Luxman D-380 - Valve CD Player

The Luxman D-380 is a digital CD player that can also play music through the valve output and which bears the number ‘38’ – a number synonymous with the golden era of Luxman valve amplifiers.

This player features a valve output consisting of a buffer circuit using ECC82 valve and a dedicated transformer as well as an advanced digital circuit with a 32-bit compatible DAC and a jitter reduction IC.

The D-380 is housed in a classical wooden box and enhances the enjoyment of listening to CD’s for the many fans of music played through this mature music medium.

Select Between Valve and Semiconductor Output

As part of the ‘38’ series, the D-380 CD player is equipped with the ability to select the output per musical taste by using a lever switch located on the front panel.

The user can choose between a high purity semiconductor output that connects directly to the DAC chip or a valve output in which the buffer circuit using the ECC82 valve is connected to the high sound quality film capacitor and dedicated large output transformer.

The semiconductor output supports sound with a vivid resolution and high quality source whilst the valve output brings a rich density and expression to the source with the appropriate addition of harmonic components. This switching of the tonal quality can be done even whilst a CD is playing. When the valve output is selected, the ECC82 is subtly illuminated, a rich design element that adds to the ambience.

Cabinet Housed in a Classical Wooden Box

The elegant exterior of the D-380 is housed in a full sized wooden box (440mm in width) with a natural veneer finish and a stylish hairlined surface on the front panel.

When used together with the similarly housed Luxman amplifiers such as the LX-380 valve integrated amplifier, the effect is pleasing.

The Adoption of a Filter Embedded 32 bit DAC

The D-380 is equipped with a Texas Instruments PCM5102A DAC chip that supports 192kHz/32bit processing and incorporates a high-grade buffer amplifier. The embedded digital filter allows 2 types of tonal quality to be selected and reproduced without issue by remote control operation.

Dedicated IC for Jitter Reduction

To achieve an accurate playback of the music on a disc, not only does the clock to transfer the data need to be highly accurate, but also fluctuation on the time axis (jitter) needs to be thoroughly eliminated.

To realise this, the D-380 is equipped with a dedicated jitter reduction IC to suppress distortion originating from jitter at D/A conversion and achieve the expression of high quality sound. In addition to this, the digital audio can be outputted externally via the coaxial / optical line terminals (output ‘off’ is also selectable by remote control operation).

The option of expanding or upgrading the system in the future, such as adding a digital recorder or D/A convertor, is also available.

Technical Specifications

Further Information

Luxman D-380 - User Manual (PDF)