New Luxman DA-06 doesnt sound so great. Will it get better?

The US distributer " On a Higher Note" won’t touch a Grey market player with a ten foot pole. The OP is bound to the the country of origin for any service/support needs. If the player is legit Luxman, and no reason to believe it’s not. Then be patient for the player to break-in. Luxman is a great brand...sit back and enjoy.

It appears that the step-down transformer you are using probably has a two-prong plug and outlet, while the Luxman has a three-prong IEC receptacle. While in most circumstances that might be sonically advantageous, as it would break any ground loops with interconnected components, I’m wondering if in this case it might be causing or contributing to the problem.

For instance if the Luxman provides galvanic isolation of whatever digital inputs you are using, the lack of an AC safety ground connection may result in its digital and D/A converter circuitry being essentially "floating" in an uncontrolled manner relative to the ground of the signal source, perhaps resulting in noise issues and consequently in jitter issues.

I’m just speculating, of course, but it might be worthwhile investing $35 plus shipping in a converter such as this one, which provides three-prong connectivity:

http://www.voltageconverters.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=VC500J

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

Thank you for all the replies - this was my first post on Audiogon.  Great place!

almarg:  The Luxman does have a 3 plug receptacle.  If you look inside, the 3rd or the ground wire is not connected to anything.  The Nissyo transformer that I am using is only 2 plug. If the ground connection was connected, I agree the voltage converter you are recommending could offer a better ground.

maxboy00:  Yes, I am stuck with sending the unit back to Japan for service if it requires it.  Shipping was less than $100 for 1 way and took less than 3 days including time in customs!  There was no customs charge as the seller devalued the item's value.

nirodha35: Thanks!  Yes I will have to accept any costs that occur.  The unit is under warranty in Japan so I would have to pay only shipping costs. 

dave_b:  You are correct!  There are many times that I just want to put some music on, turn off the lights and forget about the hardware.  I do like to tinker around and in the process have learned a lot.  Still lots more to learn though.  Sometimes it pays off and result in a more pleasing sound, other times it sets me back a step or two.   

nonoise:  I have read a lot on step down transformers.  There are so much information to sift through and a lot of it can be false.

casaross:  So far I have tried the coax and USB inputs.  Right now I am just feeding it directly from a cd player with the coax going through a reclocker.  When I tried it on USB, I was using Foobar.  I have tried upsampling to DSD and the Sox upsampler to 2x and 4x. 

gs5556: The seller supplied a transformer with the unit so I am sure it is the Japanese version.  I checked the voltage it is around 2.5V, varies a little bit because I am playing a cd.  It has been playing for 2 days and I agree it is going to sound very close to what it sounds like right now. 


I am now leaning toward that there is nothing wrong with the dac.  I purchased it without a listening demo (wish I could go some place close by to listen to another da-06).  I won't be giving up on it and will continue burning it in.  Perhaps my ears are just spoiled -  I have a Litedac 60 that I have modded heavily and I have been comparing all other equipment with it.  BTW, I don't have any buyers remorse - the seller does accept returns however I am not going to return it.  I would like to get to the bottom of this.  Anyone know where I could listen to another da-06 in the DFW area?

I checked the voltage it is around 2.5V, varies a little bit because I am playing a cd.

As you appear to realize but others may not, 2.5 volts is the specified **maximum** output voltage of the DAC, that will only occur when the digital data corresponding to the instantaneous volume of the music is at its greatest possible value. Most of the time that voltage will be much lower, especially on recordings having wide dynamic range. And to be completely precise, that voltage is defined on the basis of the RMS (root mean square) value of a presumed sine wave, as opposed to the peak or peak-to-peak voltages of the waveform.

Also, John Atkinson’s measurements of the DA-06 indicate 2.36 volts, rather than the specified 2.5 volts:

www.stereophile.com/content/luxman-da-06-da-processor-measurements

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

Thanks for your help Al, I am getting close to 2.3 volts.  Yesterday I went out and purchased a hdmi de-embedder.  I played DSOTM and the bells at the beginning of the song Time sounded simply stunning.  I've never heard them sound so accurate, pure, and "tight".  I am using an Oppo BDP-95 and it is able to convert DSD to PCM at 88.2khz 24 bits.  I do hear the relay click occasionally during the middle of playback at 88.2khz and less at 44.1khz.  I know that the Luxman is very picky at the cable quality for its coax inputs.  I will try some other cables that I have to see if that fixes the problem.  It is most likely losing sync.