Description
A young vinyl track lives only a few millivolts - and it is on how carefully these microscopic signals are lifted and cleaned of noise that it depends whether you hear live music or just a spinning record. For its 100th anniversary, Luxman introduced the E-07 - a separate phono equalizer that sets a new standard for amplifiers of this class and embodies the company's century of experience in analog reproduction.
The E-07 is based on a non-feedback RIAA amplifier circuit with a first stage on four parallel field-effect transistors. This solution reduces its own noise due to physics: the uncorrelated thermal noise of the four devices is mutually averaged, leaving an extremely "black" background on which the quietest details of the recording are revealed without any obstacles. The result is a level of nonlinear distortion of only 0.003% and exemplary accuracy of RIAA correction, which is rarely found even in much more expensive competitors.
A separate pride of the E-07 is four proprietary step-up transformers on super-permal cores, independent for each channel and for low and high impedance groups. This solution, which previously required a separate external device, is now integrated directly into the phono stage housing - and it works so well that audiophile reviewers say it outperforms even the most established stand-alone step-up transformers.
On the front panel is a six-position load switch for MC cartridges (4.7/10/40/100/300/1kΩ), while on the rear are separate impedance (34/47/56/100kΩ) and capacitance (0/100/220/320pF) switches for MM cartridges. This level of flexibility means that the E-07 will adapt to virtually any cartridge on the market - from classic MMs to the most demanding low-output MCs.
The power supply is built on three independent power transformers: separately for the left and right channels of the amplifier path and separately for the indicators and relay circuits. This ensures that load fluctuations in one block will never affect the operation of the other. Amplifier-grade block capacitors provide extremely stable power supply even in moments of the most subtle musical nuances.
The E-07 offers three inputs (two unbalanced RCA and one balanced XLR) and corresponding outputs, an Articulator function for demagnetizing the cartridge and transformers directly with the playback signal, a Low-Cut switch to suppress resonances from distorted records, a Mono mode for monophonic recordings, and a phase inversion on the balanced output. Massive gold-plated solid brass ground terminals on each input minimize background and feedback.
The loopless design isolates the power supply from the amplifier sections, and the signature white brushed finish on the front panel echoes Luxman's Centennial series. The width of the chassis is fully consistent with the brand's other standalone amplifiers - the E-07 will organically fit into any Luxman discrete component system.
