Aurenders with an AKM DAC vs Luxman CD-players with a Rohm DAC.
I have an Aurender ACS100 ripper and a Luxman NT-07 (Lumin) streamer but can still exchange them for an Aurender device in the store.
I am still using a Luxman DA-06 (Burr-Brown) DAC but have the Luxman DA-07X (Rohm) coming in soon.
If I make the move to Aurender I would keep the Luxman DA-07X that I ordered.
I would use it with either:
An Aurender N20 streamer.
An Aurender A20 or A30 streamer/DAC so I have the choice between two DACs connected to my amps (integrated amp and 2 headphone amps). I hope connecting one DAC via XLR and another DAC via RCA to the same amp won’t create ground loops?
I have the Luxman D-07x SACD/DAC and Aurender N200 streamer. Good combo. I considered the Luxman NT-07 streamer, but have had a great experience with my previous non-Roon Ready Aurender servers/streamers.
I had the NT-07 and got rid of it since it was noisy, the power supply inside the streamer made a constant humming noise that was even audible when playing music at low listening levels.
The dealer first claimed he couldn’t hear it but the Dutch importer came to have a listen and after hearing it he immediately claimed it was normal and in within the manufacturers tolerance levels.
Which to me means that importer has a built-in decibelmeter in his ears and knows manufacturers tolerance levels of unusuals noise of all devices he sells by heart.
The dealer “Hans Audio” took it back minus 35% when it was 2 weeks old.
Needless to say after that I am no fan of Luxman, their Dutch distributor or the scammer that is Hans Audio anymore.
Add to that that I had a Lumin (same software) before that got bricked after a firmware update and sadly, after all the help I got from Peter Lie here, couldn’t get unbricked and had to be sent in for repairs. 6 months of repairs. That was Hans Audio as well.
Also, the DA-07x was good but the L509z I bought with it had quite a bit less power and punch than the L-509x I had before.
So I went to another dealer, Peter van Tuyl from Audio Expert in Den Bosch and got a whole different level of service. They took back the two weeks old Luxman DA-07x and L-509Z I purchased a few weeks before from Hans Audio at full price and sold me an Aurender A30 with an accuphase set with a nice big discount.
I now use both the DAC in the Aurender A30 via XLR as well as my Accuphase DC-1000 DAC via USB.
Even though the A30 contains a hard drive the streamer is dead silent.
For now I have both DAC’s connected to my preamp but the idea is to connect the DAC in the Aurender to a headphone amp instead, Leaving the Accuphase DAC for the speakers.
Still need to find me a new headphone amp theou, I sold both my Luxman headphone amps as well after the whole Hans Audio scam.
Sounds like you found a great dealer. I have the 507z and D-07x Luxman combo. Two Streamers, Aurender N200 digital and Auralic Altair G2.1 analog. I love my Luxman gear, but like anything, some people have better success than others with brands of gear. I’m running Focal Kanta N3s. The 507z has plenty of power for the Kantas.
I have a bad headphone habit. The recently introduced “headamp” headphone amp is pretty wizbang. I own one of his GSX-minis. If I didn’t already have half a dozen headphone amps, I’d buy one of the ones in the link below.
I had to have my old out of warranty Aurender A10 worked on, and I live about an hour from the US dealer (nanufacturer) shop. Made an appointment and they fixed it while I waited. Minor deal with the IEC input module. Good folks at Aurender.
I was a Luxman fan before as well, I had the L-509x, DA-06, P-750u (and every iteration before it) and SQ-N150 (and every iteration before it). Sadly that dealer and the step backwards from the 509-x to the z cured me of it.
I had a GSX-MKII when it first came out but that amp really wasn’t for me, way too bright for my taste.
Strange since I was once told by an Icelander that Luxman’s original P-1 was also based on Gilmore’s designs.
The headphone amps I had I was really fond (from memory) of were the 2 Luxman’s mentioned above, the AT ATH-W5000 (with transformer), the EAR HP4, the EC Black Widow and the EC Zana Deux. I had a dozen more at the time but can’t remember them all.
I don’t listen much to headphones anymore but I have a 700€ Atoll HD100 in my secondary system that reminds me a lot of the W5000and beats any amp under 2k I ever had, again from memory. If you can find Atoll in the US (it’s a French company that makes great, reasonably priced integrateds) you should give the HD100/120 a listen.
The phones out of my Accuphase preamp is pretty good as well, it has separate dual mono boards for the headamp section so it’s no afterthought. Makes me wonder if I still need a headphone amp in my main system.
I wonder what the headamp section in the A30 is though, didn’t listen much to it yet and can’t find any info about it.
Regarding the Aurender A30, reach out to their support email. They usually respond within a day. Maybe they can provide the technical info you’re looking for…
Follow up. I ended up buying a Luxman NT-07 to match some other Luxman gear. No noise issues at all. I run everything out of a PS Audio Power Plant P12, and have an Aurender NH10 for connection to the ethernet/internet. Whole setup is very quiet and amazingly accurate. I still have the N200 - a great streamer in its own right.
With your high end streamer take a gander at the Aurender NH10….The only way I can explain the NH10 is the timing is better, no haze….music is about feeling, and I’m feelin’ it….
