Luxman L-509X

@dguitarnut 

"the fact that it has bass, mid and treble tone controls really would help out tailoring problem rooms" I am lost on this comment since my brochure shows only bass and treble tone controls. Can you explain for me? 

My dealer has this unit in stock and just burned in. Hoping to hear it soon.

You are right, no mid. Meant to write balance.
Sorry.

OK, thanks for the clarification.

Hoping to hear with TAD E-1s soon.

@yyzsantabarbara 

Finally had the chance to hear the L-509X. All listening was using Marten Django L speakers and a $12.5k turntable; Nordost cabling. The Luxman has good neutral deep resolution; the sound stage was wide and had some depth with instrument stage delineation showing where each performer was located. Bass was solid and well defined without sounding mechanical and mids and treble were also very nice too and I don’t recall any grain or grit – a very good thing. The tone controls worked well when needed and there is a button on the remote that allows you to toggle them on/off so you can easily hear what difference they are making. This product was “broken in” and I’d guess it has 100-200 hours on it. From my memory, I liked the Luxman L-509X (A/B with 3 W Class A) compared to the Luxman 590 AXII (60 W Class A) by a significant margin. The 509X runs just barely warm and would work well in an enclosed or vented rack whereas the 590 AXII runs like a house on fire. It may have a bit more midrange bloom over the 509X, but overall I liked the 509X much better. Also, after having looked at the PDF of the 509X sales brochure multiple times, it is even better looking in person. Super-high build quality and very visually appealing.

Wanted to say thanks to Mike @ Excel Audio in Newport Beach. 

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ADDB2d6EzRNpvxs&cid=F1429A29E425E1BB&id=F1429A29E425E1BB%211607&parId=F1429A29E425E1BB%21652&o=OneUp

http://files.constantcontact.com/e7f722a0701/c7b75612-04bb-4d7a-9221-0fd0364a6952.pdf

@Pokey77

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a good sounding unit and a beautiful one at that. I have found a store to sell me a pair of Yamaha NS 5000 speakers for my office. Now all I need is an integrated.amp and a DAC. The Luxman is likely my #1 choice for this setup and I will head down to Newport Beach to check it out. 

I am also looking at the Hegel 360 integrated which sounded good playing KEF Blades (future living room speakers) at the last LA Show. Problem is I went upstairs to another room after that and I heard the Luxman high end separates.They sounded better than the Hegel. Though the Hegel is a great bargain (with included DAC) for the sound and features it delivers. If the 509X is close in sound to those Luxman separates I heard, the c900u preamp and $40K monoblocks, then I will pay the extra for the 509X over the Hegel.

Thanks for posting the 509X review. I had not seen that one yet.