[4N6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by agile_one /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes ... mad props to Todd for his support of the Head-Fi community.

100% agree. Thanks, Todd!

Quote:

Originally Posted by agile_one /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just hope you NorCal oafs don't break this beauty before it makes its way to Florida. and glad you tin eared flower children will have a chance to listen and comment.

I love it...

 

[Hibe]

 

[Voltron]

[size=xx-small]*Photo Credit to Jude[/size]

My time with the beautiful Luxman P-1 is getting short.

I am grateful to Todd for the loan, and I did bring the amp to the recent small Marin meet so that some other locals could hear it. Indeed, Todd himself will be bringing the P-1 to ChiUnify 2 next Saturday in Chicago, and from there it will travel to Tampa for another meet, before auditions by several more Head-Fiers. Thanks for putting this high quality gear out for loan, Todd, especially the P-1 which is not well known here in the US since it was only recently released in 110 voltage.

I will try to get to more detailed impressions soon, but here are some listening details and some basic impressions. I have used the Luxman now with my EMM Labs gear, my VPI Aries 3 turntable, and my Onix Reference One CDP. I hope to try it with the Squeezebox 3/Lavry combo and with the SB3 and on its own just to see how that simple setup would work. I might even try a super simple Airport Express into Luxman rig using Remote on the iPhone. The cans I have tried include the following: Sony CD3000; ATH-AD2000; AKG K701; Sennheiser HD650; Grado HF-1; Grado PS-1; and Ultrasone Edition 9. I might throw the Headphiled AKG K340 and Sennheiser HD600 at it before my time is up.

The Luxman P-1 has impressed me over and over again. The initial listening was done with the Onix at home in the comfort of my listening chair where I was consumed and engaged and fell pretty hard for this amp. It has a very natural, warm but detailed sound, and I think it is one of the best pieces of solid state equipment I have heard in terms of allowing an emotional connection to the music. Since my initial listening, I have tried it with much better sources and I can gladly report that the P-1 scales up well and improved greatly with a better signal. Although the S/E and XLR inputs are both strong, the XLR input sounds better to my ears. It is louder, as is typical with a balanced signal, but even accounting for that and trying to drop the volume down when switching to XLR I found that the detail and presentation were improved with the balanced input. I don't know the technical details of the Class A amplification or what happens to the balanced signal given that the output is single ended, but I do know that it sounds fantastic with a wide range of cans:

*I first tried it with the CD3K and AD2K for open and closed single ended cans I had on hand. Both of these cans responded very well to the Luxman and sounded about as good as I have heard either of them. The high end is really nice and the bass, especially on the AD2K is great

. Very balanced and full sound, which is not at all easy with the CD3K.

*The stock K701s sound fantastic out of the Luxman, and really had more life than any solid state amp has instilled in them with the s/e stock cable to my memory. I also have a recabled pair of K701s with a Moon Audio Black Dragon balanced cable that sound incredible on my SinglePower SDS-XLR but the stock ones almost always sound pretty flat to me. This matchup is excellent and could really change some people's minds about the K701, which is exactly what tough critic JP11801 said was his experience. He normally dislikes the K701 and thought the Luxman made them sing. I have to try the Black Dragon model with an adapter and see how that is...

*I had my HD650 at the Marin Meet with a Moon Audio Blue Dragon cable on it. The Blue Dragon is not ideal for those cans, whereas it is great with the HD600, but I did not love that combination. It sounded ok but it did not grab me and I did not spend much time trying it out. I need to try the HD650 with the Equinox cable and the HD600 with the Blue Dragon to really see how these match up with the amp.

*Last night I spent some time with the Grados, HF-1 and PS-1, and really enjoyed the Luxman with both. OK, I enjoyed it A LOT MORE with the PS-1 but that is natural.

The bass on both Grados was great and the high end extension was there without the brightness or fatigue that people sometimes associate with Grados. The PS-1 had its distinctive wonderful mid-range in spades and the bass was never overwhelming to the overall sound. I wanted to listen to "Melissa" and "Mountain Jam" on the Eat a Peach SACD about 10 times with the PS-1, but I relented and listened to them with the Edition 9 as well.

*These were maybe the most perfect match of all. The Edition 9 just seem to love the Luxman. Deep bass, clear and warm mids, with sparkle and extension on the top. My pair of Edition 9s do not suffer from some of the oddities that other pairs have shown on occasion (which JP reminded me of today), but they sound particularly good on my SDS and quite good on my Rockhopper Audio balanced 6-ch Beta22. I haven't A/B'd the Beta and P-1 but I have to believe from what I heard last night that it is an even better match with these cans. I noticed that Jude made a similar comment about the Edition 9 and the Luxman after hearing somebody else's cans on his own P-1. I would definitely recommend an audition to anyone who really likes the Edition 9 because it is a combo to die for.

I will post some pics from my home rig soon, but here is a lousy picture of the P-1 at the Marin Meet:

If you have questions about the Luxman I will do my best to answer them. I have to let go of it probably Monday at the latest, but am going to be hard pressed not to buy a P-1 from Todd one of these days...

 

[blessingx]

Great review Al. Nice to know the P1 handles so many phones that well.

 

[jpelg]

The past reviews I've read on the P-1 (Japanese voltage version) echo your sentiments, Al. The Luxman seems to be on the warmer side of neutral, adding a pleasant colouration that is traditionally associated with tube amps. Your mention of it being a particularly good amp for the AKG K701's underscores this. Perhaps this is a good option for tube lovers who can't do tubes for whatever reason.

However, this may not make it a slam-dunk for listeners who prefer a faster, more clear & detailed signature. I wouldn't think it would a good match for Ultrasones, as I believe they match best with the latter-sounding amp type (more typically associated with solid-state). As always, ymmv.

Btw, does anyone know the output impedance spec on the Luxman P-1?

Thanks Al, for writing up your impressions. Thanks Todd, for offering us a chance to hear a rare, beautiful piece of kit. I hope to hear the amp for myself someday.

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does anyone know the output impedance spec on the Luxman P-1?

I looked at a couple of websites and couldn't find it mentioned anywhere in the specs. But it's a solid state amp so it'd be pretty shocking if it was more then a fraction of an ohm.

 

[Voltron]

Thanks Ric and Jimmy. I am glad to hear that I not out of line with other reviews -- I haven't actually seen any -- because I am hoping this doesn't come off as shilling. I really think this amp is great and I heard even more good stuff last night through the HD650/Equinox and HD600/Blue Dragon, as well as the stock K701 and K701/Black Dragon. I did try the K340s which required cranking the volume over 12 o'clock and still did not sound their best. It gave a spacious presentation but not a completely filled out onw. More later.

Jimmy's comment about speed is something I was going to address when I wrote up more comments. The P-1 is actually pretty fast and it was very noticeable going from AD2k (already pretty fast, I think) to Ed. 9 or from HD650 to Ed. 9. The most obvious example was on some flamenco music by Manitas de Plata. It is a cool recording (Manita de Plata and Friends, on Connoisseur Society) that was recorded in a small enough space that you really get a lot of room presence and atmospherics on top of the very fast guitar playing. The Ed. 9 was markedly faster and sounded wonderful. The others sounded good too, but the quick transients and ability to hear decay and room sounds was improved with the Ed. 9. Good stuff! So, don't write off the Luxman as a match for speed lovers until you hear it for yourself.

p.s. to Jimmy: Aaron is supposed to have an audition in a few weeks so try to get together with him to hear it.

 

[jp11801]

The Luxman strikes a balance not often heard in most solid state amps, it is very fast but without any edginess that is often the hallmark of 'fast' amps. If I had to use one word to describe the amp's sound it would be engaging. It is one of a few amps that after a few minutes you forget you are evaluating it and just sit back and enjoy.

My sole quibble with the amp is the 3 SE outputs on the front, they serve no realy purpose as you can't really use them. If you have a 650, rs1 and AT ad2000 hooked up they all need different volumes to sound good. I'm sure it made sense to the person who designed it but I can't figure out its usefulness. I will say that sonics are not impacted when multiple headphones are plugged in so each headphone out seems isolated from each other as the impedance did not impact the sound when more than one headphone was plugged in.

All and all I would recommend this amp and think it betters the Beta balanced sound overall. So in the price class it occupies it is an amp I would consider probably along with a dynamight. It does beat all comers in the looks dept with a fit and finish that is tough to top.

Todd you are truly an asset to our community of madness by loaning out this amp.

 

[blessingx]

The jacks make perfect sense if you plug in a HD580, HD600 and HD650.

Seriously, the one word to describe my limited time with the P1 is "effortless." Never shouting. Never straining. Just an always in control, gentle, fast, even "classy" presentation. Like most, I am suspect when someone claims a piece of gear sounds like it looks, but it seems that way here.

 

[immtbiker]

Hey Al,
Thanks for taking the time to write your impressions. I can't wait to have my turn. If it is as good as the reviews are saying, then I'm a goner (like I need another amp in my house).

See you soon.

BTW- Jimmy have moved to a place that has more trees, so unless he want to hop a flight, he won't be able to come to my house for a demo.

 

[Voltron]

Oops, forgot jpelg had moved out of Gotham. I guess he'll have to buy one to hear it!

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif BTW- Jimmy have moved to a place that has more trees, so unless he want to hop a flight, he won't be able to come to my house for a demo.

Flight??!

Man, you guys that live in the city think everywhere else is another country!

 

[velogreg]

Well I had the good fortune of spending quite a few hours with the Luxman P-1 prior to and after the So Cal meet prior to shipping it back to the distributor. I used my K701s and W1000s using Nate built balanced cables as well as a variety of RCA cables, playing a full range of music from classical choral, string cello to acoustic jazz piano sax trumpet and female vocals. The operative terms for the Luxman P-1 for me would be balance and detail.......in heaps. Someone posted earlier that they felt a bit slowness to the midrange; I did not experience any slowness during my time with the P-1. Bass was very tight and controlled, midrange very detailed and the treble was accurate with out being fatiguing. I did found the Luxman to be a very transparent amp though and perhaps the source may have contributed to the posters impressions of slowness or fatigue. When I went from my Paradisea dac at the meet to my Capitole cdp the music detail and presence was improved. I doubt that most of this improvement is attributable to the balanced connections or not but using the Capitole as the source with Nates' balanced cables produced a source amp combo that is hard to beat.

 

[mhamam]

hi, a question: how would you compare it with other amps in the same price range or a little cheaper such as some of the Ray Samuels and Meiers?

 

[agile_one]

Since the Tampa meet last Sat, I am the fortunate one in possession of the Todd's gorgeous Lux P-1. I am settling in for some extended listening tonight, having had only a couple of hours to listen since getting home Sunday.

Folks, I concur with every positive comment made about this piece. It is beautiful to look at, is constructed of the best parts and materials with high quality workmanship. All that would be for nothing if it didn't sound good, and sound good it does. Every note of music so far reproduced has sounded musical and emotionally involving. That includes jazz, classical, rock, acoustic, and blues. The ability to provide detail without sterility, warmth without mushiness, and powerful bass or complex classical passages without breaking a sweat or getting confused or bothered is stunning. Soundstage is ample and very natural. Yes, it is definitely among the finest solid state amps.

So far most listening has been from an Accuphase DP-77 SACD player, with bits and pieces from a pcdp or Squeezebox for variety. Fortunately (or unfortunately for our wallets) the P-1 easily distinguishes between source quality. If you invest in an excellent source, the P-1 will reward you with all the improved sound you expect.

Been running both balanced and single ended (The DP-77 has both outputs), and as Voltron noted detect marginally better performance from balanced ins. One note about the balanced inputs - they follow the Japanese convention for the XLR pinout - pin 1 ground, pin 2 cold (-), pin 3 hot (+) as opposed to U.S. pinout of pin 1 ground, pin 2 hot (+), pin 3 cold (-). Not to worry, though, as there is a phase inversion button right at the XLR connections. Just push in to invert phase, and pins 2 -3 will be swapped. I was fine, though, as the Accuphase is also Japanese, so they mated with the Lux set to normal.

This is by no means meant to be an impressions post - more of an answer to the question of where is the P-1 now?

Here are some pics ...

The Accuphase atop the Luxman P-1. Almost a perfect match (damn! my wallet is quaking). Both are a champagne gold, bit the Lux is a shade paler.

Power button and LED on left - LED orange till warmed up (few seconds), then blue - very cool.

Next is Balance bypass and Balance knob.

Far right sports the Volume knob and Luxman logo.

Rear left has inputs - note phase reversal button for balanced ins.

Rear right is badging and an IEC power input. Note the gold panel labeled "LINE PHASE SENSOR" above the IEC receptacle. You press the little button, and if it glows RED, the power is out of phase, and needs to be reversed. Nice touch.