Luxman L-509x

What? Fixation in an audiophile forum? That's absurd! Lol

Yeah, the amp is nice.

 

There are definitely more than 100 holes LOL. The two chipped ones with burrs are just a few that I took briefly. If you want, I can send you more.



Other than the chip and burrs, do you see the white color on the sidewalls (the mesh has some thickness) inside some of the holes? I counted and that's more than two. Maybe "textured" is the design they are going for, but the white color sidewalls are smooth and seems like it's covered with white powder and becomes a big contrast with the grey rough mesh. Anyway, you can see that it's very patchy and inconsistent.

Thanks for the compliment, but I don't think a one man team can do any serious campaigning.

 

Clearly should have bought Accuphase

 

It's made of glass fiber. In this modern day, we can cut through thick sheet metal for ships and super hard sapphire for watches. There is no reason why they can't cut glass fiber nicely. It is possible that the drill bit was a bit dull, so there is that burning effect (more rubbing that cutting).

 

I have some old receivers with nice clean slots that I'd be happy to trade ya for. Clean as a whistle with no white residue!

 

I'd have the lid off and brush it down to see if I could get rid of any powder residue.

 

Thanks. I'll give it a shot.

 

Thanks for sharing the webpage...It clarifies that the rough holes are not a defect but the standard. Kind of strange but maybe someone at Luxman thought it looked good.

I think Douglas problem is more related with customer protection in Asia...I had the same shock. When my Luxman CD player started malfunctioning in the first week after purchase I assumed they would just replaced the unit. Nope. The dealer told me to bring it to the official Luxman support in Hong Kong which is just an outsource workshop fixing all kinds of different brands. It took them three attempts to fix the "b disc error". Every time they replaced a different part and told me now it is going to be fine. And after the third repair that specific problem got fixed. A couple of months after the tray door start malfunctioning...

Anyways. companies want to offer the best possible price and need to make profit in a very competitive environment. I suppose Luxman needs to take some risks and upset a minority along the way.

I did get very disappointed and upset but still love my Luxman amplifier. The cd player is gone...

 

I'll just say that this has been the exact opposite experience I have had with both my Luxman Dealer (Mike at Hudson Valley Hi-Fi), and Luxman themselves. Anytime I have a question I reach out to my dealer who is immediately on the horn with the President of Luxman America, Jeff Sigmund. Jeff has also reached out to me personally via email when I was trying to decide what speakers might be a better match for my L550. He was awesome. Took the time to explain why he thought what he did, was very thorough, and I couldn't be happier.

The service that I have received from both my dealer and Luxman is why I went back and got the D-03x without hesitation.

 

Which speakers were recommended?

 

My dealer said Harbeths go well with Luxman. But again it also depends on your preference.

 

i'm starting wondering if the spots and specs are just what the inner structure of the material is like - i saw it recently on another L509x that was listed for sale - probably they used a material that don't take drilling well leading to irregular edges along the hole - unfortunate. Douglas, do you have pics of it at normal magnification? maybe put hand also in the photo so we can see how bad it looks from regular visual distance?

 

The dealer contacted me again and said another unit arrived and asked me to go over to take a look. As expected, the other unit was MUCH better than mine. There are no white patchy looking holes and it's consistently "textured" across the holes. That's what I call "normal".

Here's the pictures together side by side:



He said that he will do a grille swap with me.

Thanks to those who have helped.

 

That is the first time I have seen a composite material like that used as an "air grill". I did not know Luxman was now owned by a Chinese company but am almost wondering if it was a cost cutting measure put in place when they bought/acquired Luxman. I am being serious but I also know little about Luxman gear, especially newer Luxman gear. When did Luxman get acquired and were they using these composite air grills before that? I would want a metal grill and think they would be better for a few reasons.

 

I'm glad that your dealer helped you out.

 

At the time I was replacing my Heresy III's and had narrowed my choices down to the Forte III's or the L100 Classics. It was almost 2 years ago now but I remember that he did discuss both speakers and said that for my setup and what I was looking for the Forte's were a great match for the L55o.

 

Well, according to the dealer, he said when he talked to Luxman regarding the grill, they said they used that material on purpose. They didn't want sound waves to resonate into the amplifier, so they used a soft and textured material (glass fibers) to make the grill. Sort of like those sound insulating baffles that you see on the walls in some music rooms.

Of course in my case, I think they are trying to pull wool fibers over my eyes when they said it's supposed to look like that because of the material used.

 

perfect ending! Now it's both visually appearing as well as awesome sounding!!!

 

Thanks guys. But they way they handled it was truly disappointing. It would feel much better if they have actively done something earlier and not just keep saying it's normal. Rather than me as a customer having to post pictures on the Internet and their FB to gather feedback and response. Meanwhile being laughed at by people for being fixated and crazy like a madman.

Although it's resolved, it's hard for me not to think that if I hadn't been persistent, my case would have been just swept under the rug and I'll be stuck with a defect. Does leave a sour taste in the mouth.

The end result is the same, but the feeling is different.

 

Premium products deserve premium support and quality. Otherwise one can purchase a Denon instead.

 

That's so true

 

Glad it has worked out for you.

 

Yep. And it's exactly this kind of expectation that made my experience more sour and shocking.

 

It’s quite obvious that a few dozen holes didn’t receive a proper finish, regardless of the core material. Indeed a manufacturing defect that should be addressed under warranty. My guess is it plagues most of these amps to some degree, so Luxman could be concerned that if they acknowledge the problem, they could end up with an expensive recall situation.

 

Recall it and be done with it imo. This is not acceptable fit & finish at any price point. Luxman should demand the grille OEM get their **** together, or find a manufacturer that can. What disturbs me most is that Mr. Lam's unit passed Luxman QC in the first place — how?