After a multi year absence from high-end audio I have finally gotten back in. I just missed it and the peace listening to music on a really nice system brings to me.
I recently purchased some Levinson 536’s and found a nice deal on a Levinson 52. So I think I have a good start to get back in. I have never owned a DAC or a streamer. After a TON of research I am pretty sure I want to get a Lumin. I definitely want something with ROON so that eliminated Aurender. Lumin just seems to tick a lot of boxes.
Now my question is, which one? From my research it appears the U1’s do not come with a DAC which I am fine with. The next question is if I go that route is the U1 worth 3x the price of the mini?
If I go the other route and get the T2 or X1 how good are the DAC’s inside them? With the speed DACs are changing it just seems crazy to get one with a DAC. With separates even you tire of the streamer or DAC you can sell and are still left with the other if you really like.
So is the U1 on par with the T2 or X1? Probably not the X1 as it seems to have a much upgraded power supply. But if I get the U1 and a good DAC am I equal or better than an X1?
One last thing, there isn’t that much difference in price between a NUC10 and a ROON Nucleus but the Nucleus is a single purpose device limiting the pool of buyers to resell if I choose. A NUC can be resold on eBay to a huge pool of buyers with a myriad of uses for a NUC. A NUC can also be upgraded to NUC 11, 12, 15…20 as advances are made recouping costs from selling a prior version. Not really the case with a Nucleus. I don’t mind building a NUC and it might be kinda fun!
Sorry if these are silly questions but the amount of information out there is just overwhelming. I don’t want to spend thousands and realize after the fact I really screwed up.
I appreciate the collective knowledge and suggestions of the community…
Please get either the X1 or T2, not the U1 (MINI).
This saves you the trouble of picking a compatible DAC and worrying about extra cable(s). In particular, some older DAC from your preamp brand is not meant to be compatible with Linux and will not work well enough with Lumin (if it even work at all), or the non-Roon Ready competitor you’ve eliminated. I’ve read a case of a user of the competitor having compatibility trouble with a $20K preamp built-in DAC of your chosen brand and was not resolved. It’s not the fault of the competitor though. The non-Linux compatible fault is with the DAC.
After you’ve got the X1 / T2, you can still use it as a streamer with USB or BNC output to a more pricey DAC, in case you think you need a DAC upgrade in the future.
I’m surprised with their prices not being too different, but I won’t go into that. Anyway, you may get a NUC10i7 with a fanless chassis, the smallest capacity of Samsung 970 as boot drive (if you run ROCK), no less than 8GB RAM (or no less than 16GB if you run Windows), assuming you’re comfortable with software installation. You should not get a NUC11 as it’s not compatible with ROCK.
Welcome to the forums! I’m a huge Lumin fan - I bought a T2 to go with a Hegel H190 and it was a revelation compared to the ultraRendu I had before. Then I upgraded to a Hegel H390 and things went from good to great. (speakers are Dynaudio Contour 30s). The Lumin sound quality is really fantastic, and I think their products are outstanding value. And as you have already seen, @wklie is a frequent contributor to the forums and a phenomenal ambassador for his company!
You have some great kit there (although you don’t specify your speakers). Given that caliber of pre/power, I would recommend the X1, although I’m sure the T2 would not disappoint. These are rock solid Roon endpoints, and now with Tidal connect and the pretty good Lumin app you can’t go wrong.
WRT to Lumin products I initially went for the D2 then some months later upgraded to the T2 which is a fine piece of kit but then an opportunity came up to acquire an X1 and I jumped at that and have never looked back. The design, construction, quality of components etc and of course the SQ just make the X1 one of the best if not the best DAC streamers out there at the moment. It won’t disappoint and is rock solid in terms of performance and reliability. If your budget allows for an X1 my advice would be to go for it.
Buy what your budget allows. The T2 and X1 are both fantastic pieces, but don’t let anyone tell you that you HAVE to get the X1 to enjoy how great Lumin sounds. The T2 is no slouch.
I bit the bullet about 6 weeks ago and got a T2. I think it is the sweet-spot for price/performance. I now have it feeding a McIntosh MA352 which is driving a pair of Tannoy DC10 speakers. I honestly think I’m done now.
Let’s not miss the fact that Lumin customer care is about as good as it can get. I can’t believe how much attention I get whenever I raise a question. I’ve even had personal releases of an Android apk to test a fix to an issue I reported (within less than one working day) and also personal release of new firmware to tweak an undocumented feature I discovered with radio stations (within 2 working days).
People should come to Lumin for the quality of both the product and the software. They will stay for the customer care and continuous improvement program.
Had the T2 for a few months and it was so impressive that I jumped to the X1 and have never looked back. The silence of the Fiber Optic connection alone is worth the price of admission. One of the best Audio decisions I’ve made and there have been many…
Beautiful setup. Do report back and let us know how you get on with the X1! If anything like the T2 it requires a couple of hundred hours to reach peak performance levels - I don’t really hold much to the concept of burn in, but I have to admit that in this case it was certainly noticeable.
Several weeks ago we exhibited a setup of Lumin X1 with dual Lumin AMP in bridge mode driving Magico S3 Mk II during Hong Kong Audio Video Show 2021. Some visitors told me they liked what they heard.
I have a D2 and love it…and 2 D1’s as well. I can’t afford a T2 or X1 at this point in time but maybe one day. look for a preloved unit maybe if you can find. All mine are Pre loved when I got them.
Depends what you are feeding with the Lumin - T2 DAC is different league from D2, and X1 is in the
stratosphere. IMHO T2 is the sweet spot. If you have Boulder or Gryphon or that level amplification or better, get X1 no brainer. If you have Luxman/Hegel/Mark Levinson or similar get the T2 and buy a load of music with what you save.
I’m in Canada, and the Lumin T2 is the best investment I ever made, regardless of the state of the Canadian Peso. It is that good. Period.
Look at what came today! Can’t wait to try it out. The distributor said it really shines after around 300 hours, maybe Peter can comment on that. Will report back…
