Buying a Luxman L505z from Japan

When I bought my Accuphase amp recently I had some people contact me about purchasing from some places that were much cheaper than the US retail authorized US vendors. I would ask questions about warranty and they assured me I had a warranty but when I pressed them I found out I had no Accuphase warranty at all. They were not US authorized vendors. Like others have said, you will get zero support if you buy like that. I see these EBAY sales all the time where they do the voltage conversions and try and sell you the products directly from Japan. You will get no official warranty and who knows what was done by them to convert the voltage. I did a hard pass on this. It will also impact the resale price too since the people buying these products are going to ask the same question and will require proof of where you purchased it. Just my opinion.

Unveil Sound has the L- 505z for $6,995.

115/60hz.

@edubbers 

Luxman won't honor warrantee repairs on units purchased outside the US and you'd be hard pressed to find a step-down transformer with adequate current capacity at a price that would offset what you'd save buying from Japan. Suck it up if you want it and don't cut corners!

I would see how difficult it is to change it over to 120V. 
 

That said I ran a Spark Audio (Cayin) integrated tube amp on and off for over 15 years on a step up transformer with no issues. Sold it with the transformer still played like new. 
 

Other option is a slightly pre loved one that is already a US model for potentially the same price as your Japper. 

I bought the Luxman 505z from Japan off Ebay 6 months ago from a highly rated seller, similar to your situation. I obsessed a bit about warranty support and transformers. In the end I bought it with zero regrets, zero problems, and great clean effortless power and sound. I do not care about lack of US warranty support because the odds of a working unit breaking down under warranty is less than the chance of a lightening bolt knocking it out. Luxman's are well built, solid amps. I figured buying a US model was like paying for a $3,000 warranty and I would not put money on that bet paying off. Those good Ebay sellers offer 30 to 60 day returns often including shipping. You have Ebay fraud protection. You have credit card protection. Transformer is a non issue. Do you want to pluck down a few thousand to cover a Luxman amp breaking down? They don't break down easily.

Anyway, for me, I would do it again. In fact, I am looking at a Luxman turntable since I already have the transformer for the 505z. 

Do check the duty situation into the US. I think it may be 15% now, but you know that could change at our leader's whim. Some sellers claim to cover this, but while they may intend to, duty is paid by you, the buyer.

For some people, buying the US version at a premium is worth totally eliminating these worries. That is a valid way to approach it for some. It just didn't work for me.