Luxman E-07

My DACs are taking naps. I have not played music from a digital source in at least 12 weeks. My DACs are taking naps. I have not played music from a digital source in at least 12 weeks.

- HERB REICHERT

PHONO PREAMPLIFIER

I'm having too much fun playing records from the '50s and '60s with period-correct phono cartridges and listening to 100-year-old 78s at the Hot Club of New York.

When I'm walking the sidewalks, my brain is strategizing about which vintage cartridge I should try next. Cartridge-rolling is my new favorite pastime.

These recent adventures have reminded me how close and hands-on the relationship is between a record collector and their phono equalizer. Watching analog shaman John DeVore play 78s while tuning the sound with his EMT JPA66 phono stage/preamp, or Jazz Deejay-Supreme Matthew Rivera adjusting the EQ on his 1960 Macintosh C20 while working the crowd at the Hot Club, has shown me the value of using premium phono preamplification to show artists and their recordings in the best possible light.

I doubt I'll ever have an EMT JPA66, or a Mac C20, or that I'll own more than 50 78s, but I do have 300 LPs, 200 45s, and a growing herd of phono cartridges that during the preparation of this report responded extremely well to the clear and steady handling of Luxman's 100th Anniversary E-07 Phono Amplifier ($7995), the arrival of which could not have been better timed.

The Luxman does not offer a selection of equalization curves for the playback of pre-RIAA phono discs. But this machine has the classic looks, serious build quality, and luxury sonics needed to anchor any modern phonograph system.

Readers note: Luxman's flagship CL-1000 line-level preamp features Bass and Treble tone controls, each governed by a three-position rotary switch that selects the frequency range over which it functions. These tone controls can be used in lieu of adjusting the equalization curve. When used together, the E-07 and CL-1000 should well represent any black disc from any era.

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