Luxman LV-105

February 2026

Luxman is one of the oldest and most storied names in high fidelity. Founded in 1925 in Osaka, Lux Corporation has been making audio equipment for more than a century. Their gorgeous integrated amps are what I think of first when Luxman comes to mind; gear like the SQ-38, with brushed metal faceplates and attention to detail that in the photos just seems to ooze from every corner. Their cool MQ-88 series amplifiers are of interest, as are some of the obscure vintage models with proprietary KT88-like tubes that Luxman invented and produced for their own amplifiers (and which are now quite hard to find NOS). In-house engineering carefully optimized throughout for one purpose, great sound. But things haven’t always been rosy at Luxman, and the company went through a difficult period in the 1980’s when they were briefly owned by Alpine. The Alpine years are a dark period for Luxman, and the gear produced during this time is clouded by a reputation for being less than what the standard should be for this brand. So, it was curious that I read so many great things about one Alpine-era Luxman amp, the LV-105. It’s rumored to be a very natural and easy to listen to amplifier, in some circles even called one of Luxman’s best sounding amps. When I found a recapped example for sale for only $350, I couldn’t resist putting my toe in the water.

Well, once in a while it’s good to be humbled. TLDR: this one is absolutely natural sounding and fidelity-wise is in the top 60% or so of anything on this page.

The Luxman LV-105 was produced from 1984-1988 and sold for around $1000 (about $2100 in 2026 inflation adjusted). The LV-105 is an integrated receiver with a tube preamp section featuring a pair of 6CG7 feeding a MOSFET power amplifier for 80 watts of power. Solid-state power aside, this is an 80’s receiver; the literal definition of a boring black box that has no business being on my fancy tube amp website. And yet it turns out to be one of the better sounding amplifiers that I’ve owned so far.

Going back-to-back with either the Yamamoto 45 or Alpa 300B, I can immediately hear that I’m not listening to a single ended triode anymore. It doesn’t have that sound. But I can also immediately hear that I like what I’m hearing very much. The Luxman LV-105 has such a natural presentation, with plenty of the rich vocal and midrange that I love, and enough detail to feel present. The bass in my room is somewhat undefined, but has enough punch for my taste, and the whole thing just sounds “right.” The amplifier images fairly well, but not with a single ended reach-out-and-touch palpability, its more diffused than that. But overall, this amp does nothing wrong, which is actually an accomplishment in and of itself, and the LV-105 is comfortable and easy to listen to for hours on end. And for just going about day-to-day activity while enjoying music, this is completely satisfying. The amplifier disappears and the music remains.

I could probably replace my McIntosh MC-240 in my living room with the LV-105 and be just as happy sonically. But of course the Luxman has none of the antique tube amp charm that is so abundant in old McIntosh gear. In fact, to my eye the LV-105 has little of any charm at all. Even my toaster has a more interesting visual presentation than audio gear like this. I’ve been a music lover since hearing John Denver’s Country Roads on the radio when I was six. Since then, I’ve owned a music playback device of one kind or another, my first being the confiscation of the family 8 track player, and gradually climbing in satisfaction, and price (!), until the place I find myself today; having heard and owned some of the finest and most esoteric audio gear ever made. And now we have a boring black box from the 80’s that cost less than a set of boutique coupling capacitors, but none the less delivers the goods. I can’t argue with my ears, even when they aren’t snobby enough for my ego.

The Luxman LV-105 is a superb sounding amplifier, plain and simple. It isn’t even nearly the “best” at anything, but it doesn’t fall down in any way either. It sounds very clean and engaging and I found it to be quite enjoyable. It even has a phono section that still remains for me to discover, but is reputed to be quite good. And at the low price the LV-105 can be found for in 2026, I can’t see how anyone could be unhappy with the performance of this amplifier. This is a fantastic first amplifier for a new music lover, or anyone on a budget that precludes a “real” tube amp. If I needed an amp to run all day every day, maybe at a coffee shop, restaurant, café, bar, bookstore, etc. this is a classy choice from a legendary name in audio with plenty of cache. Even if it is boring packaging. The Luxman LV-105 is definitely worth your time if you can find one. Highly recommended.

Pretty basic and very 80’s. Nothing to complain about really, its clean and sort of Darth Vader-ish. The small window for the tubes is an interesting touch.

Plenty of flexibility as a receiver should have. These are worst binding posts I’ve ever encountered though. There is a kit to replace them, which I might invest in one day, but for now I’ve used some banana plug adapters. A little messy but it works fine.

This is a really sweet sounding amplifier.