Luxman 595 ase - Class A for the first 30 watts - what is WPC?

[dman777]

I was reading this review on the Luxman 595 ase amp

The Luxman 595 ASE Review. The Last Class A? |

The Luxman 595 ASE is the 95th Anniversary piece from Luxman, With only 300 pieces made worldwide (and now sold out) the 595 ASE is one special HiFi piece.

www.stevehuffphoto.com

It states the Luxman 595 is only class A for the first 30 watts:

As for the specs, it has the same power output as the 590 AXII which is 30 watts of class A into 8ohms, 60 into 4 ohms. Even so, there is plenty more power on tap as it will go into Class A/B for much more than those 30 watts (though Luxman does not post these specs). I believe the 590 AXII was measured to almost hit 90 WPC after leaving Class A.

What exactly is 90 WPC? How can I tell volume percentage wise what that would be? Also, is that first 30 watts 4 ohm or 8 ohm?

 

[restorer-john]

It depends how Luxman has incorporated the Class A design.

Most Japanese designs use switchable rails and bias control for the first 20-30W in 'pure' class A, then optically switch the bias back to class AB levels when utilizing the high voltage rails to deliver their 90-120W Class AB numbers.

Marantz produced a bunch of statement amplifiers like the PM-84, PM-94 and PM-95 with the earlier being their so called "quarter A" design (an auto switching 30W/120W design) and the PM-95 manually controlled via a switch.

Yamaha also had a similar range from the 1970s through to the late 1980s with switchable approx 1/4 power in full class A.

There is no doubt the Class A designs sound very good (I have a number of them), but the sonic difference between the A/AB operation is (to my ears) not discernible. And, they chew a ton of power, get really hot and in some cases, cook themselves in Class A.

Lux is an aspirational, lifetime, buy once ownership brand when it comes to their top gear. Like Accuphase, you will never feel the new or desire to replace it. Just gorgeous, classic looking (but very modern inside) proper high fidelity equipment. Plenty of inputs, proper controls, phono stages and flexibility as a integrated amplifier should have.

The big older model Lux will likely put out considerably more than 90wpc @8R and quite possibly close to double that into 4R. The top Japanese integrateds often almost double down again into 2R in some cases. They are not built down to a price like most other gear these days.

edit: This L-595ASE makes no mention of class AB, so it therefore may be a pure Class A unit with low rails and high bias.

 

[staticV3]

What exactly is 90 WPC?

Watts Per Channel

How can I tell volume percentage wise what that would be?

Percentage of what? Or relative to what?

Also, is that first 30 watts 4 ohm or 8 ohm?

Just from that paragraph, I think that refers to 8Ω. 30W into 8Ω at Class A, Class A/B above that.

 

[dman777]

There is no doubt the Class A designs sound very good (I have a number of them), but the sonic difference between the A/AB operation is (to my ears) not discernible.

I was at the store and I heard a class a/b luxman L-509Z. It sounded boring compared to the luxman L-590 AXii. Although the L-590 AXii didn't have the sound stage as good, it sounded so much more alive and the vocals much more forward and screaming. I loved it. I could tell a difference between those 2 amps. The 590 Axii volume went up to about a 3rd on the dial when I listened to it. I wonder if I would of heard the difference if it went loud enough to be class a/b?

 

[JSmith]

I could tell a difference between those 2 amps.

I bet they were level matched too... right?


JSmith

 

[DVDdoug]

How can I tell volume percentage wise what that would be?

I calculate 4.77dB difference. +5dB is "obviously louder" but not tremendously louder. Audacity is a free audio editor that can adjust the volume by any amount you choose if you want to play around and get a feel for it.

I was at the store and I heard a class a/b luxman L-509Z. It sounded boring compared to the luxman L-590 AXii. Although the L-590 AXii didn't have the as good as sound stage, it sounded so much more alive and the vocals much more forward and screaming. I loved it. I could tell a difference between those 2 amps.

Amplifiers aren't supposed to have any particular "sound". There are only 3 characteristics that affect sound quality of an amplifier (or other electronics): Noise, distortion and frequency response. Sometimes there is audible background noise (hum, hiss, or whine in the background). Distortion and frequency response are usually better than human hearing unless you over-drive it into clipping (distortion). See Audiophoolery.

 

[dman777]

I calculate 4.77dB difference. +5dB is "obviously louder" but not tremendously louder. Audacity is a free audio editor that can adjust the volume by any amount you choose if you want to play around and get a feel for it.


Amplifiers aren't supposed to have any particular "sound". There are only 3 characteristics that affect sound quality of an amplifier (or other electronics): Noise, distortion and frequency response. Sometimes there is audible background noise (hum, hiss, or whine in the background). Distortion and frequency response are usually better than human hearing unless you over-drive it into clipping (distortion). See Audiophoolery.

I would disagree with that... there are so many reviews on amplifiers and how they differ in sound.

 

[Spocko]

I would disagree with that... there are so many reviews on amplifiers and how they differ in sound.

All those reviews proclaiming differences in sound are flawed because the comparisons were not done scientifically enough to validate that the differences were audible rather than placebo/imagined. You can't disagree with something that you have yet to experience which is a true A/B amplifier to amplifier double blind comparison where less than 1 second separates the switch when listening to the same 3 seconds of a track, going back and forth (because your audio memory is not good enough to remember the differences unless the track is short enough and the switch fast enough). The consensus here on ASR is that amplifiers may differ in power but at a reasonable 80 dB from 6 ft away, all competently designed amplifiers will sound exactly the same when level matched whether it's $500 or $5,000. What you're paying for is not differences in sound but power headroom, engineering tolerances, labor cost, materials cost, marketing budgets, country of origin, brand premium, economies of scale, licensing fees, customer service & warranty support, exotic design/manufacturing, middle man markup, etc.

 

[ahofer]

I would disagree with that... there are so many reviews on amplifiers and how they differ in sound.

There are just as many equity managers telling you they can outperform the S&P 500. Their track records are public, yet people still want to believe.

The reviews are not done in a controlled fashion, so they tell you more about the listener than the equipment.