Lumin vs Auralic

We sell many brands of digital: Ifi, Mytek, Nuprime, Naim, Lumin,Aqua Hifi, T+A, and a few others the Lumin is our favorite.

@audiotroy, I'm on the quest for a do it all streamer/dac. Was considering a Bluesound Node2i - but have decided to take it up a notch. Do I need to consider an all in one unit like the NAC c658? I have an amp - but no preamp. Not sure that it is critical. I will be streaming only, no music library. I understand the price difference is substantial - just trying to achieve the best sound and value, rather than piece together different boxes and fail with synergy.

Appreciate your guidance!

Motopatina

it all comes down to how far you want to go.

The NAD C658 is shockingly good and is way better than the Bluesound Node it also has real connections xlr and rca outputs, more inputs etc.

The NAD c658 also adds in Dirac room correction as well and MDC modular design concept which are changeable modules to allow for future upgrades.

We are going to do a demo of the NAD c658 as a preamp/dac/streamer vs the Lumin D2 to see which will sound better for a client.

Right now we are very impressed with the C658 with a pair of the Nuprime STA 9 monoblocks which are 290 watts into 8 ohms and are $1,400 for the pair, this is our new budget miracle package.

If you have a really good system the Lumin T2 is amazing sounding.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Nad, Nuprime, Lumin dealers

Thank you Dave and Troy, very helpful!

A couple of things 

1. Dave and Troy, did you compare the NAD to the D2?

2. I learned that with the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge, the MQA filters must be turned on and off manually. I’m not certain how that effects sound of non MQA content. The filters do not switch on or off automatically with MQA content. 

@audiotroy 

i would be also interested in comparison between C658 and D2