Grimm MU1 Streamer - Really "The Best"?

@nyev 

No affiliation but there is a preowned Grimm just listed for sale on that other site. 8tb ssd, 8 gig ram. For those in Southern California, you could pick it up.

Once again, there are alot of opinions and everyone is certain of their path. The OP seemed to be interested in a one box solution and seemed to be interested at pricepoints between $10k and $20k. The Aurender is hard to go wrong with…and I wouldn’t worry too much about Antipodes QC…its great gear. The Innuos is also terrific and their customer support is exceptional. One thing the Innuos has going for it is you can use Roon…or not. The Grimm is optimized for Roon but if Roon isnt your preference then scratch it off the list. 

Alot of posters enjoy their dsd and for good reason…its the cleanest dirty shirt in the digital hamper. Just like in vinyl, there are millions of variables (phono stages, tube vs ss, step up transformers, cartridge choices, TT choices, idlers vs belt drive, multi motors, mass vs lightweight, cables, wires, isolation, power cables and treatment). I listen for enjoyment, I prefer the least number of variables to troubleshoot…but I recognize that others in our hobby prefer otherwise. There are more than a few setup photos on the Audiogon systems section where you can almost imagine the marital status of the individual and there interior design preferences. Ive mentioned before in other posts in other threads that there is a very valid (for them) subsection of individuals in our hobby whose setups more closely resemble something out of a Rube Goldberg drawing with special cable lifters, rare African wood footers and almost always….a single chair (usually a barcolounger with soiled/worn velour fabric with some Taco Bell stains here and there). Its all good, everyone gets out of the hooby what they want.

I assume though that the OP is after a clean install by his excellent choice of the Gryphon Diablo and their inboard dac. He can choose a well built/engineered server/streamer and elevate his enjoyment. One box, one power cable, one cable to his Diablo and accomplish his goal. OR…he can construct a shrine to “I can make it work but it takes 6 boxes, 6 power cables, numerous connection points and other unecessary tweaks and variables with no guarantee it will sound better because in most cases they havent experienced a five figure server/streamer in a proper way. For many here, they have an abundance of time and they enjoy the trial and error of introducing complexity. That doesn’t describe me.

Demo it in your room with your gear. Decide for yourself, there is no best and there are many roads to get where you want to go. 

Just to add to this thread. I have owned the Grimm for a fair amount of time! 3+ years. One of the earlier adopters.

Having met and spoken with the manufacturers close to nearly a decade back gave me the strength that they know this domain as well as others, and implement theory into practical to see if it actually works and sounds better.

Being able to play in mostly all formats for today, digital and analog the MU-1 has given me great enjoyment with some of the longest listening session which I have never done before, due to it’s convenience.

There may be other flavours, but do try it out and then decide.

One thing for sure, you won’t go disappointed that I wish I had heard this other component as its ’so much’ better than the MU-1.

You’ll only be playing in the space of personal preferences off one component over another.

@ghasley 

I would love to see pics of your audio den :-) 

@ghasley 

A quick off topic aside. The A.N.Jinro-Orangutan 96 pairing must sound utterly natural and involving 

Charles

Lo and behold, a used Grimm shows up on the other website. Folks are free to price things how they like, and folks are free to negotiate as they see fit, but I will say $9.5k for a used Grimm is a bold ask. You can buy one new with full warranty for much less than that. I did. I only say this because there’s a line of thinking, from folks who have never used the device, which goes something like: it’s only a NUC with some clocking and upsampling rigmarole, how could they charge $11k etc etc...

Just making the obvious point that there’s the named price, and then there’s the actual price. Just as a single data point, I do think it’s worth the full MSRP based on sonics alone (for me personally, with all the usual system dependent caveats).