers!

Hello Simply music, I hate to disagree with you, but the $1500.00 Luxman 5T50, of the 1978 Luxman LRS series, was one of the worst sounding tuners in Lux history. The very best Lux tuners were the 1976 T-110U, T-310, and T-88V. The LRS series represented a large step down in SOUND quality. Ironically, the build quality was outstanding. After that point, Alpine purchased Lux and the McIntosh type of image began to fade. At this point, Accuphase took over as the premier Japanese supplier of Audio. Needless to say, I have owned all of these tuners. The model 117, did not interest me, since Luxman was no longer the company that issued the goods of its illustrious past.........Frank

I owned the Lux T-117 which I bought in mint condition for $150 through AudioMart, a great used equipment journal to subscribe to if your hobby is buying & selling audio equipment. The T-117 was a very good sounding tuner (more like a good analog tuner than a digital tuner sonically). I didn't care for the automatic high blend circuit that self-activated on noisy signals, but it was good sounding, there was some replication of air and it produced a wide soundstage with some depth. It was satisfying enough for me until it was replaced by a 1970's Sansui TU-9900 (picked up for $90, in mint condition, in AudioMart) that was far superior in every respect (soundstage, depth, air, harmonic rightness, etc.)

Hmm. Perhaps we should take a poll. Will everyone who has actually heard a Luxman 5T50 speak? I agree with Bryan here, even though he only said "maybe." Without trying to denigrate someone else's favorite(s), the 5T50 was one of the best sounding tuners in Luxman, and solid state, history. I have one that I bought from a neighbor at a garage sale.

yeah! but, It was also said, at Tuner Info, that the T 117
was one of the best sounding tuners, ever. Better than the MCintosh MR 78, FT 101 and others. Up there with the TU9900,
so that, others might disagree with you, who may have greater knowledge of tuners than you. There is no last word
in sound comparison, and not all tuners sound exactly the same as each other. Evidently, it must be pretty good. NO?

I happen to like the T-117 a lot! Please be aware that to the best of my knowledge Luxman no longer serves the US market. Parts and repairs may be diffucult to come by.

I just came across this old thread and find it interesting.

(1) In an eBay auction that closed yesterday, the T-117 fetched $400. NANDERSON bid $289, above the $225 price he thought it was worth. The Audiogon bluebook average is currently at $260, with a range from $180 (2 years ago) to $370. I think I have not seen it on eBay below $300.

(2) The negative comment on 5T50 is not unlike some similar ones that I have heard for the T-117 and T-110. I have all 3 of them. I would say that if any of these sounded so bad, they should probably be checked out by a qualified technician. Vintage tuners do need repair and alignment. My 5T50 was terrible when I bought it and the culprit was a bad ceramic filter. Once that's replaced and the tuner realigned, it's a different beast. These are all very fine tuners. The people who found them to be terrible probably had a sick tuner and didn't bring it to the doctor.

(3) The T-310 was an older tuner than the T-110 that was a step lower than the T-110. It was sold for more than the T-110 bcs it had AM and Dolby thrown in. It's still a good tuner. The T-88V was another step or two lower in the product line. It sold for less than half the price of the T-110 in UK, about 60% in the US.

I noticed the above commentor has zero feedback, so far, on Audiogon. So I thought I would offer this perspective from my years on Audiogon. $225 was the y 2001 average (the thread above is 1.5-years old) according to the internet survey done by Audiogon.com (the owner of this forum) for a T-117 in average condition on venues like Audiogon where Hello was selling their tuner. The price of the T-117 like other things on Ebay is not necessarily reflective of what they sell for on Audiogon and other venues and visa versa (the worlds could not be more different on many types and pieces of equipment). Do this with enough equipment and you will know this is true. If the T-117 is in excellent to Mint condition of course they will sell for more. ESPECIALLY in the euphoria that can get people swept away past sanity on Ebay. In fact, back when Hello was advertizing their tuner Audiogon had one sitting around for nearly 30-days unsold in Mint condition for $200. Context is everything.

By the way, the T-117 is a very fine, albeit somewhat cheap looking on the outside, tuner.

The fact that I have no feedback just means that I have never used Audiogon to buy/sell anything. It does not affect any of the things I said about T-117, which were simple facts and not involved any opinion. Everyone understands that there is a range in sale price of any used equipment. My point was simply to observe how the average has risen over the 2 year period tracked by Audiogon, and even Nanderson was bidding 30% more, and still not winning one. I didn't think the eBay sale at $400 was particularly "euphoric." One before it was $350, and others I have seen were generally over $300. Is it still possible to get one at $289 or $225, sure. I know at least one person who got it for under $100 in the last year, and it's in near mint condition.

Perhaps another point should be added to my last post. The price info on Audiogon really should not be overly depended on. Most items do not have enough statistics (less than 4 or 5 sales) to have a graph, bcs I have seen many graphs with as few as 4 or 5 sales. In many cases, I'm sure there were just 1 or 2 sales. I wish they would state the number in the database and people can see how unreliable the figures are, though they are still better than nothing. The other problem is that even with enough cases, the average was taken over 2 years, which often do not represent the "current" or "recent" market. A newly discontinued/replaced model would see price drop quickly over the period, and some old model may get rediscovered and become "hot" again. So if one pays price that's 50% higher or lower than what's in the Augiogon database, it doesn't necessarily mean that one is overpaying or being lucky. As long as the buyer/seller are willing and happy, it's a fair deal.

FWIW I have a T-117 and a Sansui TU-717 that I have AB-ed in the same system. The Luxman sounded better- not by much, but definitely better. Slightly "fuller" and richer in the midrange as I recall.
I live in a city with lots of stations, so I've never really tried pulling in distant stations with either.

Willing to pay more for a tuner is, at least, determined by the perceived value of an item in certain skewed venues. Hence, you can be reasonably assured you can recover your money if you don't like it or does not fit into your preferences at the moment. Meaning: If Ebay'ers pay much more for certain items than people on Audiogon or other venues or visa versa that does not mean that Ebay should be used as a guage for what an item is worth almost any place else. And sometimes not even remotely close: I am sure many of us listened to the recent Sunday morning broadcast on NPR talking about the guy who sold his whole life's possesions on Ebay including hair clippings, an old standard clay brick, and, if I am recalling correctly, his used underwear. He later went on to write a book about it. Then he made even more money on the book. On the other hand, Ebay can be a great place to buy things that are not on the typical Ebay'ers radar screen and, hence, you can find some really fine values if you pay attention who you are buying from. I truly appreciate the recycling aspect of Audiogon and Ebay rather than a throw away society. You just have to be smart about when is the best time to be in a particular venue.

On a related note: Audiogon's Bluebook service is really a good start in determining value but it should not be the only factor. I commonly pay more from trusted Audiogon'ers or Ebay'ers etc with an extensive positive record and a caring about their equipment. I have had so many really great transactions made with real people. So Regarding venues: Viva la difference (and know there is one)!

I bought in January 2005 an used T-117L in Germany but unfortunately without manual.
Could a second owner please scan either the German or English pages of the user manual T-117 or T-117L or T-03 and send me the file to my email adress? I'd like to pay for that service - if you tell me where to send the money.
Kind regards,
Martin

I have a Luxman 5T50 that I am comparing A-B to Rotel RT990BX Tuner and Harmon K TU 9200 Tuner and ADS-R1 Reciever and the Lux is the best of the 4 with the Rotel 2d, HK 3d and ADS last. Also comparing A-B to various cd players (Naim, Rotel 10, Cambridge 640, and Pionier CDR) and it loses but still in comparison is not bad, so I have to conclude that this statement must to be wrong: "... 5T50 was one of the worst sounding tuners in Lux history." Not possible.

I have the Luxman T-117 tuner and owned the Magnum Dynalab 101. I sold the Magnum Dynalab. The T-117 blew it away. Best digital tuner I ever heard. It works well with the Magnum Dynalab Silver Ribbon Antenna. Wide sound stage and low sonic distortion. This tuner has everything that's good in an analog tuner with the convenience of a digital tuner. 

The Luxman T-117 Tuner is an impressive sounding tuner especially for the money. I had played the Tuner game spending all sought of money including the expensive Accuphase T-109, Tandberg 3001A, Magnum Dynalabs Etude, to name just a few that I’ve owned. This took me to the conclusion that the Luxman T117 Tunet is a World Beater and an absolute steal for the money. Just an overall great tuner.

Tunet is typo should be Tuner. 🤪