You can use any accolade you want to describe Luxman’s New Year’s pressie for Australian audio buffs, but they may not be enough to get you Luxman’s soon-to-arrive L-509X integrated amplifier.

You’ll need more than goodwill and superlatives to snare this flagship class AB pearler of an integrated amplifier.

Audio Active, Luxman’s busy and bustling Aussie distributor, has confirmed the L-509X’s price down under. It will arrive on dealers ‘shelves in late January/early February bearing a price tag of $11,999 RRP.

A price entirely compatible with any pedigree flagship integrated. Do your homework, and you’ll find equivalent models range from $10,999 to $14,999 from the likes of Marantz and other comparable brands.

Go to a flagship Krell, Mark Levinson or Gryphon however and stay seated while the dealer discusses price tags in the vicinity of $30,000.

Part of the L-509X’s asking price goes to the amp's internal design that Luxman says achieves as close to the performance of two separate amplifiers as you can get.

All of Luxman’s long and feted history of amplifier design and experience are used in the L-509X.

Internally, the power supply is built using independent left and right channel large capacity blocking capacitors equal to the monsters used in the brand’s M700u power amp.

The preamp section features a discretely configured buffer circuit equivalent to that found inside the Luxman C-900u. This approach is said to deliver driving power along with crystalline musical clarity.

Styling is pedigree class through and through, and the L-509X has a clean, symmetrical look and feel with a nod to history in the shape and form of two large, arresting analogue level meters on the facia.

A touch of retro is added with the inclusion of large aluminium knobs source selector and volume control, and these are capped with a hairline finish and blasted white barrels. These blend with a blasted white front fascia to give the L-509X a touch of luxury and class.

The L-509X has a power output of 120 watts per channel into an 8-ohm load, a frequency response of 20Hz to 100kHz, total harmonic distortion of 0.06 percent.

For more information visit Luxman.