I really liked the Lumin T2 but would have to start over with Speakers and cabling to make it sound good long term in my system. The DMS 600 has a much fuller sound but lacks a tinge of the detail of the Lumin The new 700 hopefully has the best of both. Please post thoughts after a week of warm up. The 600 sounded good right out of the box.
I have placed a pre-order for the DMS 700 and currently have a Lumin T2. While generally happy with the Lumin, it does venture to the bright side as a kind of side effect of the clarity and detail. Could be chasing my tail here, but I have owned Cary products in the past and have always been a fan since my original SLI 80 days--so I have reason to pursue the comparison and the 30 day trial allows me to do just that. If I can squeeze between what I like about the detail of the T2 and what I'm hearing about the Cary is less of an edge, less brittleness, then I'll keep the piece. I'll be running it with an Audio Research GS 150 amp and Reference 6 preamp into the new Wilson Sabrina X speakers. The comments about the marketing were; however, disconcerting and won't help if in fact details have been misrepresented about the uniqueness of the R2R & tandem approach. But I'll reserve judgement and let the results dictate my decision.
Street price will be under 6k and Cary will sell a ton of them. Much better sounding than the Aurender A10 and the Lumin T2. Plus more features I don’t think the Rasperry Pi crowd is their target audience. It’s guys like me that want a one box solution. I have been thru the seperate streamer/ Dac/ uSB/ Regen/seperate power supplies/ system. The Cary is a great looking unit that sounds great and removes clutter.
That’s ridiculous. I’m sorry and I’m a long term Cary amp and preamp owner too. Uh, $7995 retail ??? for a network-streamer-DAC with R2R. People are using iPads, pads, laptops, not a puny display on front of a unit smaller than a mobile phone. A great example of how out of touch things can get when market moves right past ya.
Bummer. This is exactly why so many people are going in different directions outside of the USA now for streamers and DACs. Schiit made in California or Border Patrol in Maryland both have the right USA approach - quality, fair price, value, competitive sounding, selling products without having to discount. They get it, keeping it in the USA too! Survival of the fittest will prove true in this new digital era of audio. Valid competition is forcing prices down, fast. Voting for those who adapt fast, survive, and thrive.
A $315 Allo.com Digi One Signature Rasberry Pi streamer (euro made with india R&D) with optional power supplies paired with a variety of good $1k to 1.5k R2R Ladder DACs at less than 1/3 the total price, with equal or better result. Hopefully others in the USA (like Schiit has) figure it out sooner than later. Value gets the $ from the majority mainstream audio consumer any more.
$6000 or $8000 more so is a hefty price to pay to find out. And once somebody plunge those bucks he will nit have other choice but to praise it (in order to sell it to the next guy).
Bro are you voice to texting? Do you maybe have spell check? I got rid of the Magico's and I agree they where not a great sounding speaker. Their series II are much better. The DMS 500 is ions ago. 2016 The new Cary's sound much better. The T2 is super detailed so a more natural Dac is going to sound a little boring. I have heard many people say they have bought the Lumin's and couldn't wait to sell them. Its the Sabre dac. To some people its like nails on a chalkboard. Like I said if you have the right equipment the T2 is a nice dac/streamer. Everything else in the system has to be dark or neutral. I have been thru the Aries, Aurenders, Lumins, and the Cary to me is the best sounding DAC/ player/streamer in my system.
Benzmj an we dropped cary as their most prosmising products from a sound quality to price stand point were okay sounding after living with them for a while the dms 500 we had was a bore
As per ess vs akm the chip is just one part of the receipe if you know how to setup a system u can get great sound with either
Benzman we are going to have to disagree we hate magico they do not sound natural or musical so any system that has a user with them means we appreciate different things although it is possibile your system may sound different
Audiotroy, You are no longer a Cary dealer correct? You are a Lumin dealer though, correct? By meaning plug and play I mean into an existing system SQ wise. Not hardware. Most systems will have to be tuned to fit the Lumin. The Cary will sound good in any system its installed. I had the the T2 paired with the Magico S3 with a MicroZotl pre and Kismet Mono blocks. Audience AU24SX loom for cabling. All pretty decent stuff. 7 out of 10 songs would be great. The other 3 would irritate you. A detailed cable loom for the T2 is not good. Silver would be not be a good match. All I am saying is that the Cary will fit many more systems than the Lumin with out re configing your whole system. Sabre Vs AKM are two totally different sonics regardless of implementation. Sabre more detailed, AKM a little smoother. All depends on what you like and the rest of your set-up.
This is a thread about the Cary DMS 700. Not the Lumin T2 Thank you for respecting that going forward.
Benzin the t2 is plug and play it is also easy to sell comparing lumin to cary is laughable lumin is con sidered one of the market leadetrs in streamer hardware and software design
Also do you think in 10 years cary will even still be here? When the companys main designer Dennis had left cary has struggled to come up with winning new products
We found the majority of their produsts to be okay rather then trailblazing it was a shame to see a once proud amarican company be decimated by prima luna in the market
Most people dont know about the lumin trans code to dsd setting when appled it sounnded far better then the cary also the t2 needs a few hindred hours of burn in
The lumin had a bigger and more defined soundstage
Tough to compare the Lumin T2 to the Cary 700 if the Cary is anything like the DMS 600. You cannot just swap players. They are so different, to get each of their best you have to match the electronics, speakers and cabling. The Lumin is super detailed, The Cary is much more full sounding but not as highly detailed. So if you have a system that sounds great with the Cary it will get tiresome with the Lumin. If it sounds great with the Lumin, you may find it not as exciting with the Cary. Both are great players. The Cary will be much more forgiving in a system, but the Lumin will sound fantastic with properly matched cabling , etc.
I had the Cary DMS-500, and LUMIN T1, at my home, at the same time, and the Cary killed the Lumin hands down. Not even close. I sold the Lumin T1 shortly thereafter.
IMO, if the DMS-700 is only slightly better than the 500, it will be an outstanding value in DACs.
Funny had the Lumin T2 next to the Cary 600 and the Cary Killed it. Cary much more robust. Lumin would sound good for a half an hour then hurt your ears. In the right system though the Lumin is a great sounding player. You would have to start at the player and work backwards. Lumin T2 is definitely not plug and play. Plus it was a bitch to sell.
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