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Review 1 of 1
Price Paid:
$700.00
from Unrah's TV and Stere Summary:
For others keep note the info on the description section was written by me in error of the proper section. It should have been moved here. Regardless my comments in the description section are what I think of this deck. As mentioned I sold the Luxman in 93 after owning it for 5 years. I did have a service issue with mine. I find the Sony and Aiwa decks I have are better decks, but also more expensive. For memories sake I just purchased another K-112 to give it a second listen and compare it to the higher end decks I have. All I remember about the sound of the Luxman was it seemed compressed, but this may be more due to Dolby C then anything. I'll post another review of this deck when I receive the second K-112. This deck was produced in 1987-88. A newer similar deck is a K-373. Luxman since the K-03 and K-05 decks, never really went high end again. I would suggest looking for a K-05 if you can find one. That deck was rated 15-27khz and had Dolby C. It does lack HX-Pro though. No Luxman deck ever used Dolby S, even when Dolby S was available to use, and as such didn't produce decks of the standard needed to use Dolby S (since the K-05). I will be very interested to hear how this old Lux fares against newer decks. I will try it with Dolby Off as well as Dolby C and try my other decks with it. A price of $600 US or $700 Canadian is not a lot of money these days for a better deck. I consider decks of $1000 and over in the higher up range. For reference the Aiwa XK-S9000 deck (Aiwa's best tape deck ever) was listed at $1200 US or $1600 Canadian. Some people still may prefer Nakamichi's as well, but those decks there is a compromise with the tapes it makes. I have openned the inside of the K-112 and its rather empty inside there. Plus parts from other manufacturers. And this deck is only a single capstan 2 motor design. Biasing is manual, so you better have good ears to get it right. Strengths:
For the money its not a bad deck, especially used these days. I paid $40 for a used K-112 off Ebay
Warm Luxman sound Weaknesses:
Not the best engineered deck especially compared to older K-05 deck
Only 20-20khz while other decks have expanded range
Only single capstan 2 motor design
Rather flimsy door design
Can be clunky
Manual biasing can be a guessing game
Tape head is not the hardest material, so used decks can show wear
Luxman is not worldwide any longer, so parts is an issue especially of this vintage
Internal parts rather minimal (lots of empty space inside) Similar Products Used:
Sony TC-K909ES
Aiwa XK-S9000
JVC TD-V6
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