Devialet Expert 250 with Harbeth worked brilliantly for me for about 5 years and used prices are falling fast, I don’t know why. I still think it’s the best all round and super reliable. Very good phono stage as well. The 250 has plenty of power.
Another good match with Harbeth are the Audia Flight integrated amps. They have an optional adjustable phono board. The US distributor is Fidelity Imports in NJ. I’ve owned one for about four years and that have good bass drive and a warm mid-range. I paired mine with C7’s and found it to be the best match of the multiple combinations I tried.
Don’t underestimate the power of the 590… yes officially it’s 30W but it does produce much more than that. And 30 clean watts and lots of current can drive them
Emphasizing the notion of a direct comparison, you’ll always wonder if you don’t.
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Keep the XP-17 and get an INT-60 for sublime midrange.
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Having both Pass Labs and Luxman I had similar thoughts, but for the one box solution he seeks the Luxman is hard to beat.
Saw this today:
I recently replaced my L-509u with the L-595ASE in my main system driving Verity Audio Parsifal Ovation speakers. The immediately noticeable difference was that the 595 sounded warmer, rounder, more detailed and with a bigger soundstage. These were incremental improvements, not massive ones - but noticeable with many familiar recordings. But it sounded so good that I decided to replace my CDP with the Luxman D-10x - and wow what an improvement. Very musically engaging.
Apparently a senior Luxman executive has said that Luxman will no longer be making Class A amplifiers, and that the L-595A was their last Class A amplifier.
Unfortunately, you are correct, no more class A amps or integrated from Luxman. It comes down to market forces (not necessarily demand) where the energy consumption laws in EU and in many parts of Asia are much more stringent that what we see in North America. And I get it, you can’t make class A for NA only… just not enough of a market for it (unless you crank up the prices, which then wouldn’t make Luxman competitive).
Image courtesy Tone Magazine
Credit goes to the class A design and implementation. I vacillated between the L-509X and the L-590AXII. Ultimately went for the L-509X for its drive and grip with the speakers I have. I did like the L-590AXII sense of ease with acoustic jazz combos. The 595ASE has a special sound as well from my brief audition. My understanding is the L-509Z is a nice step up from the L-509X. Should I step up from the L-509X it would be leaps and bounds not small steps. Enjoy your L-595ASE, it is truly a special one within the line. Unfortunate that Luxman is not offering class A going forward. My understanding is the market just wasn’t suupporting it. I do know where a demo Luxman L-595ASE is available.
Having heard the Accuphase E-800 class A integrated I enjoyed it immensely driving Wilson Audio SabrinaX, but find it to be over priced in comparison to Luxman equivalents.
Luxman of America is a subsidiary of the Luxman mothership, and so markups are more reasonable than the markups by Accuphase’s American distributor. This results in comparable Accuphase components costing significantly more than Luxman in America as compared to in Japan. As a result Luxaman is more available and more reasonable than Accuphase in the North American market, and so Accuphase is losing out…
The top Luxman integrated amps are all wonderful in their own way, but the class A amps have an extra sprinkle of fairy dust. If you have found an L-595A demo, you will not be disappointed - it is a wonderful final statement from Luxman on Class A amplification. Not sure how the L-595A compares to an Accuphase E-650 or E-800, but they are all top flight components.
Accuphase appears to have realized that is the case and recently made price reductions to their product lineup in the USA. For quite a while, Canadian prices had been about 20-25% lower than USA prices after accounting for currency differences.
Until recently there was a USA importer, L.A. region, that influenced the Luxman design aesthetic, preferring the lower tone controls etc. hidden under a swing down panel. That importer/distributor hiked prices similarly to what the Accuphase importer has done. Luxman changed USA distribution, and list on the L-509x, and similar components droped a fair amount. The L-509 dropped $2k immediately, knowing as I purchased at the time of transition.
I mentioned the L595ASE incase other readers were interested in the integrated amplifier. Me I’m moving upscale. To my ear Accuphase has a slightly warmer sound than the comparable Luxman integrated amps. The E-800 is a stand-out in that regard.
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Accuphase, along with Solution and Air Tight distributor, AXXIS Audio is also under new leadership that promised more reasonable markups following the purchase
On that note, I hefted this healthy girl onto my rack yesterday, this a phase of my right-sizing efforts, discussed in another thread. I’m giving her a little runtime as an integrated before I run everything through my CF-80, with the E800 as an amp only, which I’m confident will open the soundstage a bit more
Just starting the bonding process, but I’m definitely sweet on her already. Dead quiet, premium build/feel, sweet, liquid midrange. Lot of debate on Class A and I don’t want to open that can here, but man, this amp sounds gooood
Best,
-JP
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How many Class A watts?
An end game piece for many, I think.
Congratulations.
50 into 8, doubles down to 2 ohms
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Accuphase E800 50 wpc rms into 8 ohms, doubles down to 100 @ 4 ohms, and
200 @2 ohms. Magical with the Wilson Audio SabrinaX, but a wee bit overpriced IMO ompared to comparable Luxman class A.
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I’ll bet.
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I listened to the Luxman and the Esoteric class A integrated offerings, all sounded great, in their own right. In the end, I preferred the Accuphase
I also borrowed a CODA with high class A bias, as well as a Diablo 300 and an Accuphase E5000 on the a/b side. Perhaps, once an Accuphase guy, always an Accuphase guy…
I did not listen to models outside of my budget constraints, I’m sure the Vitus SIA-030 would have been the choice if I wanted to bust the budget
Best,
-JP
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