Luxman M-02

The Status Series M-02 and C-02 didn't begin their lives as such : they were planned as C-400 and M-400, taking over the C-300 / M-300 combo, with the styling of the L-550 for the C-400.

Both prototypes were presented at the march 1983 french Hi-Fi Fair but were revised quickly thereafter to become the M-02 and C-02, smaller siblings of the already available C-05 and M-05.

Unlike the C-400 which changed a lot when becoming a C-02, the M-400 didn't change much to become the M-02 - see the Invisibilia section of TVK for the one (and only ?) image of it.

The M-02 however saw an intermediary version which landed in the catalogs as late as 1987 (!) but which wasn't produced : same design but large finish differences, better specifications and a tad more power in BTL mode, too - see Knobber images #5 and #6.


The M-02 was export-only but technically directly reminiscent of the ealier M-120A : only not bigger and with good old needle meters instead of flashy red LEDs.

The circuit is basically the same : Duo-ßeta, Duo-Alpha, plus-X power-supply and two Heat-Pipes.
One crucial ingredient however changed : the 450VA transformer is of the round core type : R-Core - quite uncommon in 1983.

Caps were upped to 2x 15,000µF and the structure was reorganized to visibly be dual-mono, the transformer and heat-pipes in symmetry near the front plate, drivers and output stages near the back plate.

Output can rise up to 300W in mono mode (Duo-Alpha) but with only one speaker terminal for both modes instead of the two of the M-120A - still plenty enough to go deaf rapidly.
But beautifully.

The planned high-end status of the original "400" combo was well kept in the M-02 : it sold very well and owners keep them.

They keep them. They keep them. Yestheykeepthem.

• Luxman Co2/Mo2 costprice in the '80's                             (10)last updated by dpaulku - 17/09/2011, 02H18 Open this topic in TVK Talk
  • #1
    
    sjekkietabak
    25/03/11
    21H18
    Hi all, since a few months i'm a happy owner of a co2/mo2. My hifidealer lend it to me because my 1 month old Rotel overheated as hell (smoke came out)
    I fell in love with the luxman, and after my Rotel came back, i had to return the luxman combo.
    I love my Rotel no doubt about that, but it just wasn't the luxman combo.
    It took me a few weeks of nagging, but afterall he sold me the combo for 300 euro's
    I've been searching for Luxman gear on the internet and
    came across prices of nearly 1800 euro's for the co2/mo2 combination on ebay.
    My question is : how much did the luxman co2/mo2 cost in the 80's?
    thx in advance!
    I
  • #2
    
    Axel
    26/03/11
    00H15
    I may have a prices on one or the other of my early 1980s german magazines - will try to check soon.
    I don't know what the combo fetches these days, but paying 1800€ for it would be way over the top !
    
    No wonder the M-02 replaced your Rotel
  • #3
    
    MickRenson
    26/03/11
    09H19
    I own a C02/M02/M02 combo and I am absolutely satisfied with this vintage combo, especially since I drive a pair of Sonab's OA 14 and OA 116 on each of the amps (supported by a pair of Quadral Aurum 2 and a subwoofer, two pairs of speakers on each amp). Super sound - of the eighties. The Price for the Combo in the mid eighties in Germany was 900€ each for the C02 and for the M02 (source: stereoplay). On e-bay you can count with ~750€ for the combination.
  • #4
    
    Axel
    26/03/11
    10H31
    Thank you Mick !
    
    It'll save me a couple of hours getting to then searching through the german Stereoplay I have
  • #5
    
    sjekkietabak
    26/03/11
    11H03
    Thx for the info guys!
    And for a laugh, here's the ad :
    
    http://cgi.ebay.nl/Luxman-C-02-und-M-02 ... 411wt_1302
  • #6
    
    MickRenson
    26/03/11
    12H23
    You're welcome, Axel, and to sjekkietabak: this guy on e-bay is trying since months to sell this combo for that price, I am pretty sure, he will not succeed, even though the combo is "mint"...
  • #7
    
    skiroe
    26/03/11
    22H17
    I paid $425 for my M-02 and it was gone through by a collector of M-02's. And it is likely he would sell another because he has a bunch! I think he said something like he had 8 of them at one time or some such figure. I would be glad to send you his ebay id should you be interested.
    I should have read all the posts on this thread. I see that you are not looking. At any rate the same goes for anyone that might be interested. Just posted this pic and it's not that great of a pic as the meter lighting is not that bright. Too lazy to pull out of the rack and take a proper pic at the moment. I had been fussing with my vintage tube power amps. Putting the M-02 into service lets me take a break and just enjoy the music. The meter lights are now LED's. At some point I will remove the cover and see how much of the refurbishing work can be seen. I am surprised I have not taken the cover off as I do that with any power amp (especially) that comes to stay a long time or visit for awhile.
    
    Skip

    IMG_1367.JPG
  • #8
    
    sjekkietabak
    27/03/11
    11H05
    Oh man, i love those bright lights!
    Very nice!
  • #9
    
    Dalplex
    26/04/11
    04H27
    i saw someone selling this combo for 650 USD, about 450 euros?
    
    300 is very good price.
  • #10
    
    dpaulku
    17/09/11
    02H18
    Ha, so I move to Frostbite Falls, MN from the Twin Cities and find a local HiFi head who has a full Lux C02/M02 stack in his closet. I picked up the pre, amp and CD transport for $225 leaving the matching tuner and cassette deck in the closet. I'm loving them. They are not without their issues, however. I'm experiencing left channel dropout at low volume that corrects itself with the application of more gain on the C02. Sounds like weak cap(s) to me and I'm waiting to have it overhauled.
• Just picked up Luxman M-02                             (11)last updated by Shaggy_NL - 29/08/2011, 00H12 Open this topic in TVK Talk
  • #1
    
    skiroe
    18/02/11
    11H58
    A year or so ago I became aware of a local person who had this thing for M-02s
    and was buying them where ever he could and going through them and using in his
    own system and selling them also. I was invited over to hear the M-02 ( I had
    seen his listing) and while it sounded good there was nothing that particularly
    stood out. . At least this is as I recall it now.
    
    Maybe the synergy with the speakers was not quite happening and the room seemed
    to just extend into another room with no walls to speak of. At least that's how
    my memory serves now.
    
    Fast forward to now---I bought the M-02 more on a compulsion as I had just
    picked up a Halo A23 and while the sonics seemed to be working right w/the Halo
    especially with some remarkable high note retrieval and then I found out after I
    bought the Halo that plastic end caps are fitted to the faceplate. (a whole
    wife factor thing going on with Halo) Kinda cheesy power button as well.
    That's not going to work for me. I also discovered that one heat sink was cool..
    At any rate I dropped it off at Parasound for the seller and I got my money
    back immediately even before I dropped it off.
    
    Very unusual in a transaction to get your money back before the seller gets the
    unit back.
    
    The M-02 showed up on ebay while I was dealing with the logistics of returning
    the Halo as I was notified via saved searches and I snapped it up.
    
    Its been all gone through and I was able to just pick it up locally and the sonics are way much
    more than I ever expected. I would not have a problem selling my vintage tube
    power amps which have also been gone through. Will see what happens. As an afterthought I dont know that the M-02 can do everything better than a tube amp. But that was my first reaction upon listening to it. I will do a comparison at some point. \ Skip
    
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=STRK:\
    MEWNX:IT
  • #2
    
    Axel
    18/02/11
    16H08
    The 02s were the last drop of non-Alpine ownership and the M-02 is a special amp.
    
    I know of two people who went through plenty, sold everything back after more or less prolonged use, but kept their M-02s.
  • #3
    
    theophile
    21/02/11
    09H48
    I have seen an internet posting from at least one owner of an M-05,the likes of whom had a fair experience of well regarded amps,who was surprised and delighted by the sound of that amp.
    
    A question:Is the C-06a/M-06a the best of that series?
  • #4
    
    Dalplex
    26/04/11
    04H38
    C-06 has video switch and XLR as well. little bit of modern.
    
    start using attenuate instead of potential meter.
    
    no idea of sound quality.
  • #5
    
    Shaggy_NL
    18/05/11
    12H05
    I got that C-02 and M-02 combi, before my 5C50 and M-1600 I got now.
    
    I must say that there's plenty of power in it, no doubt about that. The thing is that I didn't find the sounds fast enough. Sounds strange maybe, but I prefer the 70's Lux equipment myself.
    
    On what speakers will you play with this M-02 beauty?
    
    Here my old set with the shiney combo
    
    Audio set by ShaggyNL, on Flickr
  • #6
    
    skiroe
    08/07/11
    18H46
    Shaggy, I am using it with Klipsch Forte II's. Although for the last month I have been using a Decware Taboo el84 based at 6 wpc and have to say that the clarity and imaging and detail are astounding. I think that Decware products may be the most under appreciated in the hi fi world. I have had a pair of the Zen monos a few years back and a preamp by Decware as well. I have a pair of their MG 944 mtm speakers which also have a passive driver at the bottom.. http://www.decware.com/newsite/MG944.html The Fortes have a 15 " passive on the back. I will be hooking up the MG 944's soon when I return to home. There is no crossover in the MG944's like the Forte's except for a cap for the planar tweeter in the Decwares. I think something is lost when using low power amps with speakers that have a crossover. Although the Taboo is sounding so good that I have not hooked up the M-02 yet again. Very unusual for me as when I am home I leave my equipment on all day to listen . The only diff is I would leave the M-02 on to go run an errand but I dont leave tube equipment on when I leave the house. The Decware products are designed and implemented so well that you can leave them on all day and at 6 wpc the electric bill is not going to hit the roof.
  • #7
    
    Shaggy_NL
    09/07/11
    11H22
    Interesting.
    
    Just be aware of the point, that if you leave a Tube equipment on, all day long, after half a year you can buy all new tubes. That will cost you a fortune, spread out over a couple of years. My dad was in that same position some years ago.
    
    I'm not the type that like Tube amps. I think that the high frequencies aren't so fine & beautifull. And on the low end, you got a phase shift. That last is sooo bad for the overall soundstage and "rest", when listening to your music.
  • #8
    
    skiroe
    10/07/11
    18H10
    Oh, I don't leave tube equipment on all day long and actually one can do that readily with Decware amps because they are designed so efficiently and the only waste would occur to to the fact its running in class A.. The Taboo may well run in class A1 if I recall. What I meant to say was I leave my solid state amps on all day as they are more capable and less expensive to keep on all day into the evening. I would have to say that for me S/S is most appreciated for slam and volume ability which for certain types of music likely has an edge on tube. Im not sure what tube amps you have listened to but I experience no problems as you describe with the Taboo. The highs are unsurpassed by anything I have had in my system and the mid range is holographic. The bass is not obviously as good as what S/S can do but for pure listening pleasure overall its hard to beat. As I said,, I have not put the M-02 back into service yet. I have been out of town though and currently using a class D or T Trends amp in my system here. Just sold a beauty--- A Yamaha CA 800 integrated with the class A switch option.
  • #9
    
    Shaggy_NL
    11/07/11
    16H52
    The one I listen to the most was a Unison Research S6, some years ago. My dad owned that amp, but the wattage was too low and it did cost a fortune on tubes, as we talked about before.
    
    I did heard some Tube amps at an audio store about 200 meters from my house. However, now I got a Luxman AS-9 (Power Amp Selector) from eBay, I would like to look for a Lux Tube power amp like a MQ3600 or a MQ80 if that last one is actually made as a 220V model in europe (or do somebody else know another great Lux tube amp?). I want to hear it myself now, with a Solid State Pre-amp. And with the Power Amp Selector, I can switch between two amps, without plugging it all over, everytime I want to change.
  • #10
    
    Whitese
    25/08/11
    06H44
    I am also a new owner for a refurbished Luxman M-02...I will drive it through the preamp section of a Luxman L-100U and once in awhile through a Berning TF-10. Mine has modern speaker binding posts...now I can use my handsome speaker wire..
    
    
    
    
    
  • #11
    
    Shaggy_NL
    29/08/11
    00H12
    That looks quite good. And the backlight from the meters on the front are far more bright then my M-02 was. Congratz!
    
    I got myself (finally) a 5M21 who replaces my M-1600. I allready got the 5C50 (and four others from the LRS serie). I can reccomend that 5C50 and 5M21 combi to everybody (who want more Lux).
    
    Btw, as tip for every audio enthusiasm: Don't look for thick and expensive (interlink) cable's, but look for cables with a low capacity!! (for between your Pre- and Power-amp... and source)