Galion vs Luxman vs Advance Paris vs (anything else)

@waynefia    The "Amp Of The Month" club refers to components that are passed on from reviewer to reviewer with a guarantee of a positive review. Luxman does not loan out gear to just any reviewer. Advance Paris changed branding from Advance Acoustics for a more colorful softer image to jump start sales. Galion started off as rebadged Doge. Neither product is an aspirational brand just a placeholder(for many) until they can purchase something with better sonics, build quality and resale value.

@dayglow 

Interesting, as I have seen the new Luxman reviewed all over the place, including some of the same people reviewing AP and Galion. AP changed thier name and focus long time ago, and Galion is newly creating his own designs and maybe still being assembled by Doge. Your description pretty much describes the whole industry and reviewing practices. I have had your Denon recommendation 110th issue, and I like Cambridge, and  have had Rogue, McIntosh(that being the worst), Classe, Belles, Hegel(replaced with A12), Cayin, NAD Masters,  and some others. Yet here I am today with the sweetest sounding AP A12 Classic running in High Bias mode. To each his own but store front preaching about stuff is not nice  LOL ..........

@waynefia    Thx for taking time to reply. My point was not to criticize Advance Paris or Galion they exist for a reason. IMO jumping for one claimed value brand to another is almost always a sideways move. The Audio industry wants you to believe in the "Giant Killer" mentality so you continually buy and sell. Once you learn system synergy the difference between marginal brands X and Y can be trivial. If you need/want to rate or judge a single component understand what sonic ceiling does it have before it becomes a weak link in a system. My point was Luxman has a higher level of potential then either AP or Galion validating it is a better product for sonics which makes it a better value(subjective) despite its slightly higher cost. Superior build quality and resale value are objective facts when compared to AP or Galion. Hope this clears up any confusion.

 @dayglow 

No problem . There are people that would buy McIntosh for the same reasons and never by a Luxman There are people that would pay $14K for a Hegel H600, and never consider a Luxman. We could go on with many brands. I just got rid of a $8K Hegel H400 and now have a $4.5K AP A12 Classic. It sounds much better to my ears, probably the tubes, plenty of clean power. Time will tell what happens with these newer brands in the US. AP now has a distributor, and has setup service and parts centers. Everything breaks, even my first Made in USA Fisher receiver about a million years ago, transformer blew, I was without it for a month ! The more choices the better. Galion is coming up with some interesting new stuff, time will tell with him.

PS, I may get a Luxman sometime, but maybe also a Sugden, Pathos,  Unico,,etc...

I’d go with Luxman. I use an L509X and it’s spectacular musically, from a build quality standpoint and usability standpoint. I can’t comment on the other brands, but Luxman has provenance. I never heard of the other brands. Doesn’t mean they are bad mind you, but for support and service Luxman would be better.

Now if you want tubes, I’d suggest a tube preamp of a good provenance, mated to a Luxman solid state power amp.