Luxman L-101 (1984)

The L-101 is an integrated amplifier from December 1984, sold under the co-branded Alpine/Luxman name and priced at ¥49,800 in Japan. It belongs to the "10 series," which the documentation describes as the middle-class tier of the lineup, with the "1" marking the first generation of that series. Luxman called it a "stereo pre-main amplifier" built around their Duo β circuit. The idea is to simplify the amplification stage to preserve the bare characteristics of the parts, then apply an appropriate amount of negative feedback to tune the result. Tone controls are of the NF (negative feedback) type, and the equalizer section is built in for both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges.

The record gets awkward here. Two sets of specifications for this model disagree with each other, and the disagreements aren't small. One database lists rated output at 68W + 68W into 8Ω at 1 kHz with THD no greater than 0.008%, a frequency characteristic of 10 Hz to 100 kHz within −3 dB, and dimensions of 453 × 138 × 315 mm at 8.3 kg. Another set of sources gives 35W + 35W into 8Ω (45W + 45W into 4Ω), 0.05% THD, 5 Hz to 100 kHz, and 438 × 100 × 337 mm at 7.5 kg. These may describe different revisions, different markets, or one database may simply be wrong. The available material doesn't settle it. Both camps agree on the MM/MC phono capability and on the input sensitivities and signal-to-noise figures that go with it: roughly 2.0-2.5 mV for MM, 0.25-0.3 mV for MC, and line inputs around 150-180 mV.

No production end date, no service documentation, and no substantive period review coverage turned up in the search. The magazine chunks returned for this model are classified-advertising fragments that mention Luxman tube gear in passing and say nothing about the L-101 itself, so there's no contemporary press assessment to pass along (Audio, January 1976, p.73). The spec sheet needs a grain of salt until someone with the unit and a service manual settles the output question.

• Integrated amplifier ("stereo pre-main amplifier"), Alpine/Luxman co-branding
• Released December 1984; ¥49,800 (Japan)
• Duo β circuit; NF-type tone controls
• Built-in MM and MC phono equalizer
• Rated output: disputed — 68W+68W (8Ω, 1 kHz) per one database; 35W+35W (8Ω) per others
• Inputs: Phono MM, Phono MC, CD, Tuner, AV/AUX

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