2. amps-preamps
  3. 154039-93281

thinking to buy Luxman M900u mono , what other similar amps should i look?

amp for Focal Maestro


https://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/focal_maestro_utopia_iii_loudspeaker/index.html

"The magnitude lies below 4 ohms in this region, with a plunge to just 1.7 ohms at 111Hz rather than the specified minimum of 3 ohms."

"which will also demand very high currents from the amplifier. As all music has considerable energy in this region, the Focal's owner will have to use an amplifier that can genuinely deliver high powers into 2 ohms if the speaker is to be allowed to sing as it should"

"This makes the Maestro Utopia III a distinctly schizophrenic load for the partnering amplifier: very difficult for any amp to drive in the upper bass, but very amplifier-friendly in the upper midrange and treble. It is a good thing, therefore, that the Focal is very sensitive, playing very loud with only a few watts of power."

"It wasn't until the 600W Classé amplifiers took up residence in the system that I felt the Maestro Utopias were really giving me the dynamics they had promised all along."

what are my options?

thanks a lot
pelo911gt3
erik_squires
15,630 posts
 
Ayre man, Ayre! :)

Love my Luxman 509, but if ever there was an amp I might afford to trade to it would be Ayre or D’Agostino, the latter sounding much more like the Luxman that it is hard for me to pull the coin out for.

Ayre, like Pass, in my mind are counter points. That is, they are significantly different enough that I think if you audition Luxman, Ayre and Pass you'll come away with a strong preference.
pelo911gt3 OP
6 posts
 
now i’m using my old amp (backup amp) , Pass X350.5
because one of the Vitus SM-101 amp broken after thunderstorm outage.

"which will also demand very high currents from the amplifier. As all music has considerable energy in this region, the Focal’s owner will have to use an amplifier that can genuinely deliver high powers into 2 ohms if the speaker is to be allowed to sing as it should"

i don’t know what "very high current"  amps can work stable under 2 ohms?  
look like those speakers are not easy to drive and like a lot of watts.

i can buy used or demo also.

i thought about the Luxman M900u mono because it’s 1200watts into 4ohms and can work on 2ohms also.


techno__dude
511 posts
 
I do think the Luxman M-900u can drive those speakers to realistic levels. It’s tranformer is like no other brand makes, made of huge solid core flat copper. The capacitors are huge also, and japanese cream of the crop. They are connected with pure copper bus bars. The boards have very thick copper parts. Everything speaks very high current. Quality watts over quantity imho.

Try to borrow one to see if it moves your Focals to your liking.
My opinion is mono amps are a thing of the past. You do not need them in 2020. There are very high power class D stereo amps outhere.


tom_hankins
928 posts
 
Tried/auditioned many. Audionet MAX monos have been hear a couple years now. Best I've had, and my favorite in there price range and above. Many reviews online.
alucard19
355 posts
 
You might want to look into the new Parasound JC1+ mono amps 1,300 watts at 2 ohms, Stable with speaker impedance dips below 1Ω
Model Halo JC 1+ « Parasound  These new amps are really worth looking into, and about $5,000.00 less per pair than the Luxman M-900u
More to discover