LUXMAN D-05 SACD

MJ03.05.2012

Digital sources

The spell that the Luxman casts is irresistible. Stop, have a listen, touch its silver chassis, savour its craftsmanship - everything is balanced close to perfection. The D-05 is 40% cheaper than Luxman's D-06 SACD player yet it offers minimum 80% of its performance.

100% reference

Function and form

88%

Ease of use

74%

Sound

100%

Appearance

The proprietary Luxman SACD transport mechanism is the central part of the D-05 player. The last mechanical sound that I heard was when the drawer in the player's fascia devoured the CD disc. The D-05's chassis is assembled from thick steel plates that are damped by antiresonant layers - that's why the player weights 15kg. Comparing to the D-06 there is only one Burr-Brown PCM1792A DAC chip, a scaled down transformer, less gold in signal paths, no digital coaxial output and no possibility to switch between DSD and PCM on the fly. Still, if you need a digital output, you have a possibility to use optical one (Toslink).

Bass management

Weight

Slam

Articulation

The Luxman D-05 is one of the most tested devices which we have ever had - I had the opportunity to audition it in many different line ups and environments. Its sound is very mature and its price tag is amazingly low. I have never encounter a line up where the Luxman was the weakest link. As such it is really a 100% Reference player.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail

Air

Transparency

A cymbal is a very simple instrument with very complex sound. The Luxman D-05 was like a sonic archaelogist that got this complex sound right. Its resolving power is amazing yet it is not served as a sterile commentary of musical events, rather the player is very understated, elegant and sophisticated, in a Japanese way. It does not sketch the sonic images - it uses rich pallette of tonal colours with careful microdynamic shading. I loved that type of sound.

Tonal accuracy

Timbre

Dynamics

Temporal resolution

Slovakian Fragile a cappela ansamble I heard live in my listening room (they are friends of one of friend of mine). So I pretty much knew what to look for when listening to their recording. Alike the D06 the D-05 accents a bit the bass and highs which makes music more attractive to ear. I have no problem with such voicing provided that it is supported by transparency and resolution. Fortunately it was the case with the D-05 and the playback of Fragile was scary close to what I heard live.

Round tone of bass guitar propells the You Should Be Dancing track of Bee Gees. With the D-05 the bass line was nicely defined, the mids were warm and embracing and the highs extended and resolved. The track had a very fluid feeling that supported the rich arrangements which kept being resolved even after 3' mark when they got layered.

Spatial resolution

Holography

Soundstage width

Soundstage depth

As much as I loved the D-05's sound I hated its software. Reading a disc and accessing tracks takes ages, there is no indexing option during playback, direct access to a track or skipping a track takes 3 seconds... In case you do want listen in dark you have no such an option with the D-05; the display is dimmable and switchable off yet there are more LEDs on the Luxman's front panel that are quite bright and cannot be disabled. It is also not possible to use the D-05 directly to a power amplfier as it misses the variable output.

Price as reviewed:120 000,- Kč

Recommended resellers

HTP s.r.o., tel: +420 606 642 175

PP HiFi Otrokovice, tel. +420 603 581 305

Nisel SK, Bratislava, tel. +421 905 203 078

Manufacturer's website: http://www.luxman.com

Associated components

Sources Luxman D-06, D-03 a D-30u, Accuphase DP-400, Audio Analogue Maestro Rev. 2.0 CD, BMC AUDIO BD CD1 + DAC1, Vincent CD S-5 and Canor CD2 VR Plus
Amplifiers: Vincent SV-121/S, Luxman L-590AX, Luxman M-600A + C-600f, Accuphase E-560, Accuphase E-450 and McIntosh C500 + MC501
Interconnects and speaker cables: Audioquest Pikes Peak, Krautwire Fractal, Kimber Kable Hero, Nordost Tyr and Valhalla, Homegrown Audio DNA, Cardas Cross
Loudspeakers: Atohm GT 1.0, Xavian Giulia, Xavian Preludio, Dynaudio Confidence C1, Usher Dancer CP-8571 II and Usher Dancer BE-718
Power conditioning: Nordost Thor (modified), Black Rhodium Polar Oratorio, Vincent Power

Gallery

77%

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