Luxman SQ-N150 Review (Tube Amplifier)

[laudio]

LOL
The Infinity is a 3-way floor-standing speaker. What if instead connected to a small 2-way speaker, such as B&W, Wharfedale, Dali or similar? The bass boost could be more fitting in such a context.

First thing I kind of noticed too... but hey if you can't hear the distortion like Amir does or measure the distortion like Amir does, then be careful because you will not be allowed to reply to these threads. Amirs reviews are a one size fits all kinda thing... either you are one board on measurements or not. just ask Cambridge Audio lol

Once again I am not a tube guy... but have to believe whose who buy the Luxman will be satisfied with it down the road than a Topping PA5. Whatever happened to the Topping guy Johnny Yang anyway around these parts? He disappeared.

 

[H-713]

Every now and then I run across a man who insists on cutting his lawn with a manual push reel lawn mower. They can be kind of righteous about it. So be it.
And there is that group that likes to shoot black powder old timey rifles. These Luxman integrateds are popular with the Amish. You see them advertised in Amish Ways Magazine

Hey, those lawn mowers are great for small city lots. I used one for years until a good battery-powered mower came my way. Way less of a pain than a gas mower, and way less garage space too.

 

[tomtoo]

How about worst combination of the week?

Combine this with the lgk2.0 speaker?

Iam sure you have to look a long time to get something worse sounding for 4000$.

But maybe there happens some synergetic wonder, and amir throws his speaker and amps out the window after.?

 

[pma]

Likely the harmonic distortion of the amplifier is hitting on more room modes causing extra bass/boominess

Rather likely high output impedance of the amplifier.

 

[tomtoo]

"....Side A culminates in a shuddering 8th-note synthesizer pattern, a stream of nearly subsonic bass notes that some amplifiers might have trouble reproducing clearly. I was surprised when the SQ-N150 replicated this sequence with good warmth and weight in a large soundstage...."

Luxman SQ-N150 integrated amplifier

www.stereophile.com

The nearly subsonic bass should have shaddert amirs windows.

 

[FTB]

It looks very cool but 12W into 8 ohms and 50 dB SINAD for 3k $, oh god.....

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

Considering how beautiful and fancy this amplifier looks, I am convinced that the majority of costs and brainstorming were spent on exterior design without much concern to it's performance....
Even if I can put up with 4% distortion, paying this much for 10w+10w is so pitiful. It would have been so much better if it was delivering insane power.

 

[JSmith]

But when I read a review of this amp on Stereophile that calls it relatively quiet with a S/N level of 82 dB in the audible band I have to question some of the measurements you do ranking it at the bottom of you chart?

Why?

Stereophile @1W;

The levels of power-supply–related spuriae in the Luxman's output were all at or below –90dB ref. 1W into 8 ohms (fig.4). The unweighted, wideband signal/noise ratio, taken with the inputs shorted to ground but the volume control set to its maximum, was 75.5dB ref. 1W into 8 ohms. The S/N ratio improved to a very good 82.7dB when the measurement bandwidth was restricted to the audioband, and to 87.5dB with an A-weighting filter in circuit.

ASR @5W;

Look at how early THD+N starts to rise with output power too;

JSmith

 

[Deleted member 47224]

Every now and then I run across a man who insists on cutting his lawn with a manual push reel lawn mower. They can be kind of righteous about it. So be it.
And there is that group that likes to shoot black powder old timey rifles. These Luxman integrateds are popular with the Amish. You see them advertised in Amish Ways Magazine

Well, it has its uses. It's less efficient than electrical or gas ones, just like a class A is to class D, but if you like the simplicity of it, I see no problem here. Just be aware it might not cut as clean as other models. As long as you know what you like, and what you might miss, it's okay to use one, just like it's okay to prefer tube amp.

 

[amirm]

That and doing listening tests with the Infinity 253 - c'mon anyone knows you need a more efficient speaker dealing with a 10 watt amp rather than making comments about where the volume control was for your preferred listening level.

I listened a bit past my arm's length. That more than compensates for difference in efficiency of the speaker. I don't believe in taking it easy on the amp anyway. My job is to stress test the devices I test. When you get to do what I do, you can take the side of manufacturers and baby the products in your testing....

 

[amirm]

LOL
The Infinity is a 3-way floor-standing speaker. What if instead connected to a small 2-way speaker, such as B&W, Wharfedale, Dali or similar? The bass boost could be more fitting in such a context.

Those would be even less sensitive so more of an issue to drive them. Remember, I am listening at very short distance so demand on the amplifier was low in that regard.

 

[martijn86]

I would be tempted to give this the Golfing panter if it had a clean line-out. Put this on top of your media cabinet, use it as an input selector, look at the glowing tubes and the dancing VU meters and hide a Dual Mono Purifi 1ET7040SA amplifier in the cabinet for actual clean power.

However, without pre-out, it's just an effect-box right? Probably fun to experiment with but no actual fidelity in sight.

 

[deniall83]

Always interesting to see these reviews. I'd love to see some tube amps with a bit more grunt measured. Something like the Prima Luna EVO100 35wpc.

 

[filo97s]

Don't know if it has been already pointed out but the graph for 32 ohm headphones is wrong, that's the 4 ohm speakers distortion.

 

[Loathecliff]

When you get to do what I do, you can take the side of manufacturers and baby the products in your testing....

Amir, I'm betting you mean "can't"

 

[Loathecliff]

Whatever happened to the Topping guy Johnny Yang anyway around these parts? He disappeared.

He had the temerity to post on Tuesday, for his usual reason

Sabaj A10d 2022 Version Review (DAC & Amp)

lacks clarity about what? did you compare how? these utterances, especially on this site, leave me stunned every time. Please define the word “clarity” objectively and scientifically, since the device's measurement data seems to be pretty transparent. I'm not here to give you any proofs. You...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[milosz]

The boominess that you mentioned could very well have been caused by the typical Ohms-law interaction between the speaker's complex impedance curve and the amplifier's output source impedance. I did not see that you measured the amp's output driving impedance, and I think you should. With tube equipment this becomes especially important as it has a major impact on sound. Some tube amps have flat FR when driving a resistive load but drive a speaker and I have seen ± 6 dB variation in output! You're gonna hear that! Amir, you're an engineer, you should know this. Please, measure the output impedance of this amp- it's simple enough to do.

 

[capitanharlock]

Listening to a 10w tube amp, using low efficiency 87db Infinity loudspeakers is going to get the exact results Amir got: it sounds awful.

 

[tomtoo]

Hey, those lawn mowers are great for small city lots. I used one for years until a good battery-powered mower came my way. Way less of a pain than a gas mower, and way less garage space too.

But with the old one you need to spend less time in the gym.

What somehow also could br sayd about this amp, at least if you often cary around your amp.

 

[DanielT]

Listening to a 10w tube amp, using low efficiency 87db Infinity loudspeakers is going to get the exact results Amit got: it sounds awful.

Well...:

I listened a bit past my arm's length.

Then there is the question of tube amplifier and interaction- impedance between speakers, but whether the power itself is sufficient, it
depends...:

HiFi Loudspeaker Design

www.mh-audio.nl