Luxman R-3045

You can’t go wrong with most any vintage piece of Luxman audio gear. They made excellent equipment. This Luxman R-3045 is no exception. It may be a little lacking in the aesthetic department but, in terms of build quality and performance, it is a great receiver. It wasn’t until mid to late 1984 when Alps (Alpine) bought Luxman that their quality deteriorated. But, even then it wasn’t bad relative to other brands. It’s listed as hitting the market in 1977 but I think it may have been closer to late 1979 in the U.S. You could pick it up at most quality audio shops back then for around $450.00. The rosewood cabinet is a very classy addition. Alpine discontinued the Luxman name in the U.S. in the late 1980’s

The R-3045 was a mid range offering from Lux of America. It produces 45 watts per channel and no more than 0.05% total harmonic distortion. The R-3030 and the R-3055 were the other Luxman offerings in the R-30XX line. They were marketed as having inherently low distortion, high dynamic range and wide bandwidth.

There are a number of interesting features of the R-3045. The first is Luxman’s Duo-Beta circuitry which takes distortion below audible levels and enhances frequency range. They eliminated the flat amp stage which reduces phase distortion and integrated the tone controls into the power amp section. They also utilized a subsonic filter to eliminate nearly all rumble and low frequency noise.

Lux introduced the Flash Tuning system with the R-3045 (and R-3030 and R-3055 as well). It’s an array of LED’s that point to the direction that you need to tune and changes into a signal strength meter at the exact center tuning point.

Luxman equipment is known for having a warm and natural sound. Their earlier R-10XX series is highly desired by audio enthusiasts.

Specifications:

• Tuning range: FM, MW
• Power output: 45 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo)
• No more than 0.05% THD
• Frequency response: 15Hz to 60kHz
• Input sensitivity: 0.3mV (MC), 2.2mV (MM), 165mV (line)
• Signal to noise ratio: 90dB (MM), 98dB (line)
• Dimensions: 500 x 315 x 165 mm / 19 11/16 x 12 13/32 x 6 1/2 inches
• Weight: 10.5 kg / 23.1 lbs

One issue common to the R-3045 is the dual pot volume/balance control. It tends to get dirty and cause channels to drop out and/or static when adjusting the volume or balance. This can be remedied by a thorough cleaning of the pots.

As you can see above, the Luxman R-3045 uses a fluid cooling tube which was somewhat popular at the time. It also has an MC amp in it for the phono stage (selectable on the front panel with Phono MC or MM). The stereo has outputs for two sets of speakers.