The posts by Jafox and opus111 are very much appreciated. I think they touched on the intent of my original post. I was really wondering about Lumi’s place in today’s hi-end audio world.
There is no question that Lumi has become a collector’s item, overated or not. But how does its past reference quality performance rate today? Arthur Salvatore’s ‘B’ class rating for the Lumi was my initial guide. I knew I wasn’t getting a top-of-the-line full function preamp with my purchase. But for the money, during the early 2000’s, it was still very good. My initial query was how it would fair compared to a well regard percent day Coincident phono amp, which retails around $ 6,000.
Finally, if we are talking about reference level full function preamps nowadays, then it would be, at least, in the $15,000 level, no? Prices have really gotten out of control even since the 2000’s. It would be silly to expect greatest from a Lumi against these, right?