CD / SACD players and transports — Luxman D-380

The D-380 is a CD player from the Japanese company Luxman that plays standard two-channel CDs and offers a switch between a vacuum tube output stage and a solid-state one. The maker calls it a traditional Luxman design, and the classic styling shows in a cabinet housed in a wooden box with natural veneer and a hairline-finished front panel of the usual 440 mm width.

Key specs that matter

Connections comprise one unbalanced analogue output plus coaxial and optical digital outputs. In solid-state mode the output level is 2.1 V, rising to 2.4 V when the tube stage is selected, and output impedance is 300 ohm in both cases. Frequency response runs from 20 Hz to 20 kHz within +0 and -0.2 dB for the transistor path and within +0.1 and -0.3 dB for the tube path. Luxman specifies 0.005% total harmonic distortion through the solid-state output against 0.8% through the tube output, and an IHF-A weighted signal-to-noise ratio of 115 dB versus 105 dB. One ECC82 twin triode is fitted. The box measures 440 x 167 x 286 mm and the net weight is 10.8 kg, with power supplied at 230 V and 50 Hz or 115 V and 60 Hz depending on region.

Engineering and use context

A Texas Instruments PCM5102A does the conversion. It is a 32-bit converter with an embedded digital filter that works at up to 192 kHz and 32-bit resolution internally. A dedicated jitter reduction IC sits ahead of it to remove time-axis fluctuations from the data stream before conversion. The tube branch combines a buffer circuit, the ECC82 and a dedicated transformer, while the semiconductor branch bypasses the valve entirely. A lever switch on the front panel moves between the two outputs, and the change can be made while a disc is spinning, so a listener can compare them on the same track. When the valve path is active, the ECC82 is visible through a window in the display panel and lights up orange. The transport sits on a solid 8 mm aluminium mechanical base, and the loopless shielded chassis avoids ground loops inside the case. A large FL display offers a 4x zoom mode for reading at a distance and a dimmer for darker rooms.

Pairing

The single RCA analogue output suits any integrated amplifier or preamplifier with standard line inputs, but there is no balanced XLR connection, so a fully balanced chain would need an adaptor. Its two digital outputs allow the D-380 to feed a separate converter if a newer DAC joins the system later.

Alternatives

The Luxman D-07X is a SACD/CD player from the same maker that adds SACD playback and a pair of ROHM BD34301EKV converter chips.