How to "warm up" the solid state sound?

[Shinto]

Speaker positioning.Move speakers closer to each other in small steps. Take them little by little back towards the front wall.Reduce toe in.

 

[Gsomin]

Thanks to you all for great responses.

This weekend I had a unique opportunity to do a side-by-side test of two awesome integrated amplifiers. 18 year old McIntosh MA6900 and brand new Luxman 507z. Both outstanding machines, and please do not worry about the age of the McIntosh. Thanks to the great guys in the George Meyer AV repair shop. They replaced the power supply and recapped it, so as far as I am concerned it was like new. My Luxman came from Precision Audio and Video in Chicago. -

For full transparency my full setup includes both Rega RP6 and Primare CD21 cd player, but for the convenience of the test my source was Bluesound Node 2.1. A bit bright, but lots of detail. I use MQA Tidal streaming which in my opinion, as good or better than CDs, sans the DAC. For the speakers I used Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers.

What I listened to were a few of my favorite records, but mostly the selection was chosen to hit on the main points of the comparison: vocals, bass, cymbals, strings as well as full live soundstage. Here is the list:

• Simon and Gurfunkel, “Bridge over troubled water”
• Ray Brown “Soular Energy”
• Billie Eilish “Oxytocin” t
• Keith Jarrett “Carl Phillipp Emanuel Bach”
• Wayne Shorter “Speak No Evil”
• Eva Cassidy “Nightbird”

I will get straight to the point. While both McIntosh and Luxman are outstanding machines, they cannot be more different. Luxman excelled at bringing all the details, both in terms of the soundstage, but also in terms of top end and really low bass. It definitely makes you feel like you are part of the music. This worked especially well at low volumes, late at night. The details were all there, especially if you turn on the Loudness feature. While Luxman was so great in many ways, it was really hard to listen to at the high volumes. When the power meters were starting to hit 20-40W, the sound became a bit harsh, similar to a dance club with not such a great stereo system. Super loud, still detailed, but the extra detail and presence has become a nuisance, not an advantage.

The McIntosh was many things that Luxman was not. It was sweet and lush in the mids. Eva Cassidy's voice was unbelievably soft, something you could listen to for hours. You could still hear the bass, the instruments on Wayne Shorter’s and Ray Brown’s records were a little subdued, understated. Still there, but not as forward as on the Luxman. Don’t get me wrong, it was still great, and I am a big fan of McIntosh sound, but in comparison it was softer and more recessed. At the low volumes, McIntosh sound became a little mushy, but where it did shine is when you cranked the volume to 50% on the volume dial. McIntosh is incomparable when you want to throw the party. No matter how loud it goes, it maintains its softness, lush sound that does not make the sound tiring, and just makes everyone want to dance.

Now, Given that both amplifiers are solid machines with their strong and (relatively) weak sides, I wanted to see if I could do something about it. Could I make my Olympicas sound more like 100k+ Wilson Audio? With a few hours on my hands, I decided to see if there is a way to mix-and-match pre-amp and amp stages.

First, I tried to put the Luxman pre-amp into the McIntosh amp stage. This brought some Luxman detail into McIntosh sound, but I felt like it made the sound mediocre. It expanded the McIntosh soundstage, and made the instruments a bit more forward, but was not exciting. It was kind of neither Luxman nor McIntosh. Second, I do the reverse and put the McIntosh pre-amp into the Luxman amp stage. I was hoping that it would bring some warmths or “tubiness” into Luxmand, but unfortunately, it just made Luxman sound a bit mushy, but not exciting. Overall, mixing-and-matching those two beauties did not make the sound that inherited the best from both. Unfortunately the “hybrid” was extenuating each other's faults.

This experiment was to see which of those amplifiers should take primary space in my living room. The choice is hard, but I have to say that in the end Luxman will have to take the primary spot. I love to listen to jazz and classical and I want to do this at night. I feel like Luxman will do a better job at that, and if I want a more supple sound, I will have to change my source. I am sure there are better streamers than Bluesound.

Please hit me with any questions.

 

[arj]

Thank you for taking the time and posting such a nice account of your experiment and findings. Your selection of music perhaps covers the entire spectrum of regular listening with micro/macro dynamics, tonality and harmonics as well as the entire frequency spectrum

On your mix and match of preamps/power amp between luxman and mcintosh, I have always found the same in every integrated ie using the inherent pre/power always outperforms the external , unless you get a dedicated pre ( active or passive) which is neutral .

This is perhaps because each component adds a distortion and the kind of distortion it is varies by design which defines the "house sound". When you buy an integrated both the pre and power have the same "House sound" but when you mix and match the distortions only add up and never negate. eg being forward sounding is a distortion and dark or laid back another distortion. Having both these components only make it worse and the distortions only add up instead of becoming neutral.

If you get a chance to try out. do try a Passive preamp and use the Luxman as a power amp only. being mostly neutral, that will give you a better idea of the power amp section of the luxman

 

[Mike The Bike]

Thanks all! I will definitely try to toe-out the speakers in case this helps.

I also think that my perception of the sound maybe coming from the prior bias- I used to have MA6900 McIntosh instead of thr Luxman and possibly have gotten used to McIntosh sound.

Late post but you are right. My Luxman R-117 at 170 wpc conked out. The sound was always a bit too bright. Just purchased a McIntosh MA7900 and enjoy the warmer , smoother sound.