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Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player – The ultimate expression of musicality

No less than the ultimate expression of musicality, a statement, that’s how the Luxman Corporation describes its latest addition to the range of source devices, the Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player. It is obvious that this player should take over the role of a flagship in its field…


It has been said for years and days that the silver discs, which for a long time were the music source par excellence, are now long outdated and will be replaced by streaming. CDs are obsolete, Super Audio CDs have not really made the breakthrough in the market anyway… And yes, to a certain extent this may be true, but this assessment ignores one thing, namely the countless passionate music enthusiasts who have been collecting eagerly over the years and who have hundreds, if not thousands of CDs as their own and of course want to use them in the future in the usual way. Many an audiophile music enthusiast has probably collected an impressive number of SACDs over the years, so that these will of course continue to be listened to in the best quality. Despite the dominance of streaming, audio CD players or even Super Audio CD players are still very popular with a not so small target group.

A traditional manufacturer in the HiFi segment, which even offers an impressive number of CD and SACD players, is the Japanese company Luxman Corporation. As if the existing line-up wasn’t impressive enough, a very special drive will soon be added, namely the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player.

The exciting thing about the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is that many of the existing Luxman Corporation products are already considered to be extremely fine drives, but the Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is supposed to go one better in all respects and is therefore considered to be the flagship product. The manufacturer has a number of exclusive technologies to ensure that the Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is nothing less than the ultimate expression of musicality.

Akurat, this is the keyword that the manufacturer puts at the top of the product description, a characteristic that can be applied to all essential features of the Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player.

The development of the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is based on the Luxman D-08u, but also relies on more flexible playback functions, the latest converter technologies, and last but not least on a further refined drive and an equally refined analogue output stage.

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At the heart of the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is once again a drive developed by Luxman Corporation itself, the Luxman LxDTM-i Disc Transport Mechanism in the refined form described above. The aim is to eliminate even the slightest vibrations and resonances that could damage the sound, in order to guarantee the aforementioned accuracy in reading the data from the very beginning. The drive is here “packed” in a separate case, which has a wall thickness of no less than 8 mm at the sides, whereby aluminium is used here. The cover plate is made of stainless steel and has a wall thickness of 5 mm. Also the control of the drive has been further refined.

As already mentioned, a lot of attention was paid to the converter section, whereby a world novelty is to be announced here. For the first time a MUS-IC BD34301EKV from ROHM Semiconductor is used here, which is used in a so-called dual-mono configuration.

To ensure that this outstanding converter is not limited to the reproduction of optical data carriers alone, the developers equipped the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player with all relevant digital interfaces so that it is also available for external sources. Two optical and one coaxial S/PDIF inputs are located on the rear panel, as is a USB port for direct connection to a PC or Mac.

The converter is capable of converting signals to Linear PCM at up to 32 bits and 768 kHz, with DSD it can handle signals up to DSD at 22.4 MHz. By the way, contents in MQA can also be processed, although this naturally also applies to appropriately encoded CDs, so-called MQA CDs.

By the way, it should also be mentioned that Luxman Corporation offers its own software for playback on PC and Mac, the Luxman Audio Player App. This can also be downloaded directly from the manufacturer’s website for the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player and supports all relevant audio formats.

For the output stage, the developers once again opted for a so-called ODNF amplifier. This stands for Only Distortion Negative Feedback and is used here in the form of the latest ODNF-u. This stands for Only Distortion Negative Feedback and is used here in the form of the latest ODNF-u. This is the ultimate, once again indicating that the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player has always gone one step further than before. It goes without saying that it is a completely symmetrical design, whereby the manufacturer emphasises above all the high level of detail and high dynamics free of noise of this circuit concept.

In addition to balanced and unbalanced analogue outputs, the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player also features an optical and coaxial S/PDIF interface. Given the amount of work that the manufacturer has put into its converter and output stage, it is unlikely that an external solution will be found.

Talking about high effort, of course the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player also uses the unique Luxman PCB layout, which is based on extra thick copper foils, gold-plated contacts and a signal routing on the circuit board that is designed in curves if possible. The manufacturer also cites oversized, particularly stable power supplies, separately designed for all major groups, as essential features for impeccable quality, whereby the capacity of the power transformer has been increased by a remarkable 27 percent compared to the previous flagship model. It goes without saying that only the finest materials such as Neutrik XLR connectors are used for the connections.

A special feature of the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is also its display, which has a fourfold zoom function so that information is really easy to read under all conditions. An ergonomically shaped remote control, the Luxman RD-290 Remote Control, is another feature that clearly speaks for the finest high-end HiFi.

The new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player measures 440 mm in width, 418 mm in depth and 154 mm in height. The weight of no less than 22.4 kg is clear proof that not only the interior is of the finest quality, but that the chassis has also been built solidly and solidly.

According to the information currently available, the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player will soon begin its role as the flagship of Luxman Corporation’s CD and SACD players. It is currently expected that the first units will find their way to Europe as early as mid-August 2020. The recommended retail price should be € 16,990.

Getting to the point

The exciting thing about the new Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is that many of the existing Luxman Corporation products are already considered to be extremely fine drives, but the Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is supposed to go one better in all respects and is therefore considered to be the flagship product. The manufacturer has a number of exclusive technologies to ensure that the Luxman D-10X Super Audio CD Player is nothing less than the ultimate expression of musicality.

Manufacturer:Luxman Corporation
Distribution:IAD GmbH
Price:€ 16.990,-
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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