Luxman 310 Tuner
Shinyoung Gedris
Tuners are listed in alphabetical and numerical sequence by model number. In parentheses after the model number are the year of introduction and most recent list price, and/or the original list price if indicated by "orig" (special thanks to David Rich of The Audio Critic forcopies of historical material from his reference library)..
Our late contributor PZ did a remarkable job of research and analysis in creating PZ's Luxman Tuner History. Many of the tuners he describes are listed below, but not reviewed. We'd like to put writeups of more of them on this page if our readers will provide the usual basic information on them (types of controls and features, and any personal anecdotes or comparisons to other tuners). In addition, there are many Luxman tuners in the On-Deck Circle that may be worthy of a full writeup. Please post in our FMtuners group if you have any information about any "Luxmen" that we haven't reviewed.
Luxman T-02 (1986, $500, photo) search eBay
The T-02 (not to be confused with Luxman's analog T-2 from the 1970s) is reportedly a sensitive, excellent-sounding digital tuner with decent selectivity. Our contributor Lefty tells us, "Luxman also marketed the digital T-02 in Europe (and elsewhere?) as the T-530. I have service manuals for both the T-530 and T-02 and they are cosmetically identical, with only AC power selections and AM/FM frequency step options for the T-530. This T-02 digital model is of a very high construction quality and has great features and performance. My only complaint is that there is no battery save function for the memory, such that if you unplug the unit from the wall outlet you lose all your memory preselected stations." Our contributor Gatan points out that the memory of the T-02 and T-530 is actually supposed to be saved for 24 hours without power. Our contributor Peter B., who is impressed with the T-02's build quality, tells us that its "CAT" (computer analyzed tuning) system automatically adjusts reception parameters like the "APR" in Onkyo tuners like the T-9090 and T-9090II does. Our contributor PZ adds that the 7-segment signal meter doubles as a multipath meter. PZ finds the T-02's selectivity "as good as any in the narrow mode." The T-02 usually sells for $90-160 on eBay, with a low of $52 in 4/12 and a high of $228 in 8/11 for a "new-in-box" unit.
Luxman T-4 (1978, $495, photo) search eBay
After fixing a problem with his T-4's tuning lock, our contributor Mike F. said, "It's sounding really fantastic. I can thoroughly recommend this tuner to anyone who wants really good bang for the buck. Very warm, smooth sound. Excellent construction, too - this thing is heavy for a slim tuner with nice steel chassis, really well made tuning cap and mech. I have a Marantz 125 and 112 and they are in the same league, construction-wise, except the Luxman doesn't have the little compartments for everything that the Marantz tuners do." The T-4 can sell for almost any amount on eBay but most often $35-60, with a bizarre all-time high of $255 in 4/07.
Luxman T-12 (1977, $645, photo) search eBay
Our contributor Joe says that the FM-only T-12 "is a fabulous-sounding tuner. Timbral values and bass end are a bit light, but musical and spatial resolution are first rate. Reception is quite good." Our contributor PZ reported, "I opened up my T-12 and 5T10 and confirmed that they are essentially the same tuner. The T-12 was made first and Luxman just repacked it inside a bigger case than the 5T10 and made very minor changes. They have the same main board where the IF and audio circuits reside, and the same transformer, power supply and RF section. Only the CLL circuit board is different. The one in the T-12 is shielded and the one in the 5T10 is not. The 5T10 has the extra high blend feature. The rest is just cosmetic differences." Our contributor Hank A. adds that Luxman's "Accutouch System" functions like the quartz lock in such tuners as the Sansui TU-719 and TU-919 but, unlike Sansui, "Luxman had sense enough to make it defeatable." Our contributor doug says, "I owned a T-12; yes, they're nice sounding, yes they're nice looking, yes, they're rare. I sold mine because I was not overwhelmed by the sound - it is comparable to any number of other top tuners. I found it to be a hair off in detail, which kept it from being up there with the very best, but the main detraction, for me, was its only so-so sensitivity - it seemed to be less immune to noise on stations relatively easy to receive, compared to most other tuners I had. But, I never had it serviced." The T-12 has front-panel switches for recording tone, multipath check, signal-strength indicator, mono/stereo, IF bandwidth (wide/narrow), muting on/off, quartz lock release, and tuning lock release. The T-12 usually sells for $90-150 on eBay.
Luxman T-14 (1981, $800, photo) search eBay
Our panelist Jim provided some quick facts on the FM-only T-14: "It's, I guess you would say, global. You can rework the transformer inside for 100, 120, or 220 volts and change the de-emphasis between 75 S and 50 S. The audio op-amp is a 5532. Four ceramic filters. There is easy access to both sides of the board for upgrades. Fixed and variable outputs. Level control on the rear panel. Defeatable muting level control on the front." Our contributor Greg says, "I would say that the T-14 is a pretty nice-sounding tuner. The bass gives up a little richness to the Accuphase T-100 I had, but all in all, I would say that it is a pretty good performer, and the sound is surprisingly refined and rich to boot." The T-14 is seen on eBay only once a year or even less, with sale prices of $75-150 most likely.
Luxman T-88V (1976, $345, photo) search eBay
The T-88V is a rather basic AM-FM tuner despite its very distinctive appearance. It has 4 gangs and 4 ceramic filters for FM, and 2 AM gangs. The only front-panel controls, other than the tuning knob and band selector knob, are a hi-blend switch and a muting off switch. On the rear are fixed and variable level outputs with a level control, and horizontal and vertical multipath output jacks for an oscilloscope. Here's Luxman's own description, as posted by an eBay seller: "LUXMAN'S NEW HIGH SENSITIVITY TUNER FRESH IN DESIGN PRESENTATION! The T88V is designed as a matching tuner to the L-80 series integrated amplifiers with a common concept of being refined yet economical. It incorporates all the useful features with a modern appearance. The FM section consists of a 4-gang tuning capacitor and FET RF amplifier circuits, inter-stage double tuning circuit, mixer circuit, and special oscillator circuit of low distortion. This results in excellent figures in such characteristics as high sensitivity, signal overload capability, various spurious responses and intermodulation distortion. Therefore impeccable quality reproduction of FM broadcasting is possible over a wide range of signal strengths. The IF amplifier employs 2 pairs of linear ceramic filters together with 2 transistors, and adoption of LC double tuning circuit, wide bandwidth discriminator transformer. A high gain IC makes it possible to obtain an improved phase relationship as well as excellent distortion and separation. In the MPX circuit the specially selected PLL IC is used, which automatically compensates for voltage and temperature drift etc. for many years without the need for re-alignment, so ensures good separation and low distortion. All above mentioned facts account for our meticulous care paid to overall improvement of reproduced tonal quality. Also a constant voltage supply circuit is provided at the power supply section to offer high stability against fluctuation of power supply voltage. Annexed accessories are FM high blend circuit, FM muting circuit, multipath detector and output level setter, etc. Among others the FM muting circuit is of electronic operation by means of transistor logic and FET analog audio muting, which is controlled by signal strength and accuracy of tuning centre ensuring a stable muting threshold irrespective of RF input strength, and at the same time eliminates thump noises at the time of ON/OFF operation of the muting switch. The AM section is composed by high quality variable capacitor with ceramic filter at the IF amplifier, and therefore excellent selectivity and faithful reproduction." The Vintage Knob has a page on the T-88V. The T-88V is fairly common but has sold for a wide range of prices on eBay: most often from $55-100, but as low as $30 or less and with a high of $183 in 2/14.
Luxman T-110 (a/k/a T-110U) (1976, $545, photo) search eBay
Our panelist Jim said the FM-only T-110 was his favorite Luxman tuner, although he was not a big fan of "Luxmen" in general. Our panelist Bob agrees: "My assessment was that the 5-gang T-110 was the only Luxman worth looking at as well. Very overpriced it appears. Their later stuff was absolute dreck, comparable to any other crappy black tuner." Our contributor Mark H. says: "The T-110 is the best FM I've ever heard. In [my] area, even with a rooftop antenna, selectivity and rejection are non-issues, and the T-110 locks on and sounds great. Our T-117 was *never* this good, which I still suspect says more about our local stations than it does about the tuner. Music and voice both sound great on the T-110." Our contributor Pete G. says, "One thing I have noticed about this model is that it seems to hold its RF alignment fairly well. One of the reasons is because, instead of using compression trimmers on the main tuning cap the way many tuners do, this unit has relatively high quality ceramic trimmer caps. These are similar to the types of trimmer caps that you see in test equipment."Our panelist Eric tested our tuner benefactor Kevin's T-110, which sounded OK and had a nice wooden cabinet, but its sensitivity was just average and adjacent channel selectivity was surprisingly poor. Overall, Eric expected more from a self-proclaimed "ultimate high fidelity stereo component." The T-110's front panel crosses the line where "minimalist" turns to "boring," with just a power button, mono/stereo and muting on/off buttons, a tiny stereo light and a large tuning knob. There is much more of interest on the back panel, including fixed and variable outputs, an attenuator switch for strong signals, a 75 S/25 S de-emphasis switch, scope outputs, and what appears to be a quadraphonic output (marked "4ch. decoder"). Kevin's unit says T-110 on the front panel and T-110U on the back. Inside is also rather minimalist, with lots of empty space despite the small cabinet size. The T-110 has 5 gangs, one 3-pin ceramic filter and two sealed black filter blocks labeled "four pole linear phase filter 10.7MHz," so it would not be a good candidate for a filter mod (except for replacing that one ceramic). On eBay the T-110 can sell for as little as $60 or so or over $400 (with a high of $520 in 12/10), but $120-150 is the most common range.