Lumin P-1 arrives tomorrow

Hi Norman,
There are a number of ways you can go with your Altaira set-up. You can connect multiple components to the same Altaira unit, and which hub you use depends on how you want to configure the system.

If you are going to connect all your components to a single Altaira, the guidance is to use a CG Altaira hub. You can connect, say, your P1 (using it's chassis ground terminal on the back), an amp, a preamp if you also use one, a DAC or phono stage, to that one CG hub.

You can also use multiple Altairas in what is referred to as a segmented system. One way to do this is to have one segment be the "digital segment", for example, a DAC, streamer or network bridge, Ethernet switch, music server, etc. You'd connect all these to the same SG Altaira. Then, you could have as second segment in what I refer to as the "analog amplification segment", for example, a preamp, tuner, phono stage and amplifier.

In my case, I use "segmented" Altaira system comprised of two segments, each using an SG Altaira hub.

The digital segment SG hub is connected to the P1, and the "analog amplification segment" SG Altaira is solely connected to my Constellation integrated amp.

Hope this helps.

Thanks!

One other thing, what happens if my other component doesn’t have chassis ground terminal? Will I be able to connect that to the same Altaira unit that has the P1 (which is connected using its chassis ground terminal)?
 
Thanks!

One other thing, what happens if my other component doesn’t have chassis ground terminal? Will I be able to connect that to the same Altaira unit that has the P1 (which is connected using its chassis ground terminal)?

Generally, yes. If your other component has an unused "interface" connection, jack or port, you can use a Shunyata "base" ground cable terminated with the appropriate tail. The base ground cable generally has two STIS-type banana plugs on it. You then simply plug the appropriate tail onto it for your component or application. For example, if you have an unused SPDIF, Ethernet RJ45, USB, or BNC port, or unused input or output RCA or XLR jacks, you can connect that component using those ports or jacks with the appropriate tail.
 
..For example, if you have an unused SPDIF, Ethernet RJ45, USB, or BNC port, or unused input or output RCA or XLR jacks, you can connect that component using those ports or jacks with the appropriate tail.

I wonder if that advice still applies where the component has all jacks/ports galvanically isolated from each other....I don't see how the grounding will get any further upstream than the port itself.
 
The arrival of my Nagra Classic amp has been delayed for quite a while, due to a surgery etc. earlier in the year. It looks like I will finally be picking it up in the next few weeks.
The Nagra will be run directly off the P1, so I would like to start off on the right foot. There is a switch on the back of the amp for 1 volt, or 2 volts. Also RCA or XLR inputs, I was planning on using XLR.
Peter, or anyone who might know, which voltage setting would best match the P1’s output?
 

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For Lumin P1 / X1 / T3 / T2 / D3 (Analog Output Level Normal 6V rms) output to this amp, try setting the amp to 2V sensitivity first.

Turn down the Lumin volume before you play anything.

Only in the unlikely event that it does not give you enough volume for your most quiet music at Lumin volume 100 should you set the sensitivity to 1V.
 
Thank you Peter, I will set it to 2V to start.
I am currently running direct to an amp, so I know all about turning the volume to zero before powering on the amp. Hopefully I have enough volume this way, I was not planning on buying the Nagra Classic Preamp just yet.
 
I got the Nagra amp hooked up yesterday, set to 2 volts works great… sounding really good fresh out of the box.
 

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Thank you Pumacat, yes simple but great sounding is what I am going for. I asked my dealer what he thought about my next improvement, if I were to look for one.
He said he would add the Kharma Elegance speaker cables, which use the same cables as inside my speakers.
He also mentioned the Classic Preamp as a big upgrade, just using the P1 as a streamer.
The pre is 22k, the speaker cables are 3.5 K.
Speaker cables is an easier pill to swallow…
 
Hi all,

A few months ago I purchased a P1 (on a recommendation by Puma Cat). It replaced a Lumin U1 and a Berkeley Alpha Dac2 MQA. This has been one of my very favorite audio purchases (over several decades of such purchases!). It was motivated in part by a desire to simplify my system. The P1 has done that in spades; it now handles all my inputs (cable box, apple TV, Oppo disc player), and it sounds great. In my present configuration, I view the P1 as a 'quasi-preamp'. It feeds my Rowland Continuum S2 integrated amp. I say 'quasi' because, at the moment, I have the P1 set at fixed 100% volume output, and the Rowland handles the volume control. But I have flip-flopped back and forth between this and using the P1 Leedh volume control, with the Rowland set at unit gain. The latter seems superior in a number of ways (detail, resolution, spaciousness), but the former seems a bit more relaxed. Maybe my ears are just used to a certain amount of distortion. :) With everything now perfectly burned in, it's probably a good time to go back and try Leedh processing again.
 
Hi all,

A few months ago I purchased a P1 (on a recommendation by Puma Cat). It replaced a Lumin U1 and a Berkeley Alpha Dac2 MQA. This has been one of my very favorite audio purchases (over several decades of such purchases!). It was motivated in part by a desire to simplify my system. The P1 has done that in spades; it now handles all my inputs (cable box, apple TV, Oppo disc player), and it sounds great. In my present configuration, I view the P1 as a 'quasi-preamp'. It feeds my Rowland Continuum S2 integrated amp. I say 'quasi' because, at the moment, I have the P1 set at fixed 100% volume output, and the Rowland handles the volume control. But I have flip-flopped back and forth between this and using the P1 Leedh volume control, with the Rowland set at unit gain. The latter seems superior in a number of ways (detail, resolution, spaciousness), but the former seems a bit more relaxed. Maybe my ears are just used to a certain amount of distortion. :) With everything now perfectly burned in, it's probably a good time to go back and try Leedh processing again.

Congratulations! That's so great to hear.. Very pleased that a recommendation worked out so well for you.

The P1's pretty amazing, isn't it? I am very happy with my decision to get one. It made my system considerably simpler, and the nice thing about simple is...it always works.

Plus it sounds absolutely fabulous: one of the best-sounding DACs and preamps I've ever heard, but my guess is...you've already experienced that. :celebrate008_2:

And, yes, my suggeestion would be to go back and try LEEDH processing again.

Oh, BTW, it needs 500 hours to fully burn-in, so it's gonna get...EVEN better. 👍
 
I thought there was another P1 thread running, but I couldn’t find it, so I will bring this one back to life. Since owning the P1 I have been using turtle slow internet through the old phone lines in my apartment building. I was only able to stream 16/44.1 from Qobuz because any high res would stutter. Last week I found a new provider that goes through cable (bnc) and now I get 1 gig speeds. Now I can stream 4 k video and high res Qobuz at the same time with no buffering or stuttering. Wow! Qobuz sounds WAY better now, so I have been kind of blown away by how good my P1 can actually sound.
This got me thinking maybe there is more to be had here. I noticed an option in settings to upscale to DSD 512. Should I be doing this for even better sound?
Has anyone tried upscaling with their P1, and any advice about it?
Not really sure where to start, like does this only work on local stored files, or will it also upscale Qobuz?
 
Another question, I have an album on a thumb drive that has been upscaled using PGGB software to 32 bit 705 kHz. The P1 will not play it because it is beyond its limits.
Would it be worth it to try using PGGB to upscale some files to DSD 512, or 32 bit/384 KHz to see if this sounds better than using the P1 upscaling?
 
You may try DSD upsampling for 44.1kHz music, and see whether you like it or dislike it. It works for local NAS / USB drive and Tidal / Qobuz excluding MQA.
 
<snip> Now I can stream 4 k video and high res Qobuz at the same time with no buffering or stuttering. Wow! Qobuz sounds WAY better now, so I have been kind of blown away by how good my P1 can actually sound.

Yes, it sounds...amazing. In my experience, its every bit as good as my First Sound dual-mono preamp and my Lampizator Baltic 3 DAC. All in a single box. Plus the LEEDH digital volume technology is the best-sounding "volume control" I've ever heard.

Apologies for mentioning this again but, IMHO, it's an important point: implementing the Lumin P1 & my Constellation Inspiration integrated, I was able to remove....15 bits of gear from main rack alone. And now...it always works and sounds fantastic. What I've learned the hard way is that the "simplest solutions"...sound the best.

Linn-Sondek, Roy Gandy at Rega, and Nelson Pass have been espousing for decades now the "simpler is better" philosophy regarding turntable & amplifier design, and...they're right. 👍

This got me thinking maybe there is more to be had here. I noticed an option in settings to upscale to DSD 512. Should I be doing this for even better sound?
Has anyone tried upscaling with their P1, and any advice about it?
Not really sure where to start, like does this only work on local stored files, or will it also upscale Qobuz?

Sorry, I can't say as I simply don't worry about it. I just have my P1 play the digital music recordings in my collection at their "native" bit-depth/sampling rates.

Just to put this into in context, the best-sounding digital music files I've ever heard are the "Redbook" 16/44 recordings that are the Audio Wave Blue Note XRCD24 jazz recordings. This entire series was re-mastered by Alan Yoshida, one of the developers of the XRCD24 format & mastering protocol, and, IMHO, one of the very best mastering engineers in the music industry. Owning and listening to this incredibly good-sounding and wonderful collection of jazz recordings has taught me that it's the quality of the mastering that matters most, not the specific "digital format".

Here's a link to this format by Audio Wave: What We Do - Audio Wave Music

Just my 2¢. Cheers.
 
Thanks for the reply guys,I guess I will do a little experimenting when I get time. Puma Cat, so you are buying CD’s from that site and just throwing them on a sever, no upscaling?
 
Thanks for the reply guys,I guess I will do a little experimenting when I get time. Puma Cat, so you are buying CD’s from that site and just throwing them on a sever, no upscaling?

Yup! I buy the Audio Wave Blue Note XRCD24 "Redbook" discs, rip 'em with XLD, and put the ripped digital files on the hard drive for Alita, Battle Angel (my Akasa-cased NUC/Roon Core). Here's a pic of Alita, Battle Angel.

Akasa-NUC-Front-View.jpg


Diagram of the setup in the "remote server room" (RSR). Alita is connected via a Sigma Ethernet cable to EtherREGEN (ER), and then I run via single-mode Corning ClearCurve LC/LC fiber out ER from the RSR into the SFP cage in the back of the P1. I use Planet Tech TL-40 single-mode optical transceivers at the source and destination ends. I use Corning ClearCurve single-mode fiber because this is what Peter Lie of Lumin recommended, and...Peter was right.

Streaming-System-Setup_P1.jpg


Simple set-up And, simple is...good. 👍
 
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