Luxman HR35 (1963)

Name: Luxman HR35
Brand: Luxman

The Luxman HR35 is a small-power tri-amplifier released in January 1963 at ¥33,000. Documentation is thin - the record is mostly the original spec sheet - but what survives shows an unusual, budget-minded entry in early-1960s Luxman's lineup.

The design goal, as stated in period materials, was a low-cost amplifier that didn't sacrifice quality. It ran a modest 4W+4W into 8-16 Ω loads. The output stage used two 6GW8S tubes in a 12-tube, 6-transistor hybrid configuration. A magnetic-cartridge-compatible preamp stage was included, with input sensitivity rated at 3.5 mV for MAG and 100 mV for Aux (measured at 3W output, 1 kHz). Tone controls were NF-type, ±10 dB. The unit also had a scratch filter, a rumble filter, a tape-recording terminal, and a universal terminal for connecting an outboard reverb amplifier.

For its modest power rating it was a big piece of gear: 467 mm wide, 137 mm high, 323 mm deep, and 10.8 kg. The hybrid tube/transistor approach was characteristic of Luxman's experimentation during this period, as was the tri-amp concept itself. The fact sheet notes no product-family positioning, so it's unclear where the HR35 sat relative to stablemates like the HQ34 receiver that followed later that year.

A lot is missing. No frequency response, distortion, or S/N figures survive, and no period reviews, reception notes, or collector-market data have surfaced. The two sources that document the HR35 agree on the specs above, but both trace to the same Japanese audio-database lineage, so there is no independent corroboration. One apparent data-entry error - FM/AM receiving frequencies listed on an amplifier page - was discarded as model confusion with a tuner.

The HR35 is known mainly through its original specifications: a low-power tri-amp from Luxman's early solid-state transition years.