Luxman L505u . . . why not?

I'll try to read and ask around a bit to get a feel for how Luxman CD players are regarded here in Japan, and let you know, Toronto416 and others interested, if I find out anything somewhat definite.

In my own experience, I see Esoterics in the high-end stereo shops I frequent, but I haven't noticed Luxman CD players. It could be because I love my current CD player and haven't taken a great interest in the others recently, or because the Esoteric displays are always boastful, or even because I am always trying out different Luxman amps rather than CD players.

By the way, I just brought home a B&W Nautilus 805 set as shelf speakers to test-out as replacement for my Rogers, which aren't compatible with my Yamaha NS1000x when playing 4-way. The B&Ws are certainly not as clear or balanced as the Yammies (but then very few speakers are), but they are VERY comfortable on the ears and detailed enough to stand-up to them, and the combination of the sweet and warm B&Ws with the big and crispy-tight Yammies in my tatami room together 4-way, driven by my old Luxman 507 is really like paradise: almost unbeatable sounds across the wide spectrum we listen to. The two sets really complement each other well, so I purchased the B&Ws and I'll be giving-up the little Rogers to a friend who really wants them for his super-high-end mostly LIN-based system.

Thank Jim! There is scant information in NA on the new Luxman cd players (D-05, D-06), but they look interesting.
Regards,
Mark

Would anyone here have first hand experiences how these Luxman would compare to the likes to the Accuphase and LFD Integrateds ?

Thanks for sharing!!

Nolitan: I don't know whether this is helpful to you, but I've spent a lot of time comparing OLD (pre-1984) Luxmans, tubes, integrateds, and solid-state against Accuphase and some others I mentioned previously.

I found all Accuphase I listened to sounded detailed but "flat" and "dead," without musical energy, in comparison to all the Luxmans I listened to.

I have neither heard nor seen an LFD yet.

There is also wide variation among the Luxmans, however.
The sound I like best comes from the 503x, 504, 507, and SQ38 (all pre-1984). The older all-tube Lux such as MQ60 (mine was a 1969 model) that I had for a while didn't quite cut it against these models, sounding "thin" in comparison.

I tried these through many speakers (Yamaha NS1000x, B&W 805N, Rogers LS2a at home, and McIntosh XRT25, Wilson Benesch, and even a pair of Quad ESL-989s! at the local shop), and over a wide range of music as well, on CDs played through my Njoe TJoeb Superb.

Hi Nolitan. I agree with Jimthewebguy. I have owned the accuphases (e405, e408) the luxmans (L525(model 1987), L505u, L507u). I now have the L507u. I have this one for about 2 weeks, and I stil let it burn in for a while.

The difference between the luxmans and the accuphases is, like jimthewebguy said, the accuphases give a beautiful detailed 3-dimensional sound, but it is a bit cold to my ears. I found the coldness very fatiguing. It can sound a bit harsh and therefore not relaxed to listen to.

The luxmans give a full, rich and musical sound. They always have power to spare and this sounds very relaxed. Even the L505u with 100 W/ch had much more control over the speakers then the accuphase e408 with 180w/ch.

I have listen to these amplifiers with bns soundcolumn III and mission 753 freedom speakers. Both are very neutral sounding speakers