Why does my old CD player sound so much better than my new streamer?


Earlier this year I upgraded my system. Briefly, new Prima Luna Dialogue Premium HP integrated, new Lumin D2 streamer/DAC, kept my Tekton speakers, bought a 10 year old Muse Erato CD player, new Nordost Red Dawn cables all around.  After plenty of break in, the Lumin D2 streaming Tidal, even 24/96, does not sound close to as good as the Muse Erato.  I understand the Muse was about $10k new years ago, I paid $650 for it on Audiogon, is that the difference? It replaced my Naim I had for 20+ years and I bought it on the chance I want to listen to something not on Tidal, but now I'm going to CDs when I want to sit and listen instead of streaming. I considered upgrading to the Lumin T2, but will that be more of the same Lumin sound, which is accurate but thin and a little cold compared to the Muse.  I like the Lumin when just letting Tidal shuffle music as I move around the house, but from the opening note in an A/B test the Muse just sounds so much warmer, live and simply more enjoyable. Any thoughts or suggestions?
fsgattuso
You might prefer the Lampizator amber 3 to the PS Audio DS dac because it’s tube based and you like the sound of tubes. That’s cool. But, If you compare the 2 dacs, technically the DS is in a different league, and sound wise, it’s an excellent sounding dac. A lot of the time, when people originally listened to the DS dac, they were listening with an older firmware release. I just upgraded the firmware on my DS sr yesterday and got a bump in SQ for free, try that with most other dacs at any price, you can’t. Also, there are a few ways to setup the DS to get the max SQ out of it, these tips are on the web.
Looking at the Lampizator amber 3, where is the Ethernet port? I don’t see on their website that it’s FPGA based, so no future upgrades, I don’t see that it’s a Roon endpoint? Is there MQA or DSD support?With most streamers and dacs, you are using the USB interface which is flawed from the start. Salesman and tweakers are going to try and sell you technology to make USB sound better and some do like using the best cable and reclockers, but IMO it’s like putting lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.
Because it is less resolving.
And it Jams.
All of your sophisticated cables and high end hookups will not satisfy you.
Get your setup to where it sounds best to you.  For me getting off my computer setup and using an Arcam Rblink Bluetooth with a tube preamp buffer between my pre and amp was magic.

The system is musical again.
Like I have mentioned before...
Alot of streaming systems sound Vapid.
What high end video did to watching tv its the same to music via streamers...very climical with absolutely no "Jam" or any soul.

Its funny how there is a school of thought out there that insists ethernet cable over bluetooth....

A really good bluetooth is better.

The next is the device to use for music.
For me an Ipad mini...
Ok go ahead and laugh...
But it images and has a Jam to it like no other..


From the OP....

Muse just sounds so much warmer, live and simply more enjoyable. Any thoughts or suggestions......

High end Streamers give incredible detail but are just not natural.

No Jam to the music!
You’ve had the advice of a Lunpizator dealer, did you manage to try his recommendations to any advantage?
If you’re still getting nowhere can you get a loan of one of the latest Naim streamers? I have one and haven’t played a CD in months and though I do still play vinyl it’s less often than it used to be. The CDX2 never quite convinced on classical chamber music, even with a 555ps, the ND555 does and with ease. If it’s facility with Tidal is repeated down the range one of it’s junior siblings might be worth a listen. Alway assuming the 20 year Naim ownership wasn’t proved to be a mistake.