Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming 218 Upgrade

Sure, it was at home with ML 11A speakers, Luxman 509X amp, AQ Thunderbird Zero speaker cable. 218 and Lumin D2 were connected to the Luxman with AQ WEL unbalanced interconnects (swapped).

Used Roon playing Tidal. The 218 gave more instrument/vocal separation and depth, where the D2 gave more body to the sound. Tried a pair of AQ Fire balanced interconnect cables (a tad brighter) with the D2 and the sound became closer to the 218. The WEL interconnect cable has a very balanced and analog sound. The D2 seems to be a tad too warm and lack some resolution compared to the 218 and it showed with the WEL cable.

Also threw in my Marantz 8805 pre/pro using HEOS and native FLAC using AQ Fire interconnects. Wider sound stage and far more body than the 218. Surprisingly good quality, but lacked the crispness that a standalone DAC brings.

This is always system dependent. My current system is on the transparent and neutral side so it’s easy to hear the difference. For my taste I need the 218 with more body, which it seems you need to spend $3-5K more to get.

Thanks for your explanation, a result I would not have expected as Lumin is well regarded.

Coincidentally, I talked yesterday with an L.A. dealer who said the D2 was their best selling streaming DAC and is used for many demos in their shop. In May, K. Swanson and I compared my 218 with his (then) Audio Alchemy DMP 1 endpoint and Berkeley DAC. We agreed the 218 fell just short in terms of soundstage and overall detail/clarity. Limits to soundstage width might might have been caused by the speakers or their placement rather than the electronics we compared.

I think the 218 is a very capable player at its price point but there is a lot going on in the DAC world. I bet we both find a new solution sometime soon.

@JimK, didn't realize you are in the LA area. Same here, I think I know which dealer you spoke to. Which Berkeley DAC did you guys test against? I have heard good things, most of them are in a completely different price category compared to the 218 though.

There are so good options for DACs in almost every price point. If you want a streamer + DAC combined, then options are much more limited, very few good options under $2K that would best the 218.

I did some extensive listening last night and realized a few things. The 218 is brighter so feels like there is a higher level of detail, but it does at times lack body as mentioned previously. Some instruments can sound a tad sharp, especially older jazz recording with trumpet. Overall, the 218 punches way above its price point, event though it can be a tad bright, it is still smooth, not losing crispness and with good instrument and vocal separation.

After letting the the Lumin D2 run over for an extended period of time before using and spending more time with it, I would say it is an all around great DAC/streamer. It is a tad warmer than the 218 and brings in the body that I felt is missing with 218 in my system. It has a bit less instrument separation than the 218 but has just as wide soundstage. Neither is at the Marantz 8805 level, but I think instrument and vocal placement is more accurate on both the 218/D2. One thing to note is I am using unbalanced connectors, so balanced should sound even better on the D2.

After last night listening session, I think the Lumin is all around better for my system. For a warmer / darker systems I think the 218 may pair well, like it did with my McIntosh MC452. I imagine going up to the T2 will give that extra resolution that I am looking for, but I can see myself happy for a bit.

The Berkeley is an Alpha DAC2/MQA. I was using the 218 with DSP's before I went analogue. I compared it to the Berkeley in two systems before JimK and I did our test. The first was a pair of Focal Diablo standmounts with a sub and the second was with a pair of Magico A3's.

The 218 wasn't very close at all in just about all areas. At JimK's it was much closer but still fell short. I really don't know why the difference in the two comparisons but here it wasn't close. The 218 did find a good home in my family room HT streaming Roon with my wife listening to playlists she's made while preparing dinner.

Ken