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Lumin X1 latest Review like we have been saying



For many years we have been touting the Lumin products as being one of the best sounding and best implimented paths to creating a fantastic sound in your system.

We sought to be a Lumin dealer after the A1 came out and pretty much got rave reviews as being the best sounding streamer out there, each successive product was better the new T2 is amazing at its price point and challenges $7k streamer/dacs/

The lastest review https://hometheaterreview.com/lumin-x1-network-player-reviewed/

sums up Lumins history and even offers a comparison of the X1 vs the Total Dac, and DCS and the Aqua Formula, we actually have tested the upgraded Formula V2 with the Statement and it does sound even bettter.
 
Summation the best sound the reviewer ever accheived was with the X1.

We sell some of the worlds best dacs, including T+A, Light Harmonic, Aqua Hif, Naim, Mytek, Bricasti, and with the X1 you have to spend $30-50k to better the X1, it is nice to see that other people are agreeing with exactly what we have been saying all along.

If you are looking for the best sound for the money, rock solid reliability, a fantastic feature set, Tidal, Qbouz, Spotify, Apple Airplay to play Youtube or Soundcloud, OTA upgrades, Roon endpoint, full Mqua, DSD and High data rate upsampling, upconversion and playability, solid build quality, built in volume control, the Lumin products are hard to beat.



Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin dealers
128x128audiotroy
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy OP
3,808 posts
 

The reality is that an X1 is an aspirational product, it is among the best pieces of digital in the world and actually compares with many much more expensive front ends.

The price of gear is no different than any performance item is a $30k watch a good deal or a $24k Hermes coach bag?

The reality is many expensive high end audio products are extremely expensive to make and are sold in limited quantities hence the high sticker.

 The higher end T+A dacs are even better, the Lumin X1 is still a very noticable step up as the X1 sounds more like a much more expensive digital front end then it does compared to other units at a similar price and feature set or straight dacs.


Yes Ricridi you can use a Lumin X1 with an Antipodes the Lumin is a full Roon endpoint so it would appear as such being fed from your server.

The Lumin X1 is a different sound than the Chord, the Lumin tends to be a bit warmer and more melodic the Chord sharper and a bit faster sounding. It will come down to taste someone here had both units, we are not a Chord dealer although that may change as they are warming up to us again.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin dealers


three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
@mewsickbuff and @audiotroy 

Thanks mew for helping to get some perspective from @audiotroy.  I figured they are in a unique position to really weigh in on the performance of these units head-to-head as they are dealers for both.  I sensed the T+A may be a better value and was curious about the performance "distance" between the 2 products.  

Can't disagree with this:

The T + A DAC 8 DSD at $4000 vs the Lumin X1 at $14,000? And you say the DAC 8 DSD @ 512 is somewhat close to the X1? I'm not wealthy or even well off. I'd have to say I think I'm doing more than quite alright bang for buck. Should T + A ever upgrade to 1024, it's possible the DAC 8 could run neck and neck with the X1. (Just saying).

mewsickbuff
237 posts
 
@three_easy_payments, you're welcome. I can't afford the X1, but to any who can, I say, go for it. That's the joy of this hobby...VARIETY.
@audiotroy, wouldn't you agree the Lumin should have a bunch more going for it than the T + A DAC? After all the X1 costs 3.5 times more than the T + A. I wouldn't even call it a fair comparison, but interesting nonetheless.  Both components hit above their price range. Thanks for your honesty. Maybe the next question should be how does the T+A DAC8 DSD compare to the comparable $4500 Lumin T2...
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy OP
3,808 posts
 


The Lumin T2 to T+A DAC 8 comparison is both a more illuminating one as the Lumin T2 can be run by itself although will still sound better through a server, while the Dac 8 requires a server, than the Lumin T2 is acutally the better deal.

We will have to re do a test between the Lumin T2 and the Dac 8. We run the outstanding Innous Zenith with our Dac 8 and unfortunately the DAC 8/Innous combo will not do DSD 512, we are getting in a Lumin U1 Mini and that will do DSD 512 so we will update you in the comming weeks to see how that combo will sound.

Mew you hit the nail on the head both the Lumin line as well as the T+A Dac 8 hit well beyond their price point. We have compared the Lumin T2 to a few $7k dacs and most of the time the clients pick the Lumin as being superior sounding as well as costing considerably less money.

The Lumin X1 challenges a lot of $25-50k digital front ends so it to offers a level of sound quality that is very high for its price point.

With the addition of Bricasti we will have one terrific selection of dacs and streamers including: Mytek, Bricasti, Naim, Lumin, T+A, Aqua, IFi, Lumin, NAD.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ




tom8999
153 posts
 
Dave and Troy - thanks for the info on the new upgraded LUMIN product line. I have been streaming via my LUMIM D1 for 5 years, and I am very happy with the sound quality and the LUMIN app to run the system via my I pad mini. Great sound and support from LUMIN as I get multiple software updates over the last 5 years for free. I now stream via Tidal HiFi with MQA available. This was a great step change in sound quality for me. I am considering an up grade to the T2. Is the Sabre DAC that much better than my wolfson DAC in the D1? I am sold on a streamer and DAC in one box - the simpler the better for me. Is there a market for a 5 year old LUMIN D1 - it has run flawlessly and still works great . Any feedback would be great.
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