Lumin T2 vs Aurender A100 Comparison

[dminches]

A friend of mine is looking for an all-in-one solution (server DAC) and is willing to spend up to $5000. His music currently sits on a NAS so he doesn’t need the unit to have internal storage.

Has anyone auditioned both these units and have an opinion?

It seems to me that the biggest functionality differences between the 2 units are: the Lumin supports Roon, the Lumin has balanced analog outputs and the Lumin has a digital output which could allow the use of an external DAC.

 

[nosualc]

I've no experience with the A100, but I've had a Lumin T2 for nearly 2 years.

In no apparent order:

balanced analog output
2 years, zero problems
simplicity; plug it in to the network, power and amp, and it just works.
major feature upgrades at no additional cost (via firmware update); eg - Tidal Connect, Leedh processing
sounds great with my Pass XA60.8's. I no longer use a preamp, sounds better without (see Leedh).
unbelievably good support, right here on audioshark.org
Roon (I don't use it, but many do)
Lumin app is ok, but I don't need to use it (I use the Tidal app, see Tidal Connect)

Can't say whether your friend would prefer the sound of a T2 to the A100 (personal taste and all that), but the T2 is a fine piece of gear.