Hi
My question is is it worth buying Old class A luxman like l570, l570xs?
My fear about these luxman amps is that Output transistors are discontinued and impossible to get.
Also is it True that these class A amps require overhaul (replacing of all caps) every 3-4 years?
So is it worth buying? I read some opinions that some people didnt like luxman l570 sound, described it as glossy/smooth but with poor reproduction of detail
What is Your experience
Thanks in advance. Cheers
My question is is it worth buying Old class A luxman like l570, l570xs?
My fear about these luxman amps is that Output transistors are discontinued and impossible to get.
Also is it True that these class A amps require overhaul (replacing of all caps) every 3-4 years?
So is it worth buying? I read some opinions that some people didnt like luxman l570 sound, described it as glossy/smooth but with poor reproduction of detail
What is Your experience
Thanks in advance. Cheers
I am not sure if in the meantime you have made up your mind to buy an L-570, but I recently became an owner of a L-570Z's and a L-570.
Unfortunately I could not make any comparison yet as I don't have the L-570 in my hands and anyway before listening to them I am getting them checked.
It basically means that it gets cleaned inside and all under-performing electrolytes will get replaced. Also the thermal paste on the transistors will be replaced and I hope that's all it will need. I would be very happy if other capacitors (copper sheet polypropylene), resistors and relays can stay original.
When I was looking for information about these amps I've read that customers were not fully satisfied with the sound of the L-570, they have found it too soft and they expected more of a dynamic sound along the lines of the L-540, so Luxman redesigned the L-570 a bit (more powerful power supply section) and some other tweaks and that's how the 570X's was born. If you check on thevintageknob you can see that the L-570 was a bestseller anyway, but based on some feedback it seemed people wanted to have something similar to the L-540 sound, but improved. L-540 was originally sold for ¥ 240.000, L-570 for 350.000. Both seemed to get introduced in 1989. L-570X's got introduced in 1992 and was sold for ¥ 380.000 and L-570Z's was introduced the same year (1992) and was sold for ¥ 500.000. What I've heard is that with the Z's series they managed to achieve customer requirements and there's an audible difference in standard and the Z's version.
Unfortunately I could not make any comparison yet as I don't have the L-570 in my hands and anyway before listening to them I am getting them checked.
It basically means that it gets cleaned inside and all under-performing electrolytes will get replaced. Also the thermal paste on the transistors will be replaced and I hope that's all it will need. I would be very happy if other capacitors (copper sheet polypropylene), resistors and relays can stay original.
When I was looking for information about these amps I've read that customers were not fully satisfied with the sound of the L-570, they have found it too soft and they expected more of a dynamic sound along the lines of the L-540, so Luxman redesigned the L-570 a bit (more powerful power supply section) and some other tweaks and that's how the 570X's was born. If you check on thevintageknob you can see that the L-570 was a bestseller anyway, but based on some feedback it seemed people wanted to have something similar to the L-540 sound, but improved. L-540 was originally sold for ¥ 240.000, L-570 for 350.000. Both seemed to get introduced in 1989. L-570X's got introduced in 1992 and was sold for ¥ 380.000 and L-570Z's was introduced the same year (1992) and was sold for ¥ 500.000. What I've heard is that with the Z's series they managed to achieve customer requirements and there's an audible difference in standard and the Z's version.
Of course yes and thank you for the correction.
As I see you know about them much more than I do. I would appreciate if you could share some of your experience here.
As I see you know about them much more than I do. I would appreciate if you could share some of your experience here.
It took a while to get it restored, the technician where I took it to is rather busy. Now it's back since around 2 weeks, many electrolytic capacitors have been replaced. He used Nichicon throughout. Unfortunately the 3 pin/leg capacitors had to be replaced, but we couldn't find any of similar design.
Does anyone know who made the Luxman branded capacitors for Luxman? Were they really any special?
Back to my amp it is still burning in, but I still like the sound. I am sure it will change a bit with burn-in, but it already sounds very good.
Direct comparison of the L-570 vs L-570Z's is very hard as the L-570 has not been serviced yet (though it plays well with the originals and very old capacitors). Also these amps are so damn heavy that it's hard to move them around and at the moment I have limited space.
I will find the way to put them down next to each other so I can quickly switch between them to be able to compare their sound.
In short I really like the sound, I am happy I got these amps. They are generating lot of heat, but they are a work of art. It is visible that Luxman has put all their knowledge into these amps, the build quality is exceptional, they used the best components they could. This is my first class-A amp so I can not really comment on their sound compare to other SS amps. Before I was using tube amplification, after that a Sony VFET (which I also liked pretty much after recapping it) and now the Luxman. I don't feel the need to move back to tube, but I might try a Yamaha B-3 VFET amp in some years, for the moment I am very happy with Luxman L-570 and L-570Z's. Two things that could be useful on this amp: 1 more XLR input and the possibility to use it only as a preamp and poweramp.
Does anyone know who made the Luxman branded capacitors for Luxman? Were they really any special?
Back to my amp it is still burning in, but I still like the sound. I am sure it will change a bit with burn-in, but it already sounds very good.
Direct comparison of the L-570 vs L-570Z's is very hard as the L-570 has not been serviced yet (though it plays well with the originals and very old capacitors). Also these amps are so damn heavy that it's hard to move them around and at the moment I have limited space.
I will find the way to put them down next to each other so I can quickly switch between them to be able to compare their sound.
In short I really like the sound, I am happy I got these amps. They are generating lot of heat, but they are a work of art. It is visible that Luxman has put all their knowledge into these amps, the build quality is exceptional, they used the best components they could. This is my first class-A amp so I can not really comment on their sound compare to other SS amps. Before I was using tube amplification, after that a Sony VFET (which I also liked pretty much after recapping it) and now the Luxman. I don't feel the need to move back to tube, but I might try a Yamaha B-3 VFET amp in some years, for the moment I am very happy with Luxman L-570 and L-570Z's. Two things that could be useful on this amp: 1 more XLR input and the possibility to use it only as a preamp and poweramp.
I think you have some feedback from @vencel about the sound.
In terms of this comment:
All power amps require replacement of electrolytic caps after a period of time. Class A amps run hotter than A/B amps - and heat degrades electrolytic caps ... so Class A amps will require their electrolytics to be replaced sooner than Class A/B.
However, I would say more like:
* 12 years for Class A
* and 20 years for Class A/B.
I would like to add, that if you look inside the L-570, each section is separated and it seems quite well protected from heat. It can also help if you have 105C caps installed.
These Luxman class A amps really sound very good.
Problems are the the too high working temperature and the switches in the signal path that developbad contacts.
Problems are the the too high working temperature and the switches in the signal path that developbad contacts.
I don't have so much experience with them yet, but I seem to be lucky as both the L-570 and the L-570Z's are OK, I don't have any problems with the switches. Regarding heat I can confirm the top metal grill gets hot to the touch and it heats up the room. 99% of the cases I use the direct switch pushed in so basically there's nothing in the signal path.
For me the issues are:
Of course these are not major issues, sound wise they are wonderful.
- only 110V, no European (220/230V) version
- very little information and no service manual available (especially for the X's and Z's)
Of course these are not major issues, sound wise they are wonderful.
Someone might have it, but I've never seen one and never received any feedback from anyone having it.
Schematic for 570 would most probably be enough as 570Z's should not differ a lot.
Schematic for 570 would most probably be enough as 570Z's should not differ a lot.
Yes, they do. 🙂
Shirley, the only switch in the signal path should be the source selector switch?