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ILI-Cd ueIUXnT
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The5kgaluminiumplatterisfitted
ABOVET
andtight top endwith superblevelsof
lamp
coverfor the stylusillumination
handles
screw-in
aid
of two removable
with
the
crispness.
impressive
to
an
allied
detail
sockethasa Luxmanlogoon it.
removable
The
mat.
by
a
rubber
is
topped
to
the
fore
and
came
particular
strength
'ready
This
play'
quite
to
1
isn't
PD1
7
The
the loweredstylus
the title trackfrom postilluminates
with my nextselection,
is
straightfromthe boxbut assembly
LP
Road
Copperhead
Earle's
Steve
[MCA
aidedby clearinstructions,
straightforward,
the
mat with my Achromat,re-checked
featuresa
Theintroduction
MCF3426l.
meantthat
headshell
andthe removable
once
Earle
Steve
cued
uP
and
arm
VTA
performing
together
guitar
B cartridge mandolinand a
I hadmy OrtofonKontrapunkt
more.Thingstook a turn for the better:
them out
andthe Luxmanseparated
fittedand readyto go in no time at all.
yet
openedup furtherandthe
the soundstage
and remainedcomposed
beautifully
was
stillperfectlyintact.
treble
pace
sweet
of
the
track
main
the
'ff connrosuRE
ANDcRrsPNEssinsightfulwhen
moreof a senseof
was
there
Now
can
sometimes
picked
Lesser
turntables
up.
to
fitting
only
Feelingthat it seemed
with this particular weightbehindthosedrumstrikesandthey
becomea littlesplashy
start with some musicfrom the era to
took on properform,ratherthan
suddenly
pressing,
but the
w hichthePD-17 1cou ld
along
that j ustgrumbled
bei
ng
somethi
ng
71
brought
PD-'l
uP
I
cue
d
w e ll belon g,
now
Luxman
The
backdrop.
perfectly
distant
in
the
everything
The LeagueUnlimited
much
and
of
authority
feeling
better
had
a
while
fore,
to
the
Orchestra'sLove And
keeping greaterdetailto its low end,thusmaking
simultaneously
Dancing [Virgin OVED6]
morecomPlete.
control its overallperformance
i
mmacul
ate
an
and was very pleasedto
easilY
was
This
transformation
all
times.
at
h ear t hat th e Lu xma ncan
fromt he
repeatabl S
e.pi nni ng' B urnout'
Giventhe fine
m ost cert ain lych an ne l
Every
album
2OO2
'l
Orchestra's
Cinematic
spatiality,
of
sense
a true 980s vibe when
rubber
the
59]
with
Zen
Tune
Day
deck's
the
enjoying
thoroughly
of
I
was
[Ninja
pleasing
sense
has
a
Thedeck
required.
mat backin placehadthe track'sdoublebut with the occasional
impactandfluidity,makingthe percussion oerformance,
of a congested
bassrenderedassomething
was
a
little
something
that
feeling
nagging
skipalongwith intent,andcapturing
Achromat
to
the
switching
whereas
lump,
rolled
across
drums
the
backing
As
lacking.
synthesisers
analogue
of
the
essence
the
upon
back
detail
conferred
fluidity,
I
realised
added
time'
for the third
the soundstage
playingon the track.
thing
whole
the
made
and
instrument
customary
the
lack
their
to
seemed
they
that
with
wasalsoimbued
Theperformance
entitY.
muchmoreof a cohesive
impactandsoundedsomewhat'dead'.At
a veryfinesenseof clarity,asthe PD-17 1
A
Loverln Berlin'
Bremnes'
Kari
Equally,
the
replaced
the
LP,
this point,I removed
showeditselfto havea veryclean,clear
from her NorwegianMood album[Kirkelig
2211now soared
ARS-FXLP
Kulturverksted
by
underpinned
from my loudspeakers,
bass
with
acoustic
fulsome
taut
and
to
this
a
came
actually
Luxman
in
turntables,
names
more
notable
one of the
a properlydefinednotestructure'Ms
seqmentof the market quite late comParedto some of its competitors,like
largerthan
voicewasfabulous,
Bremnes'
Micro
Seiki,
with
venture
a
as
SonVand Pioneer.With most decksdesigned
ioint
the centre
in
rock-solid
absolutely
players
life
and
like
the
offering
good
Although
name.
a
established
it
soon
however,
rendered
The
finely
soundstage.
of
the
PX'101,Luxmanis best remembered
PD-254and linear-tracking
semi-automatic
percussive
backingeffectswerealso
for the range-toppingdeckssuchas the belt-drivePD-350and direct-drivePDfocusedbut neverintrudedon the
sharply
441 and PD-444,thelatter capableof acceptingtwo arms.Luxmanwas also
mainactionasthe Luxmanwasmorethan
t" ttild the LPin place-Lessermodels
;t;;;;;;-ffi;J;l"tt"tt
capacious
""'Lr"l"
ableto renderthis recording's
PD'555
range-toPping
twin-arm,
as
the
such
some
but
were manuallyoperated,
senseof depth.
- came complete with an electric pump. All its deckswere well engineeredand
Civenthat the LuxmanhadProven
capableof fine performance,with secondhandvaluesreflectingthis'
itselfto be sucha championin termsof G>
'TheLuxman
certainlychannels
a true l980svibe
whenrequired'
20l3 I www.hifinews.co.uk| 33
DECEMBER
T
,
t
I
7
TIIXMAN PD-T?I
c :i
ABOVE: Sturdyisolatingfeet support the PD-171 and are adjustablefor levelling.The
undersideof the cabinet is a hybrid wood/metal constructionfor good damping
the excavationof filigreedetail' I
d ecideda ch alle ng ewa s in or der
a n d slippeda coPYof Ba ch ' sC m inor
Concertofor two harPsichords
and orchestra,with the Sarre
.. CO directed bY Karl RistenPart
,! [ NonesuchH 7 1 0 1 9 ] o nto t he
I platter.My coPYof this is well
.li playedbut still more than capable
i of deliver in ga ura l de ligh tsand t he
,,1 LuxmanPositivelylaPPedit uP'
:.i
rne two harpsichordsProviding
lt tne main structure of the Allegro
I finale were as distinct as I have ever
heardt hem, a nd th e suPP or t ing
orchestrawas Positionedat just
t he right dista ncebe hin dthem '
providinga Perfect backdroPbut
without ever intruding'
I have generallYfound that
t h e f iner a turn tab le'sd esignand
construction,the better it is at
pickingapart the layersof a musical
performanceYet simultaneouslY
presentingthem with Precision
and eleg a nce,ra the rth an jus t as
an overwhe lmingba rrag eof det ail.
The P D -171Pro ve ditse lfto be an
absolutevirtuoso in this resPect,
I
c onf irmingth e e arlYsusPic ions
had formed that it reallyis quite an
enginee ringmasterPie ce .
SOFTLYDOESIT
the
Havingmostcertainlydelivered
goodswith rathermoreebullient
recordedmaterial,I waskeen
to knowhow the Luxmanwould
performwith somethingquieter'
andto thisend Pickedout FlashAnd
alb u mIEn s i g n
Th ePa n ' sepony m ous
6] andthe track
ENVY
Records
'Wa l ki n Ign T heRain' .
Thisis a softlyperformedPiece
with spokenvocalsbackedbYa
b a ssg u it arandallunder P i n n ebdY
Whenwell reproduced
synthesisers.
it hasa hauntingsenseof intimacY
thisinnate
andthe Luxmanrevealed
Thebassline
characterperfectly.
wasvivid,with eachnotecleanlY
separatedfrom its neighbours'and
the relativelysparseinstrumentation
behind these aspectscarriedthe
As an added
track along seamlessly.
bonus,the long sYnthnotes in the
backgroundremainedsteadYat
all t im es , s peak ingv o l u m e sf o r t h e
qualit yof t he PD- 17 1 'sd r i v e s y s t e m
and its speed stabilitY.
Throughout mY time with the
Luxmanturntable, I found mYself
r eallyquit e t ak en bYt h e w a Y i n
which it presentsmusic.There is
no senseof added colorationor
unwanted artificeto its playing' but
yet neither does it Paint a grey and
drab sonic picture.
At all t im es , I f oun d t h a t
instrumentswere lifelike,crisp' and
cleanlyrenderedwith immaculate
timbre and dePth and the interPlaY
between them all was PerfectlY
controlled and reproducedfaithfully.
However,don't think for one
m inut e t hat t he deck i s 'c o n t r o l l i n g '
and r at her bland as a c o n s e q u e n c e
- rather,it simPlYstePsasideand
let s t he m us ict hr ou g h i n a h i g h l Y
captivatingmanner.As a result,it's
easyto lose hours at a time listening
t ot he PD- 171,bec a u s ei t n e v e r f a i l s
t o engage on an em o t i o n a ll e v e l . I
motor,substantialsyntheticbelt
With its servo-controlled
and 'massy'(5kg)alloyplatter,Luxman'sPD-171.offersvery.
of
qood low-ratespeedstability,reflectedin the 'sharpness'
ihe wow & flutter profile[seeCraph1' below].Peakwow is
just 0.03%althoughthe varioushigherrateflutter sidebands
(the shoulders)
amountto 0.05%'Thechamferredspindleis
beautifullymachinedand restson a Teflonbearingwhose
directrumblecontributionis iust shyof -70d8. Rumbleis only
fractionallyhigherat -58.3d8 via the Plattermat andvinyl
groove.Moreover,the screeningaroundthe motor,and the
inherentscreeningof the platterplusthe considereddressing
of the arm cables,alsokeepsany electricalnoiseto a very low
-64dB (re.Pick-upoutput at scmisec).Powerconsumptionis a
little highe;than the 'average'belt-diiveat 18W reflectingthe
'high output audioamplifier'and 'hightorque AC motor'that
form Luxman'sdrivesYstem,
tonearmofiersvery low levelsof
The partneringS-siraped
friction i- t Omg)in both plun"t but, likethe OrtofonTA-110
upon which it is evidentlybasedIHFNMar '1 2], there is some
slightplayin both planes.The arm looksslightlycloserto the
'l
ncousticiolid-brandedWTB21 derivativeIHFNJan'1 3] with
its reduced229mm effectivelengthand almostidentical
cumulativedecayspectrum[Craph2, below]'The main beam
modesare at a low-ishfrequency(14OHzand 170Hz)despite
showingthe samecomplexbehaviourexpectedof an 'S-shaped'
tube. Readersare invitedto view full QC Suitereportsfor
Luxman'sPD-17 1 turntableand tonearmby navigatingto www'
hifinews.co.ukandclickingon the red 'download'button' PM
@
<<Frequency>>
txt
ABOVE:Wow and flutter re' 315OHztone at 5cm/sec
(plottedt150Hz, 5Hz per minor division).Note the
low correlated wow but minor -+25H2 flutter
n
4
fi;:-ifuj,l,}'ii;.:
Althoughlookinglikesomething
of a throwbackto the 1980s'
71'sstYlish
the LuxmanPD-'1
exteriorconcealsa designthat
contemPorarY'
is absolutelY
With stunningengineering
and intelligentdigitalcontrol
electronics,
Plusimmaculate
the P D -171
s ty l i n ga n d P o l i sh,
is a turntablethat is a veritable
delightto use.lt offersa
captivatingand immensely
enjoyablemusicalPerformance.
ABOVE:Cumulativetonearm resonantdecay
spectrum,illustratingvariousbearing,pillar and 'tube'
vibration modesspanning 100H2'10kHzover 4Omsec
Turntable speed error at 33.33rPm
l 3.29fpm ( - 0.12% )
Rumble {silentgroove,DINB wtd)
Rumble (throughbeafing,DIN B wtd)
Hum & Noise {unwtd,rel.to 5cm/sec)
(luatity:
80%
Sound
g..:1- - .:
-:
a- : '
100
465x 140x 390m mi 2 3 k g
DECEMBER20l3
i www'hifinews.co.uk
i 35