Five amplifiers sit between $10,000 and $15,000 in our range, and this bracket contains the single most important decision in high end amplification: whether you want Class A or Class AB. One amplifier here makes 20 watts and one makes 180, and the one making 20 watts is not the lesser product. They are built for different speakers and different rooms.
Get that choice right and everything else follows. Here is each amplifier in price order, with the reasoning behind it.
Luxman L-507Z
Luxman
The L-507Z opens the bracket and it is the most broadly capable amplifier here. The output stage is a bipolar triple parallel push pull design, giving 110 watts into 8 ohms that doubles cleanly to 220 watts into 4 ohms. That doubling is the specification to watch, because it demonstrates a power supply that is not running out of reserves when the impedance falls.
Luxman LIFES 1.0 feedback engine and the LECUA1000 88 step attenuator are both here, with distortion at 0.007 percent or less and line response from 20Hz to 100kHz. The headphone section is unusually serious, offering both a 6.3mm single ended output and a 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced output, which is rare on an integrated amplifier at any price.
Against the L-100 Centennial just above it, this is the practical choice. It will drive almost anything, where the L-100 will not. Against the Accuphase E-4000 it gives up power and damping factor and gains the Luxman tonal signature and a built in phono stage. If you want one amplifier that handles any speaker you are likely to own, this is it.
Luxman L-100 CENTENNIAL
Luxman
The L-100 Centennial is the specialist in this bracket and the one that needs the most explanation. It runs in pure Class A and produces 20 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 40 into 4. If you compare that number to the 180 watts of the Accuphase E-4000 further down this page you will draw the wrong conclusion.
Class A means the output devices conduct across the entire signal waveform rather than handing off between halves, which eliminates the crossover distortion that Class AB designs work hard to minimise. The result, with the right speakers, is a purity and a lack of grain through the midrange that higher powered designs struggle to match. Distortion is 0.005 percent or less, the lowest figure in this bracket, and the damping factor of 300 is higher than the L-507Z despite a fraction of the power.
The condition is the speakers. Twenty watts requires sensitive loudspeakers, ideally 90dB or better, in a room that is not enormous, and a load that does not drop to difficult impedances. Meet those conditions and this is the most beautiful sounding amplifier in the bracket. Fail to meet them and it will run out of power and you will be unhappy. Be honest about your speakers before choosing it, and if there is any doubt, the L-507Z is the safer purchase.
Accuphase E-4000
Accuphase
The E-4000 is the powerhouse of this bracket. One hundred and eighty watts per channel into 8 ohms rising to 260 into 4, with a damping factor of 800 and a signal to noise ratio of 112dB. Those figures place it well clear of everything else here on sheer authority, and the 54 watt idle consumption confirms it is an efficient Class AB design rather than a Class A one.
The practical meaning of a damping factor of 800 is grip. On a large floorstander with a big woofer, or on a speaker with a demanding impedance curve, this amplifier simply does not lose control of the driver. Bass notes start and stop when the recording says they should. That is a different quality from the inner purity the Luxman L-100 offers, and for some speakers it matters far more.
Accuphase construction standards and long term support are part of what you are buying, as is the resale value that follows from them. As with the E-3000, phono is handled through the Accuphase option board system rather than built in, so plan for that if you have a turntable. If your speakers are large or difficult, this is the amplifier in this bracket to shortlist first.
Luxman L-509Z
Luxman
The L-509Z is Luxman flagship integrated amplifier and the most complete expression of their engineering in this bracket. One hundred and twenty watts into 8 ohms doubling to 220 into 4, a damping factor of 330, distortion at 0.007 percent or less and a signal to noise ratio of 106dB, in a 29.4 kilogram chassis that is noticeably more substantial than the L-507Z.
The attenuator is the LECUA-EX rather than the LECUA1000 of the L-507Z, which is the top version of Luxman volume control technology. Two balanced XLR inputs, four line inputs, a moving magnet and moving coil phono stage and a main in give it the same flexibility as the rest of the range.
Compared to the L-507Z, the gains are in refinement rather than capability. Both will drive the same speakers. The L-509Z has a lower noise floor, a more developed sense of space and a more relaxed quality at volume. Compared to the Accuphase E-4000, it offers less raw power and damping, a built in phono stage, and the warmer Luxman voicing. This is the amplifier for someone who has heard both houses and prefers Luxman.
Luxman L-509Z Black CENTENNIAL EDITION
Luxman
The Centennial Edition tops this bracket and it is electrically the L-509Z described above. The same 120 watts into 8 ohms and 220 into 4, the same LIFES 1.0 circuit, the same LECUA-EX attenuator, the same damping factor of 330 and the same 29.4 kilogram chassis.
What differs is the finish and the occasion. This is the black livery produced to mark Luxman centenary, against the brushed silver and champagne the company has used for decades. It is a limited production run, which means that unlike the standard L-509Z it will not be available indefinitely.
Choose it over the standard L-509Z for one of two reasons. Either black simply suits your room and your other components better, which is a perfectly good reason and the usual one. Or you want a piece marking a hundred years of a company that has been making amplifiers since 1925, in which case the limited run is the point. There is no sonic argument between the two, and nobody should tell you otherwise.
Worth stretching for
Accuphase E-700
This bracket contains genuinely world class amplification, and for the overwhelming majority of systems the honest advice is that you do not need to go further. If you are curious what the next step buys, it is a specific thing rather than a general improvement.
The Accuphase E-700 runs in pure Class A and produces 35 watts into 8 ohms, 70 into 4 and 140 into 2 ohms. That progression is the interesting part. Doubling into 4 ohms and doubling again into 2 is behaviour almost no amplifier manages, and it describes a power supply and output stage that treat a difficult impedance as unremarkable. The damping factor is 1000 and the signal to noise ratio is 121dB, both clear of anything on this page.
So the E-700 offers the midrange purity of Class A, which the Luxman L-100 on this page also offers, without the L-100 severe speaker restrictions. That combination is what you are missing here. Every amplifier in this bracket asks you to choose between Class A purity and real world drive. The E-700 declines to make you choose, and that is what the extra money buys.
Other price points
Every amplifier listed here is one we stock and sell. Specifications are the manufacturer published figures. Current pricing is on each product page. If you want help matching one to your speakers and your room, call or email us and we will talk it through.