Vintage Luxman Receiver R-115 with 2Ci's

[olds1959special]

While waiting for the Rega Brio to arrive I picked up another amp to experiment with. I found a vintage Luxman receiver R-115 and it sounds pretty good. It does 70 watts into 8 ohms. I wanted to see if I needed the additional power over the Brio which is 50 watts. I found I hardly turn the amp up so I probably don't need the extra power, and as well it seems pretty bass heavy to the point where I turned down the woofer and turned up the tweeter of the 2Ci's a little to compensate. I think it's fun to listen to this amp, it has a definite presence to it and sounds balanced. It may not be the last word in fidelity, I feel it adds a bit of euphonic distortion which gives it some character. I am looking for something a bit more 'pure' though, but for now this is a good amp to listen to.

[GdnrBob]

Luxman always had a good reputation, as well as a distinct style. I have never heard one in person, but expected it would sound good.

B

[olds1959special]

It is not bad but I think the Rotel (RB-1070) and the Adcom (GFA-535) were better, (paired with a pre-amp.) I actually am wishing I had at least kept one of those. The Luxman sounds okay but I'm not love with it. The Rega Brio comes tomorrow and I've been reading reviews and watching YouTube videos since it's a pretty popular product. It seems that it's a warm sounding amp. I hope I like whatever coloration it adds. 

I feel the Luxman is better than the SMSL Class D amps I tried. It is also a cool piece of history. My dad had a Luxman tube integrated amp from the late 80's.

Edited March 30, 2023 by olds1959special

[Richard Vandersteen]

Many years ago a pair of Adcom (GFA-535 best sounding of the series) vertically bi-amped next to the Model 2's with short wires was very popular!  I think putting some new power supply caps into them as they age they would be better than many modern amps today.  RV

[ctsooner]

I always wondered about upgrading caps etc... on older, but well designed amps and preamps.  I heard Luxman all the time and enjoy their new gear.  I still own (but never use) a Luxman FM tuner that I bought in the 70's when their gear wasn't quite as good.  It has the rosewood vinyl cabinet.  It always sounded decent, but I never had it in high end system.  It wasn't until years later (90's) that I heard GOOD Luxman gear and realized what folks in Japan were always talking about.