Lumin U1 vs Lumin U1 mini + sbooster?

"I just need to clarify that I didn’t state that the DI20HE increases noise and interference, I said that it could be possible that the perceived improvements were due to additional distortion and/or noise/interference."

Sure but you are doing the same thing as me. You are coming to a conclusion without personal experience (trying di20he). I think the implication here is quite obvious that ’hey man what I did is better than what you did... your setup is just more distortion, my setup is better’. If that is not your implication then thats cool, but thats what I got from your post. And I felt it was a bit arrogant to be honest. Like my cheaper solution is not as good as your more expensive solution and mine is just more distortion prone and therefore I like distortion.

" Additionally, I don’t need validation for any of my purchases, I’ve been humbled many times in this hobby that I’ve learned that more expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better, but in the case of the U1 and U1 Mini + S Booster, it is the case to my ears in my system. My intention was solely to share my experience. "

That was my intention too. To share my experience as well.

And by the way I highly doubt di20he sounds better because of distortion. Because when I put it in my chain what I actually hear is a blacker background, more detail, more air, better dynamics.

It’s just amazing how you give a twist to everything I said to make it sound erroneous. When I use the words “could be” or “might be” you proceed to give examples with “is”...and then when I suggest you to avoid making absolute claims with “is” you proceed to saying that you said “may be”.

I rest my case and once again, I just wanted to share my first hand experience with both units. I never intended to state that the DI20HE plus any given streamer couldn’t be better than the U1, I just tried to have more clarity about how could you make such claims without listening to the U1. As a reminder, I never claimed that the DI20HE isn’t better than the U1, I threw a possibility that there could be additional artifacts being introduced to the sound.

Anyways, happy listening and once again my intent was to actually contribute to the thread by responding to your initial question. Sorry for having to go through this “you said” / “I said” type of posts. They’re, in my opinion, unproductive and discouraging for the broader community.

I think the implication here is quite obvious that ’hey man what I did is better than what you did... your setup is just more distortion, my setup is better’. If that is not your implication then thats cool, but thats what I got from your post. And I felt it was a bit arrogant to be honest. Like my cheaper solution is not as good as your more expensive solution and mine is just more distortion prone and therefore I like distortion.

My apologies if I came across that way, I didn’t mean to “look down” at your system because it’s cheaper or because mine is more expensive. I also didn’t want to seem arrogant, again my apologies if I came off that way. One thing I ask though is to not imply things I did not say. I never stated that my setup was better than yours, I actually stated that I was glad and happy that you’re happy with your current system.

I don’t think that we need to be defensive or to point fingers at each other, after all we’re all here just for fun.

Once again, please accept my sincerest apologies for making you think that I was being arrogant and looking down at your system solely due to price difference.

I apologize if I said 'is' that is my mistake, I should have said 'may' or should have said 'he found it to be'. I appreciate your insight regardless and I wish i had the full size U1 because its a much more elegant solution imo than my stack of boxes. But I'll stick to my stack because I am so incredibly impressed by the sound.

I think to summarize:

1. If you have the cash and want a really nice looking clean solution, get full U1.
2. If you don't want to spend as much as U1 costs consider streamer (like u1 mini) + di20he setup as it MAY be extremely good for less money.

I should also add that I am in the process of doing a review of my system and will be comparing u1 mini stock vs u1 mini + keces p8 on www.sonicvisions.org. Just got to get a cable from my dealer who has made a switching box where I can power the u1 mini with stock PSU then take it out and use the Keces p8.