Luxman R117 Receivers
Luxman R117 Receivers
USER REVIEWS
[Mar 26, 2018]
roadrunner
Strength:
Very musical! Huge power, 160x2 8 ohms rms, 700 peak x2. Wish they still made, would buy again. I've had between 60-70 receivers and amps pass through, this still remains. enough said.... Weakness:
They do not support this unit/ Luxman is gone. Ignore the reviews here that are for different models. Kinda funny to see,but some people rated who did not own. WTF! Purchased: Used
Model Year: 2012
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[Nov 20, 2012]
Joan Price
Audio Enthusiast
I just received my Luxman R-117 back from an authorized luxman repair shop in Connecticut. It needed a left channel and cost me $350 including shipping to repair it. I've been without it for almost two years as high-end shops in the area said it was unrepairable and parts unavailable. I am thrilled, to say the least. I have it paired with up with KEF 104's in my living room and just got KEF 900's for my family room. (I only run one set at a time and can hear crisp, clean, meticulate music house-wide). The Luxman drives these speakers so well that I only have to turn the volume up to less than 1/4. Needless to say the sound is phenomenal. |
[Mar 09, 2008]
Burndoghyena
AudioPhile
Strength:
Power , Clean , No Distortion , will not clip will shut down first and run 4 speakers in Parallel love the bid binding posts too
Weakness:
getting hard to find parts I bought a R-115 back in 1993 , I never new how good it was till I had to replace it , forget it , I got a Pioneer Elite nice for movies but no where near for music , my friends always told me how it was so awesome.Well after missing it for the last 3 years I found a R-117 today and I am so happy paid $160. Can (alot for a 20 year old reciever) but I now I am putting the Wattage in the Cottage and loving it . Oh ya the r-115 fried the unit only the cd direct worked and it was unfixable I think the guy kept it.The clean sound Power to spare with no distortion and great clean crisp bass even with tv I noticed the difference , new stuff has too much processing going on .I had a pair of Cerwin Vegas D-9's i then bought the Paragms 11se MK3's and ran them together wow what a sound stage , I miss it but took up to much room , I am gonna upgrade my speakers soon maybe 40's or another canadain brand or even Klispch. Similar Products Used: Yamaha R-2
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[Mar 27, 2007]
scott
Casual Listener
Strength:
Pretty much everything about it. I love this, that's why I have hauled it with me for over 20 years.
Weakness:
Balance pot needs a shot of tuner cleaner every 15years or so to keep it up-to-speed. Bought this receiver in 1985 & it has treated me right ever since.
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[Dec 24, 2006]
SCSam
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Old fashioned amp section, no DSP's or modules to color the sound. Power to spare and can control a second amp with second pre-outs. Remote control is a huge modern convenience.
Weakness:
None. I purchased my R-117 off of craigslist, I lucked out as the dodgy channel cleared up with some deoxit. This is one of the best built receivers of he middle 80's and handily beats the similar spec NAD 7600. The R-117 rates at 160 wpc but can produce an astounding 700 watts of dynamic headroom. For a high powered receiver, it sounds sweet at both low and high volumes. No sound processors or amplifier modules to color the sound, just good old fashioned output transistors. The R-117 has a second pre-out so I am bi-ampig with the amazing M-117 power amp that is even more powerful at 200 wpc. I am use this setup to bi-amp Dahlquist DQ-32's with the R-117 driving the mids and tweets and the M-117 driving the woofer. The M-117 has separate gain controls so I am able to balance the output. The R-117 and M-117 are a perfect pair as the R-117 volume control is linear for both amps. Be sure to get the RR-117 remote control. Similar Products Used: NAD 7600, Carver HR 772, Yamaha DSP-A1000 |
[Oct 19, 2005]
Doug B.
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Effortless power, cleaner sound than anything available at twice the price new. Extra video terminals in the back - definitely good to have a copy of the user's manual if you buy one! The speakers connections will take banana plugs.
Weakness:
These units don't seem to handle shipping any better than any other stereo equipment. If you do have one shipped check it out immediately to make sure all the sections work. Don't be afraid to ask sellers direct questions before purchasing, either - such as - did you just turn it on and the lights came on, or did you hook up speakers and a headphone? This review is for 2 (2) Luxman R-115 receivers. One was bought for parts. Neither has a working tuner, although both sellers claimed they worked fine before shipping. Never-the-less, I am quite impressed. One only works through the CD bypass unit. It will drive my B&W speakers to levels far beyond what I can stand. On the second R-115 everything but the tuner section functions.(but on this one the CD bypass doesn't work.) Some parts swapping is clearly in these units futures. Basic sound is solid state, but certainly not too harsh, either. Vocals, especially older recordings, do not sound too good. However, orchestra climaxes are handled with remarkable clarity. The unit does not distort under pressure. I am going to try different speakers for my old opera singers, and see if I that will help. But the B&W's are first class on modern stereo and can not be faulted. One note I did not see in the other reviews: The R-117 has a front switch for changing the phono-input between magnet and coil types. The R-113 and the R-115 do not. I have also seen listings of a R-114, nut am not sure if that was from the same model run. Victrolas and London Stereo Treasury recordings of classical music will show spectacularily well with this amp - if you have some give them a try. If you don't buy the Reiner Don Quixote or the Ansermet Firebird and see what you've been missing. The newly remastered London classical CDs also are most impressive, as are the RCA CDs. |
[Mar 16, 2005]
Lyle Poulin
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
everything
Weakness:
nothing I bought a Luxman L80V a long time ago. It was an absolute gem. If I am correct, I think it was a 50 Watt, 20-30 amp amplifier that was so powerful and clean that it would power any type of speaker system. I had this baby hooked up to a pair of extinct, Audio express Two-Way speakers that would blow you away. The speakers were capable of handling, to my my recollection, 250 watts. A 1 inch horn tweeter and a twelve inch driver. I may be wrong in this recollection , but I might be close.When I cranked this little unit It gave a sound so clean and punchy it blew everyone away. No body could believe that this system could or would do so much to your ears. It was awesome, absolutely awsome. I now own a Denon, Parasound, Paradigm, system now, but nothing comes as close to the sound that I got from that little baby, it absolutley rocked. I now own a Denon, Paradigm, Parasound System that is mind boggling. A denon Avr-3803, Parasound Hca-2205, High end Paradigm speakers. Two Subwoofers that will rock you out of your chairs. There is no need for fiber in your diets. This baby will loosen all your stuffed roughage. I love it. |
[Feb 04, 2005]
PAK
AudioPhile
Strength:
1)Clean power that can drive most any speaker load 2)CD bypass routes your CD signals more directly to the amp without colorations from the pre-amp controls. If your source material is good it sounds great, but if your source material is bad it will reveal the faults--as it should. 3)ability to bi-amp 4)remote control
Weakness:
May be difficult to find replacement parts or find someone to do qualified repairs I purchased a used Luxman R-117 receiver after reading positive reviews posted on this site and Audiogon as a low cost addition to my budget high end system. One spray bottle of contact cleaner from radioshack took care of static from the volume pot and balance knob. I have not used the tuner section but use the unit to power magnepan 1.6 QRs speakers via nordost superflatline shotgun cables. I use an old sony 5 disc CDP 75es redbook player put through a McCormack DAC-1 Deluxe DAC via a sonicwave 280 glass fiber toslink. The receiver can power the magnepans to absurdly high levels of volume with clean power. My ears and neighbors give up before the amp section does! The sound is not harsh but neither is it tube like. Given the DAC and other components it is difficult to characterize except that it is very accurate when using the CD bypass which routes the CD signal past most of the pre-amp controls for a more direct connection. This is where the unit shines. It sounds as good as your source material and the McCormack deluxe DAC is very, very good. Without the CD bypass the sound is still excellent but slightly veiled and not quite as sweet as a nakamichi stasis SR-3 receiver. However the nakamichi runs out of gas on some full orchestral passages. The luxman also gives you the oportunity to bi-amp and has a remote for those that don't like to cross a room to adjust the volume etc. I've heard the Magnepan 1.6 speakers with classe electonics and a classe 1.5 CD player as well as with a Krell 300il and meridian 508 player and while different room acoustics obviously did vary the sound quality, non of those set ups came close to the sound I'm getting from the Luxman-R117 using the CD bypass and McCormack Deluxe DAC. I've owned high end audio systems for 25 years, some costing as much as a car and this is some of the best sound I have heard. Surely the Luxman R-117 is one of the best bang for the buck components to be found in the used market place. Similar Products Used: nakamichi SR-3A receiver |
[Nov 16, 2004]
jafalkner@comcast.net
Audio Enthusiast
I have loved my Luxman R-115 and the power and sound is as most have commented, outrageous. Now I am faced with a dilemma-- needs a new volume pot. Luxman is out of business and my tech says it will cost around $200-250 to find one appropriate which will need some gerryrigging. Am I out to lunch to pay this or should I just get a Marantz SR 6400 and call it a day? I just can't bear to see the thing go into cold storage! |
[Mar 28, 2004]
doctor_ivan
AudioPhile
Strength:
Smooth sound, great build quality and awesome power, all for low money.
Weakness:
What's surround sound/multichannel. These amps were designed in 1988 kids. I worked for Myer-Emco (Washington DC area) during the time this product along with its little brothers the R-113 and R-115 were being marketed in the states and they were a salesman's wetdream. Luxman at the time was a quality outfit and their amplifiers did amazing things for the money. Warm sounding, high current and top notch build quality were clearly the goals of the designers of these receivers. The policy of our stores were so that salespeople could bring home products and demo them in our own homes... I took advantage of this often and used these Luxman products with a multitude of electronics and speakers. If you can find one of these in a pawn shop and it works... buy it! Great stuff. Similar Products Used: Adcom, Sansui (old and new), Yamaha, NAD, Rotel, HK, Denon, Nakamichi, B&K (another personal fave!), Onkyo, Marantz. |