It may come as no surprise that the two Recommended Components issues we publish every year, in April and October, are Stereophile‘s most popular. Both go hand-in-hand with increases in single-copy sales and subscription requests, and it’s worth noting that equipment and record suppliers line up to get their ads into those issues.
I’m glad our Recommended Components issues make people happy, because they’re a pig-faced, needle-toothed, Boschian hell of a miserable job to produce. As I write this, it’s one day after the April 2020 Stereophile went to the printers, and I scarcely know my own name. Jim Austin and I work even longer hours than usual during January and July—the months when we’re writing and editing product blurbs, tabulating ratings, chasing down updated information from manufacturers (footnote 1), putting all the categories and blurbs in order, and proofreading the whole damn thing—and when it’s all done, I always look back with fondness on the summers I spent driving a dump truck and working as a busboy.
But the post-RC wrap party, which isn’t a party at all but is actually eight hours of sleep followed by one day of summarily deleting all incoming emails and phone messages, is also a time for taking a second look at the reviews we’ve published over the past six months and looking for trends in our equipment coverage. And this time out, the first thing that jumped out at me was how very few preamplifiers we reviewed in the months since our last Recommended Components feature. In fact, there was precisely one: the Dan D’Agostino Momentum HD ($40,000). Heck, during the same period of time we reviewed more tonearms than that.
So I’m happy to start my next work cycle by reviewing not just a preamplifier but a preamplifier—a big, heavy, wood-wrapped, multifunction beast of a thing (footnote 2). The Luxman CL-1000 ($19,995) is that company’s new flagship preamp, heir to the throne once occupied by the classic 1970s-era Luxman C-1000. The CL-1000 uses vacuum tubes for voltage gain, and its volume and source-selection knobs are supplemented with a brace of controls that include a balance knob, a mono switch, a phase-inversion switch, bass and treble controls, and a demagnetizer. A demagnetizer, for God’s sake.
But let’s back up to that volume knob, which itself deserves more than passing attention. For the CL-1000, the manufacturer has chosen what they refer to as a LECUTA: a Luxman Electronically Controlled Ultimate Transformer Attenuator. The 34-step rotary switch behind the CL-1000’s volume knob selects from 34 relays, all outside of the signal path, which in turn select from 34 taps on matching left- and right-channel transformers, which have Hitachi FineMet cores, the nanocrystal structure of which is said to allow high saturation levels, high permeability, and low core loss.
Transformers are also key ingredients in the preamp’s first line-level stage, which uses high-permeability Permalloy-core transformers for buffering and, I believe, some amount of voltage gain. Between those and the preamp’s output transformers, which are used to lower the unit’s output impedance—I think we’ve homed in on the reason for the CL-1000’s 54lb weight—are a total of six E88CC dual-triode tubes from JJ Electronic. But the CL-1000 is not all-tube: The phono stage uses field-effect transistors and an op-amp, and all power-supply rectification and regulation is accomplished with solid-state devices.
The CL-1000 is the antithesis of a bare-bones, “purist” preamplifier. Not only are there Bass and Treble tone-control knobs, but each is governed by its own three-position rotary switch, to select the frequency ranges over which they function. There’s a Low Cut switch (aka “rumble filter”) that applies a 6dB/octave slope with a hinge at 30Hz. A rotary switch selects between Unbalanced and Balanced outputs, and separate toggles allow the user to invert signal polarity within those two settings. A Line Straight switch allows the audio purist to bypass altogether the tone-control stage—as well as the Balance knob—for the least (presumed) signal degradation.
The fun continues around back, where the Luxman’s single pair of phono inputs—curiously not labeled Phono but rather Ext In—is governed by two six-position rotary switches. The first of these offers three settings for moving-magnet cartridges and three for moving-coil types, providing different combinations of input impedance and gain, the latter with a range of 38 to 66dB. The second rotary switch, geared toward the MM enthusiast, allows the user to select between six different settings of phono-input capacitance. Also provided on the rear panel are four line-level inputs—three single-ended (RCA) and one balanced (XLR)—plus two single-ended (RCA) and two balanced (XLR) output jacks.
Among the Luxman CL-1000’s other features is an “articulator” function. This is essentially an oscillator that demagnetizes the preamp’s many transformers every time the unit is powered up—a luxury not unlike having a dog that walks itself at least once a day. There is also an Articulator switch for users who want to supplement that regimen with occasional manual demagnetization. Cast-iron isolation feet, a walnut “wrap” with a glossy red finish, and rubber circuit board dampers are also included.
One of the best things about the Luxman preamp is something it doesn’t have: a remote handset. I detest those things. Every time a review sample arrives with a remote handset, I feel like going for a drive and throwing it out the window the way Americans used to do with their lunch bags and soda cups before the TV commercial with the crying Indian. Caveat venditor.
What really completes the picture for me is something that Luxman has been adding to their products for as long as I can remember: an owner’s manual that suggests a manufacturer who gives a shit about the customer and who realizes that anyone who spends this much money on a single audio product might be presumed to have more than a passing interest in how the thing works. To that end, the CL-1000 manual, like every other Luxman manual I’ve ever seen, includes a block diagram: not a schematic that might show enough details to give away the store, so to speak, but a simplified if technically savvy diagram that outlines the designer’s basic vision for the thing. Nice.
Getting started
After hoisting the CL-1000 atop my Box Furniture equipment rack—the preamp’s 17.9″ deep chassis, not including jacks, barely fit—I warmed it up by playing a few LPs and CDs. For the former I preceded the CL-1000 with my Hommage T2 step-up transformer, driving the Luxman’s MM phono input set for 50k ohms/38dB and 100pF; for the latter I used my Hegel Mohican CD player into one of the Lux’s line inputs.
Footnote 1: Thanks are due to Laura LoVecchio, who comes by every January and July to help us with this task.
Footnote 2: Luxman Corp., 1-3-1 Shinyokohama, Kouhoku-ku Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 222-0033. Japan. Tel: (81) (0)45-470-6980 Web: luxman.co.jp. US distributor: Luxman America Inc. 27 Kent St., Unit 122, Ballston Spa, NY 12020 Tel: (518) 261-6464. Web: luxman-global.com.
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