New Luxman P1u amp
Sep 24, 2009 at 11:46 PM Post #16 of 34
I've only had a chance to borrow the original P-1 for a few days. However, the only thing I could really compare it to was the SE output of my Phonenix, which has a slightly more detailed treble, the P-1 having the slightly better bass of the two, but the margin was very small, ie: I have interconnects that affect the sound more (tonally mostly). The amps to compare it to IMO would be a 3-board SE Beta 22 or a Zana Deux, however, for someone who isn't interested in going balanced, I think it would be a fantastic "final amp". I had considered getting one a while back, and it's nice to know with actual experience it's as good as I imagined it would be, making, as others have described, whatever headphones you plug in to it sound great.
 
Jan 26, 2010 at 8:14 AM Post #17 of 34
Received the P1u from Todd today as part of the TTVJ loaner and it is a beauty. I actually might like the brushed silver face more than the original P1's champagne gold. The P1 is about one inch wider, but the other dimensions are very close between the two units. Obviously, the P1u has 2 headphone outs instead of 3, but it does sport a loop out that is nice. The unit comes with plastic caps on all the inputs and the outputs, which I left on except for the XLR ins. The P1u feels much like the tank that the P1 is.

I set them up stacked on top of each other, and they are both plugged into a Shunyata Hydra 8 power conditioner with Crystal Cable Reference PCs. They are receiving identical inputs from the Amarra Model 4, which has 8 channels of XLR output. The cable, I believe, is a Mogami wire product, and it breaks out the 8 channels from a DB25 connector. Other than volume matching, there shouldn't really be any variables going back and forth between the two siblings.

I have just started listening and have tried a number of songs of different varieties, using an Audio Technica AD2000 and a Sennheiser HD800. Without going into detail, which I cannot really offer as yet, I would say that the two units sound more similar than different. I hope to spend some quality time with both of them to really see what I can hear that distinguishes them. From what I can tell early on, the P1u easily steps into its big brother's shoes.

Here are some pics, and it is particularly difficult to photograph these shiny beasts at night so they are nothing special.

web.jpg


web.jpg


web.jpg


web.jpg


web.jpg


web.jpg
 
Jan 26, 2010 at 3:44 PM Post #19 of 34
Thank you very much Voltron for info and the pics. In addition to comparing both versions of the Luxman amp, could I ask you to please compare the P-1u to what you hear through the Model 4's headphone output?

BTW, I'm pretty sure Metric Halo says that the DB25 output can drive headphones directly as well (through the appropiate connecting cable, of course). I would be really inetresting to compare the DAC-direct output, to the headphone amp output of the Model 4, and to the Luxman . . .

I'm awaiting a Model 5 myself to demo at home (using Experience One and Yamamoto HA-02 w/ UE9)

Thank you!
 
Jan 27, 2010 at 12:53 AM Post #23 of 34
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dartagnan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thank you very much Voltron for info and the pics. In addition to comparing both versions of the Luxman amp, could I ask you to please compare the P-1u to what you hear through the Model 4's headphone output?

BTW, I'm pretty sure Metric Halo says that the DB25 output can drive headphones directly as well (through the appropiate connecting cable, of course). I would be really inetresting to compare the DAC-direct output, to the headphone amp output of the Model 4, and to the Luxman . . .

I'm awaiting a Model 5 myself to demo at home (using Experience One and Yamamoto HA-02 w/ UE9)

Thank you!


I will certainly compare the Model 4 headphone out to the Luxmen. Not sure about using the analog output with adapters for balanced headphones direct, but I will ponder that one.
 
Jan 27, 2010 at 4:08 AM Post #25 of 34
Quote:

Originally Posted by .Sup /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I jizzed. Thanks for the pics


Thanks for making me spit my Pepsi on my laptop screen...
 
Jan 31, 2010 at 8:42 AM Post #27 of 34
I was listening to the P1u when I noticed a post about quietness and Luxman's claim that the P1u is 4x quieter even than the P1. The P1 is a silent, silent amp, and I wondered how much quieter the P1u really could be. I still have both of them hooked up right now to the same balanced source and nothing in the RCAs. The P1u has the plastic caps on the RCA jacks, but otherwise they are set up the same. I paused the music and listened on both amps with the HD800s.

At 10:00 on the volume, neither was making any noise--no hiss, or what I call "presence" when you can just hear enough to know it is on. I then cranked the volume all the way on the P1u and there is only the slightest hiss/presence audible. It is there, but it is very, very faint. Also, the "sound" does not ever appear until 4:00, which is almost fully open (5:00 is the end of the dial). I then did the same on the P1 and it was FOUR TIMES LOUDER! Well, I'm kidding, but it is noticeably louder even though it is still very quiet compared to many amps. It also kicked in around 3:30/4:00 on the dial. Interesting. I also switched the input selector to coax and there was NO noise at any volume level on either amp. Pretty impressive all the way around.

More impressions to follow, but suffice to say that the P1u is a special amp.
 
Jan 31, 2010 at 6:28 PM Post #29 of 34
I wonder how they achieved the improved dark background.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top