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Lumin U1 vs U1 mini + sbooster?


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  • 1 month later...
On 3/29/2020 at 2:48 AM, rikard said:

I believe can now answer this question a bit better...

 

First, let me just say that I'm a big Lumin fan, I've owned both the D2, T2 and now U1 Mini and been nothing but super happy with all of them. Adding a better power cable and making sure you have clean power is a first step for a good improvement to them and I think they're all performing great in their leagues without any DIY hacks.

 

For the U1 Mini I couldn't resist doing the "Sbooster modification", although I felt that if I was about to do this then I wanted to use something a bit more "reputable" and more well accepted in the PSU domain, albeit maybe also more expensive. I decided to go with the brand new Paul Hynes SR4-12 Turbo. I found that Audio Sensibility in Canada is modifying the Sbooster kits to have a more standard 2.1mm DC connector instead which suited my intentions perfectly.

 

Please note that this voids warranty and is nothing that I recommend doing. If anyone burns your Lumin the responsibility is yours and yours only.

 

image.thumb.png.3086b473494bc8ea92aadd56d8c95ad1.png

 

With that said and done, how does it sound and how do it compare to the larger U1? To clarify, I still haven't heard the U1 but I would like to describe the changes like this.

 

At first I was a bit like "ok, maybe a slight change but nothing special", but let that Paul Hynes PSU get warm, give it 1-2 days and the improvement will not be subtle anymore, in fact, I would say that there is nothing about this U1 Mini that can be related to being "mini" anymore, this baby has grown up! I do hardly recognize it anymore, the overall improvement in all aspects is substantial, it sounds big, thunderous and magical. I'm impressed!

 

I referred to a link above where it claims about 25% improvement with the Sbooster, to be honest, that number seems very low to me.

 

Thanks for this ! Impressive but how much is the paul hynes supply? I think maybe 330 GBP ?

 

I wish you had a U1 so you could directly compare it. I just feel a bit annoyed that the internal SMPS is basically being wasted as you are not even using it. Thats what makes the U1 more appealing to me. But money is money and if the U1 mini + external PSU can approach the performance of the dedicated U1 then for sure I would go that direction. I prob would just go sbooster.

 

Its funny that upscale said the difference between lumin u1 mini + sbooster  and u1 mini alone is small because on their sales page for sbooster they say your jaw will drop when you hear the performance improvement. lmao

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2 hours ago, NYCEnglish said:

Upscale didn't say the difference between the U1 Mini + Sbooster and the U1 Mini alone was small - they said it was big.

 

They said the  difference between the U1 Mini + Sbooster and the U1 is not so big.

 

 

 

Oh sorry, ok thats awesome.

 

1 hour ago, creativepart said:

Always keep in mind, for any retailer, but Upscale audio in particular, that they are the DISTRIBUTOR for many products, including the Sbooster product. They are also the distributor for Prima Luna, Pathos, Tonnoy, Feliks and Kiseki cartridges.

 

That means they import the products at the wholesale level and are responsible for ALL sales both online and at dealers for the entire country.

 

So, yes, it's no wonder they describe the Sbooster as "jaw dropping." I purchased one from them for my Qutest. My jaw is firmly in place and not in any risk of dropping. No doubt the Sbooster is a nice product. It might be making my DAC sound better. But I'd not say unequivocally that it is noticeable in any way.

 

May sbooster makes more of a difference on certain products rather than others.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/25/2020 at 3:30 AM, rikard said:

 

Paul Hynes is 330 GBP for SR4-12 or 400 GBP for SR4-12 Turbo (which I got), add a few quids more for black version. There is always going to be cheaper or more expensive products, better or worse, I think it's all about finding whats right for you. You guys are talking about competing with the U1 which is more than three times the price of Mini, maybe spending slightly more on the LPS might get you even closer in performance, still to a fraction of the price, who knows?

 

I admit that I didn't try the Sbooster and I'm sure it will provide good results as well, but I've used a numerous of other LPS during the years to replace different SMPS for other devices, and my experience is that just because it's an LPS doesn't automatically make it any better, there are very good SMPS out there today and there are good and bad LPS, and devices are also responding differently to good power.

 

While I'm a strong believer in good power and have invested heavily in power distribution, power cables and so forth, I felt that if I was going to go through this process of modifying my Lumin I wanted to have a really good power supply, and then I decided on the Paul Hynes after doing some research. I'm very happy with the result. What also feels good is to have a standard 2.1mm input, which means if I ever feel the need to upgrade the PSU again, I can easily do so.

 

I was looking at the uptone JS-2 and surprised that the Paul SR4 is actually about half the price of the JS-2.

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