screaming oranges Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Excuse the double post, but I simply wanted to let you guys know that I received the unit today, and lo and behold, it brings both a Japanese manual AND an English one. The manuals aren't thick, just a couple of pages. It has the basic how-to-connect diagrams, plus specifications, as well as a block diagram of the innards. If anyone is interested, I can scan the English version and post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purk Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Excuse the double post, but I simply wanted to let you guys know that I received the unit today, and lo and behold, it brings both a Japanese manual AND an English one. The manuals aren't thick, just a couple of pages. It has the basic how-to-connect diagrams, plus specifications, as well as a block diagram of the innards. If anyone is interested, I can scan the English version and post it. Sure would love to see it! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaming oranges Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 I will get my old dusty scanner then. Bear with me, as I just remembered I reformatted my drive at the beginning of the year and hadn't installed the scanner yet. Also, I haven't seen anyone else mention this, but my unit came with two power cords: one is Luxman branded and the other says Baohing (which I can safely assume is a brand, as a quick Google search revealed). Inscription along cables (both very sturdy quality, btw) Luxman Cable: <PS>E JCT DAITO T.D. 15A 125V - Luxman - Ultimate Power Cable JPA-10000 - crafted by Lux Corporation, Japan. Baohing Cable: Baohing CSA SJT LL112007 VW-1 300V 60[degree]C 2x2.08 mm[squared] (14AWG) LF N.M.(PS) (UL) SJT E159216 . NOTE: The cable has a little white wrap-around sticker saying: 15A 125V~ Also, the Luxman cable has more of a somewhat flattened look, it is more of an elliptical shape, whereas the Baohing cable is completely round. I haven't read the manual, but quickly looking through the pages I see no reference to the two cables being included, nor which one is preferable. Both are two-prong ends. However, one noticeable difference is that the female plug that goes into the amp is different on both: Luxman is three-female connector, Baohing is two. A quick look at the back of the amp itself reveals that the AC-In has two prongs. PURK: I checked out that website you mentioned, where it is being sold for a grand less, with ~$60 for shipping. I can't help but wonder if I could have obtained this unit cheaper... =/ Also, Purk, I have your Exemplar to try with this baby. =] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaming oranges Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Sorry for the delay. This scanner is very old but still functional, just takes long to scan. Here is the winzipped manual (I didn't skip any pages, it seems that the cover of the manual counts as page 1, with the title page being sheet 2): Send big files the easy way. Files too large for email attachments? No problem! Also, off-topic, why can't I edit my comments? I wanted to use my last post so as to avoid multiple-posting... There is no EDIT button... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark baguette Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 edit goes away after a few moments. Cause thats how we roll here, or so I'm told. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Also, off-topic, why can't I edit my comments? I wanted to use my last post so as to avoid multiple-posting... There is no EDIT button... As Monsieur de la sammich says, that is how we roll here. When you're doing something like this ("being helpful"), don't worry too much about multiple posts. But in general, if you're going to make a long extended post, it's best to do it in a different application (e.g. notepad, vi, whatever), then copy & paste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purk Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 PURK: I checked out that website you mentioned, where it is being sold for a grand less, with ~$60 for shipping. I can't help but wonder if I could have obtained this unit cheaper... =/ Also, Purk, I have your Exemplar to try with this baby. =] Congrats on the Exemplar man. That unit is simply awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 My P-1 came with two power cords and two manuals as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diebenkorn Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 I the Luxman and Aaron's Blue Circle amp at the NY meet albeit it was brief I preferred the BC amp enough to have one custom built. It was the first amp where I heard where I was totally absorbed in the music. Haven't heard the GSX though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Look up scan nr.9 of the manual just posted and notice the voltage selector on the transformer primaries. From the looks of it there are two 0-100-120v primaries just like on all the Stax gear. Does anybody have internal pics of this beast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopstretch Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Look up scan nr.9 of the manual just posted and notice the voltage selector on the transformer primaries. From the looks of it there are two 0-100-120v primaries just like on all the Stax gear. Does anybody have internal pics of this beast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvdunhill Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 ... wait, an all discrete amp that uses opamps for balanced to se conversion? :fail: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aimless1 Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Can you please explain why opamps for balanced to SE conversion is fail? I'm not a DIYer and it is not obvious to me. I can't see why this is FAIL on a Solid State head amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 I'm pretty sure he's never heard one so his "fail" comment is based solely on design assumptions and technical "specs" and not on sound. That is a fail in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The rest of the amp is fully discrete so the phase "combiner?" should have been as well. Not a big deal but I would run this amp using the RCA inputs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The vast majority of sources that have both balanced and RCA outputs use an op-amp for balanced to SE conversion, and this is how you get your RCA outputs. What this means is most likely the RCA inputs to the Luxman will be superior, unless you have a really poor quality source with balanced outputs, or are running very long cables. What would be epic fail would be to take a phono stage that has an op-amp at the output for single ended to balanced conversion, and then connect that to the Luxman's balanced input with an op-amp to convert to single ended. But who would do such a thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Why is the use of opamps in that role a bad thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Why is the use of opamps in that role a bad thing? It's not, although you could argue that a transformer should be used, or a discrete amplifier. If they're advertising it as a completely discrete amplifier, then it is a little misleading. BTW I have no idea how its been marketed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The word "discrete" does not appear in any of the marketing copy I have seen (and I just checked TTVJ, AudioCubes, and On A Higher Note, which is the importer). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 If you check out the image above you can see that the rest of the amp is all discrete. The vast majority of sources that have both balanced and RCA outputs use an op-amp for balanced to SE conversion, and this is how you get your RCA outputs. What this means is most likely the RCA inputs to the Luxman will be superior, unless you have a really poor quality source with balanced outputs, or are running very long cables. Good point, one can get too single minded with what is sitting here. Transformers FTW... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screaming oranges Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 I feel like opening it up and taking pics... ...yet at the same time, I am scared to do it because I want to keep it flawless. But sacrifices have to be made int he name of science, don't they? But this isn't school, this is just a hobby. and I'm in a forum with complete strangers... Hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pars Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Are the "opamps" typically used for this application something like the DRV-134? I have heard that these are not transparent (but have not heard for myself). That said, doesn't THAT Corp make some THAT opamps that supposedly are quite transparent in this application? Transformers, no matter how expensive, still have non-linearities AFAIK, so in actuality may not really be better for this application... That said, this entire post is from various reading and not based on personal experience. Quite possibly molto-FAIL Just curious for any more explanation... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvdunhill Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 It's not, although you could argue that a transformer should be used, or a discrete amplifier. If they're advertising it as a completely discrete amplifier, then it is a little misleading. BTW I have no idea how its been marketed The word "discrete" does not appear in any of the marketing copy I have seen (and I just checked TTVJ, AudioCubes, and On A Higher Note, which is the importer). my bad. I could have sworn I read the word "discrete"... searching around, I just see jp# calling this discrete over at head-fi. By "fail" I was referring to the fact that this would be rather misleading if it was indeed the case, as Justin predicted. I've used a 2-3 different THAT chips and similar ones made by Analog.... mainly in phono stages, which is probably one of the better applications for them. They are not at all transparent. I hope to have better luck with transformers in this sort of role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 I feel like opening it up and taking pics... ...yet at the same time, I am scared to do it because I want to keep it flawless. But sacrifices have to be made int he name of science, don't they? But this isn't school, this is just a hobby. and I'm in a forum with complete strangers... Hmmm... WE NEED PICS!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Currawong Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 I feel like opening it up and taking pics... ...yet at the same time, I am scared to do it because I want to keep it flawless. But sacrifices have to be made int he name of science, don't they? But this isn't school, this is just a hobby. and I'm in a forum with complete strangers... Hmmm... It'll just be a couple of screws you can carefully remove, before taking some careful close-ups showing the lettering on any ICs you find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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