Luxman m-700u power amplifier review

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Luxman

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Product: Luxman M-700u Stereo Power Amplifier; M700 Ultimate; Silver

Product SKU: 44665

Serial Number: M51200011

Voltage: 120V

Cosmetic Description: 7/10 Good cosmetic condition with some minor visible cosmetic wear including a few light nicks and scuffs along the top and side surfaces. This item has some very light wear but still presents like new from your listening position.

What is Included: Amplifier, Power cable, Factory packaging

Functional Notes: Operational condition of this item is excellent, fully tested and no issues found.

Age: Unknown

# of Owners: 1

Tobacco Exposure: No

Service History: None

MSRP: $8995

Other Notes: "The output from 120 W/8Ω to up to 840 W/1Ω instantaneously exploits the full potential of speaker characteristics under any load conditions. M-700u is a new-generation stereo power amplifier that combines richly expressive sound and high power without losing the music dynamism." -Luxman

Reviews: What Hi-Fi?

Shipping: Cost to ship this item within the contiguous United States is a flat rate of $149- including packaging and insurance. For all other locations including Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Alaska, please request a quote prior to purchase. Items with factory packaging will be double boxed. When factory packaging not available re-usable shipping box with custom injected-foam mold will be used. (for all items over 10 lbs). Note that all items valued over $750 will require a signature upon delivery.

Luxman’s emphasis is on reproducing natural music, with lots of warmth, detail. Luxman’s engineers are fanatical in their attention to detail; while they spend a lot of time analyzing how components perform on their test equipment, the final arbiter is the listening evaluations. Is the product able to play music, convey the emotion, reproduce the ambiance of the venue as well as the timber of each instrument, distinctly? This is where Luxman shines.

In pairing up with loudspeakers, and for some of us who want Class A power, we were often asked the question about how much true Class A power is in any Class A amplifier.

Although not widely known, Luxman’s M-800A’s have more Class A power than the M-900u’s, 60 watts in class A and then 150 watts Class AB whereas the M-900u has 13 watts Class A and then 150 watts Class AB. Maybe that is the reason we feel that the 800’s are warmer sounding, more musical in our opinion whereas the 900’s are more resolute and resolving.

Same goes with the Luxman M-600A vs M-700u, the M-600A is 30 watts in Class A then 100 in Class AB whereas the M-700u is 8 watts in Class A then 120 in Class AB.

I really enjoyed your Luxman M-900u review. I’ve always loved the Luxman gear, and have owned the M-600A amp and demoed the M-800A.

Lately, I’ve been demoing amps with my new JBL 4367 speakers. I currently own Mola-Mola Kaluga mono amps. They are very resolving: Almost too resolving, much like the Soulution 710, which I used to own.

I have the Audionet Max amps in my system now on demo and my dealer is bringing over the Luxman M-700u on Friday. If I like it, I may order the M-900u. I can’t demo the M-900u because the distributor doesn’t have them in stock. Do you know how different the M-700u is from the M-900u? I don’t expect them to be the same, but I thought it would be worthwhile just to get a feel for the sound.

Thanks again for your review, Michael United States

It’s funny that you should bring the M-900u amplifier up. Just the other day I was thinking about it, because it’s the best-sounding power amplifier I’d ever heard in my system -- it has the smoothness and ease of the finest tube-based amplifiers, combined with the power and control of the top solid-state designs. It sounded flawless in my systems, which is why I praised it so highly when I reviewed it and still think about it today. Had I been able to afford the M-900u, I would’ve bought it. But I couldn’t, so I didn’t.

I’ve only seen the M-700u at shows. Although it looks similar, I know it’s definitely not the same because their prices are miles apart. In the United States, the M-900u retails for $19,990, while the M-700u is $9990. Big difference! Surprisingly, how much power they’re purported to provide is similar: 150Wpc into 8 ohms for the M-900u versus 120Wpc into 8 ohms for the M-700u. Other than that, I don’t know much more about the M-700u. So, after your letter came in, I wrote to Philip O’Hanlon at On a Higher Note (the North American distributor for Luxman) to ask him about the two amps. This is what he wrote back:

The M-900u is a dramatic improvement sonically, though only 33% more powerful. The M-900u benefits from the best parts at Luxman’s disposal, while the M-700u is built to a price. Among its many features, the M-900u has gold-plated, peel-coat circuit boards. It also has a transformer wound with solid rectangular copper wire, directly attached to solid-copper bus bars, which are bolted to the capacitors. The entire power supply on the M-900u is dramatically improved over the M-700u, which I assume would account for a lot of the difference in weight between the two amps: 27.5kg versus 48kg. The M-900u is almost twice the weight! In its stereo mode, the stereo M-900u is stable into a 1-ohm load and will drive pretty much any speaker. Cosmetically, there are not many differences, other than the M-900u is a little taller and deeper.

From what I’ve experienced with the M-900u, and with what Philip says about the two amps, I can only imagine that if you like the sound of the M-700u, there’s little doubt that you’ll like the M-900u even more. . . . Doug Schneider

Is Luxman a good brand?

LUXMAN has paid particular attention to the world of audio and has gained high reputation as a quality brand of high-end audio products both domestically and internationally.

Who makes Luxman amps?

Luxman is a brand name of Japanese Luxman Corporation (ラックスマン株式会社) that manufactures luxury audio components. Luxman produces a variety of high-end audio products, including turntables, amplifiers, receivers, tape decks, CD players and speakers.