The sound comparison between LUXMAN DA-200 D/A and LUXMAN DA-250 D/A convertors

@ryder I compared quite a few — Qutest, Cambridge audio, audio mirror tubadour iii, T+a dac8, topping d90, RME ADI-2 and Schiit gungnir. I also compared to the built-in dacs in ARC GSi75, Innuos Zen Mini, Bluesound Node 2i, and Naim Unitiqute.
I preferred the Luxman over most dacs except the one in ARC. However, it is true that the sound is a bit on the warmer and softer side and the soundstage is not as deep or wide. But it was so refined and musical that I could overlook the shortcomings.

That being said, IMO it doesn’t make sense to pay $2k for a dac that is a 10-year old design. If I was looking in this price range, I’d look into R2R designs, e.g. Denafrips Pontus II. I bought a Terminator II a few months ago and find it to be far superior to the Luxman in every way. Good luck!

Aradiq, thanks for the response which was surely appreciated. Your advice makes a lot of sense, more so when the 10 year old Luxman costs $3k instead of $2k, a mint condition demo unit. The Denafrips Terminator 2 costs $4,500 and has compared favorably to the Chord Dave, hence I’m not surprised that the Terminator beats the Luxman in all areas. I have the Chord Qbd76 which is the predecessor to the DAVE, and it sounds great in my system.

I was deciding between the Luxman DAC and REL subwoofer earlier and your post has made it easier for me.

That being said, IMO it doesn’t make sense to pay $2k for a dac that is a 10-year old design. If I was looking in this price range, I’d look into R2R designs, e.g. Denafrips Pontus II. I bought a Terminator II a few months ago and find it to be far superior to the Luxman in every way. Good luck!

Apologies for bringing this up again. I actually have an opportunity to acquire a used Luxman DA-06 which is in immaculate condition. The price is $2.3k. Thing is I don’t mind paying the money despite the age as long as sound quality up there with the best.

I am aware that the Denafrips Teminator 2 is better in every way but this is a higher priced superior model which is out of my budget. A used Pontus 2 is cheaper than the used Luxman DA-06 but will it offer a similar if not high quality sound? I think the build quality of the Luxman is better than the Denafrips, another aspect which I value in the gear that’s under consideration.

Thanks.

@ryder Sorry just saw this.

IMO, $2.3K is too high of an asking price. I bought mine over 2 years ago and paid less. I sold mine for $2K (including shipping) when I sold mine a few months ago. Having owned both Denafrips and Luxman, I would say the Denafrips DACs are built as good and solid as Luxman. 

In terms of sound quality, I didn't compare the Pontus with Luxman directly, so unfortunately I can't provide any input. But in general, Luxman is more on the warmer side of things. It is very musical, refined, and has a relaxed presentation. But there were times I wished it was a bit more lively depending on the music I was playing. Also, the soundstage is not as wide and deep as some of the new DACs that I listened to. However, I preferred it over other DACs like Chord Qutest, T+A, RME, etc. -- of course, based on my personal preferences only :)

I think if you can get the price down to below $2k, it's worth buying and trying. But I wouldn't pay anything more than that. Hope that helps.

One thing I would like to add is that Luxman is limited to playing DSD128 only. This might not be a requirement for me, but I have a large collection of DSD256 and 512 files, which was one of the primary reasons I ended up selling the Luxman.