Since 1925, Luxman are not about mass produced products designed in Japan, then assembled in China from generic parts. Rather Luxman are designed in Japan, then each part is carefully tested & evaluated. Many parts are custom made for them which really does make these designs special. Apart from the shared Power Supply, the amplifier designs are usually dual mono. Even the transformers are made in Japan to their specification. Luxman select the color paint used on the resistors (to identify value & tolerance) based on extensive listening tests. The chassis are carefully tuned, both vibration and resonance are carefully controlled; they perform like a musical instrument. Finally assembly & testing is all carried out in Japan. The Japanese attention to detail is fantastic, the amplifiers come wrapped in a cloth shroud with elastic underneath, all of the RCA & XLR sockets are protected from oxidation with individual plastic sleeves. Even the power cord is a cut above the normal give-away and actually sounds good. No wonder Luxman achieve a superior sound..

 

 

 

Luxman has a long tradition of producing some of the finest vacuum tube amplifiers in the world.  The MQ-88 has taken that tradition and incorporated some recent innovations in resonance & vibration control to raise the ante even higher.

This is a classic tetrode design, where low distortion and linear output were chosen in favor of maximum power from the KT88 outpt tubes. The lower output from the output tubes will also help in a longer useful life of the tubes.

By cleverly hanging the electronics from the 15mm (5/8") top plate, resonances & mechanical vibrations are isolated from the delicate vacuum tube electronics. Even the cast iron feet are bolted to solid aluminium L shaped stand-offs, which in turn are bolted to the 15mm top plate.

 

There is no circuit board, all the parts are hard wired to each other.

 

 

There are two sets of outputs, variable so that a single input (e.g. a CD player can be connected directly ) and then the output to the loudspeakers can be adjusted. Or fixed, so that a separate preamplifier  (such as the partnering control amplifier the CL-88) can be using for switching between inputs as well as controlling the volume.

 

Comes standard with a grill to cover all of the vacuum tubes, which can be easily removed - as in the photo above.

 

 

Bias ifor each of the output tubes can adjusted on the top panel, the bias meter is a convenient way to monitor each individual output tubes bias setting, to maintain optimum perfromance. 

 

 

 

Rated Output	40W + 40W (4Ω), 50W + 50W (6Ω) and 40W + 40W (8Ω)
Input Sensitivity/Input Impedance	420mV/100KΩ
Total Harmonic Distortion	1KHz rating	1.5%
Frequency Response	5Hz~90KHz	+0, - 3dB
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO ratio	1KHz (IHF-A)	Above 101dB
Input		2 systems (one fixed input, one variable)
Output	Speaker terminals	1 output pair
Control	Power switch, power source indicator, input level adjustment volume, bias electric current adjustment volume ×4, bias supervisory meter, line phase sensor, signal gland terminal, AC inlet
Vacuum Tube Compliment	Output Tubes: KT88×4, Input Tubes: ECC83S×2, 12BH7A×2
Nominal Voltage Gain:	32 dB @ 8Ω
High quality parts	Gold-plated 4N oxygen free copper single line, vitamin Q oil impregnated tubular condensers, custom Takasina gold-plated RCA , 15mm thick aluminum top panel  with suspended frame
Electric power consumption	190W (electric supplies safe method)
Dimensions	15.75 (W) x 7.3 (H) x 15.6” (D)
Weight	55 lbs.

 

MQ-88 with its matching control amplifer, the CL-88 

 

 
 
 

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