Lumin S1 Audiophile Network Player
$12,000
Not too long ago the useful shelf life of a digital-audio component was notoriously short. The ground beneath performance and musicality was shifting as rapidly as innovations to D/A conversion, sampling rates, and formats occurred. The Lumin S1 is one of the new breed of network players that in my view represented the long-anticipated maturation of this segment. With four ESS SABRE32 Reference DAC chips, a revised clocking system, plus dual Lundahl LL7401 output transformers, the S1’s reproduction of music is relieved of all tension, becoming warmer, weightier, more present, open, and airy in sound. Bass response is pitch perfect and saturated in complex textures and resonances. Upper harmonics and decay are more naturally resolved and, perhaps most telling, the soundstage is far more dimensional. I’ve also noted previously that Lumin made certain that its products were well supported with regular over-the-air software and firmware updates, including, most recently, the new Leedh processor—an advanced, digital, volume-adjustment algorithm that eliminates rounding errors and, in so doing, gives owners the option of playback without a traditional preamplifier Although the S1 was recently replaced by Lumin’s X1, it is still available and typically at a reduced price–which makes it even more of a bargain. Even now, the Lumin S1 draws the listener closer to the recorded event than ever before.
Tags: NETWORK SOURCE LUMIN MUSIC SERVER DIGITAL
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By Neil Gader
My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.
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