M1 - Color Me Impressed

jmusica

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2018
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655
Location
Tampa
After the typical many year journey through every layer and level of equipment - that included a U1 and L1 in my "ultimate system" - I'd finally decided "enough" and rejected expensive "hi-end" equipment, sold it all off (my financial advisor thanked me) and forced myself to settle on an all-Sonos system. I'm sure you all know how that turned out. Blech. I put up with it as long as I could, and I finally broke this week.

Seeking to not once again break the bank, I sought the right compromises in order to get back as much of that satisfying audio as I could. It looked to me like the M1 might be an answer (I've considered some of the other similar equipment on the market but my experience with the U1 and L1 led me back to Lumin.)

I was ready to be resigned to "ok sound"; I'd force myself to try to settle.

Got the M1 this weekend, ran out to Best Buy for a set of Martin Logan Motion 40i (another compromise expectation), got it set up, and BAM - I am not in the least bit feeling like there's been some huge compromise. I'd have a hard time in a blind selection between the M1 and the U1 with extremely expensive amplification (Ayre MX-R). 100% there, not entirely. Yet, I'm more than satisfied.

Musicality, sound stage and dimensionality, speed, clarity, neutrality, truth to the recording are all there. My baseline for knowing this was a system around literally 20x the price. And of course, the lovely Lumin application and interface and hardware build quality. (I do wish they'd have put the M1 in the iconic Lumin chassis tho).

Extremely pleasantly surprised with the M1 (maybe even a bit more surprised with the Martin Logan, although I have a set of Scansonics on order and may return the MLs).

Heartily recommend the M1. Imo this is not just for some bedroom/office system, there's nothing wanting that should keep it from a reasonably priced, extremely musical and satisfying main system.
 
I bought the M1 for my daughter, I have the same feeling, I was surprised by its smooth and musical sound. I am a fan of the brand, and this purchase was without having tried it before, I was not wrong. (Lumin M1 + Klipsch RP 260F)
 
I'd also like to recognize and applaud Lumin for their foresight and willingness to invest in Leedh. I had no idea what that was when I decided on the M1, but now reading about it, it sounds incredible and actually something I've long been hoping for.

I initially dismissed it as some new gimick and turned it off when I set things up, but having read up, I've enabled it and look forward to some a/b. I'm betting it's going to deliver what I've been hoping for for years.
 
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