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The next installment of "Fifth Element" appears in our June issue. John Marks enjoys the Luxmans then with the Aerial Acoustics 5B loudspeaker.
can't wait, i have aerial 6, a real power eating beast to drive. thanks.
Hi-
Thanks for your interest and sorry for the delay. Part of the problem is that I didn't really set out to give full coverage to the Luxmen, rather they were a benchmark to demonstrate the performance compromises when your budget for electronics is under $2000.
As I wrote, the L-505u integrated amplifier is my new default recommendation in a mid-priced solid state integrated amp. The DU-50 is great, but it has video functions I don't need, and therefore I'd probably recommend a $3500 player from Ayre, Esoteric, or Marantz.
I'd say, if you are in the market for a new amp, don't wait for the next issue or the one after that; arrange an in-home audition. Really. Anything I write will only be an elaboration of the dense paragraph in the April issue.
Oh, by the way, these days, my column runs only every other month... I have sent an email to the White House asking for TARP funds for Stereophile, so they can run my column every month again. So, you can bate your breath over that, too. Tee hee.
ATB,
JM
thanks for the reply john. sorry that you were bumped down to every other month. sadly, i am mostly interested so that i can dream a little now. i have always thought luxman gear was gorgeous. yes, i am one of those guys that likes his equipment to look good. there are no dealers within hundreds of miles of me with that brand. so i was hoping to live vicariously through your review.
if you are using the integrated with aerial speakers, how is it doing with them. i have the model 6 and it sucks down every watt of the 130 per side i can give them like mother's milk. i know that luxman has a lot of headroom built into their products, if you can still use that term, just wondered if it is enough at that power rating.
any insights welcomed.
thanks.