ESOTERIC N-01 Replacement For My PS Audio BHK Preamp & Directstream Dac with Brige ll

Fit and finish will be light years ahead on the Esoteric compared to the Lumin.  Beyond that its all personal preference.  I would audition the Bartok as well.

@dznutz @audiotroy 

I will be doing a group panel blind test with the Esoteric Gradioso KY which is the same as the N-01 Dac against the DSC Vivaldi this Friday. The only thing missing would be the Lumin X1. Wish I could have heard them all together but this is as close as I can get.

I will update the thread with the results after the test,

Thanks your your help:)

Bluemartini, the DCS Vivaldi is a $35k dac vs the Lumin which is a $14k Dac/streamer.

So in terms of price to performance the Lumin might be a bit of a disadvantage.

The sonics of the Lumin would be in the same camp as the mega players for a fraction of the price which is why the Lumin X1's are selling as fast as Lumin can make them.

Everyone who hears a Lumin X1 is usually blown away by how fluid and organic the sound is. The Lumin manages to sound both resolute and liquid at the same time, the DCS Bartok is a cleaner leaner presentation.

from the post comparing the two sounds DCS vs Lumin
I can only speak to the Lumin.  I have owned the D1, A1and now the X1.  I ended up selling my Emm Lab Dac after getting the X1.  I had a Raven Integrated Reflection MK2 amp and SF Amati Tradition Homage speakers.  People who came to my house were amazed at the quality of my sound.  My whole music library is digital and I also used Tidal.  The ease and simplicity of the Lumin ap is what initially sold me on Lumin.  Each iteration I went to improved the sound dramatically.  

(X1 outperfromed a very well respected $15k Dac)
nickolaspappas23 posts11-10-2019 12:39pmThe best way I could describe the difference would be that the Lumin’s sounded more real and natural. Guitars, pianos, voices, etc... sounded more like they do in real life. As a result everything sounds less like a recording. I went in expecting the Bartok to be clearly superior, and I was also prejudiced against Sabre chip based DACs. The Bartok has a much better feature set, and will undoubtedly hold its value better, the Lumin’s just sounded better.

(Compared the Lumin and prefered over the Bartok)

We were long time Esoteric dealers and eventually dropped them because most of their products were over engineered and were more expensive than the sound quality we were receiving. 

We had the $22k D02 and the $15k EMM Labs dacs were better and the Lumin A1 sounded nearly as good as the Emm lost a tad in terms of resolution but was oh so musical. 

In our shop we have a huge selection of state of the art digital including the $35k Light Harmonic Davinci, still the best sounding dac probably ever made or at least in the handful of upper eschelon dacs, we have the $35k T+A SDV 3100 which is wonderful, the Lumin X1, the Naim NDX, the Mytek dacs, the Aqua Hifi Formula and a few others plus Baestis, the Innous Statement, and currently a trade in Memory player, so we have a lot of experience with state of the art digital.

We have found that you have to spend a boat load of money more than an X1 to gain a really appreciable difference, you can just purchase an X1 add a good set of footers and a power cable and have one of the best sounding pieces of digital out there for a lot less.

As pe the gentleman proclaiming the Esoteric is built better not possible, the Esoteric is made out of plates of metal, vs the Lumin which is cut out of billet aluminium. 

In 2020 we will be exploring a totally fascinating Italian reference dac and a few others to add to our stapes. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin dealer

As pe the gentleman proclaiming the Esoteric is built better not possible, the Esoteric is made out of plates of metal, vs the Lumin which is cut out of billet aluminium.

Rest assured that I have owned 2 Esoteric pieces along with 4 Lumin, including two X1's.  I could not find a single flaw in the metalwork or assembly on the Esoterics, the Lumins had plenty.  Including flaws in the raw base aluminum that the brushing process was not able to completely remove.  Most people wont notice but those who appreciate flawless finish will.

Only flaws in the X1 were early production cases all current cases are flawless.

The reality is solid billet trumps plate metal for sonics any day of the week.

Considering that the Lumin is $6k cheaper, offers optical network connectivity for superior ethernet connection,  as well as regular ota upgrades, and fantastic sound quality
 makes a pretty strong case for being the market leader at this price point.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ lumin dealers