Testing the Grimm Audio MU1 streamer at Listening Matters, The Hague

[bart]

'Listening Matters' is the new name of Chattelin Audio.
Ben Van Leliveld took over the whole business, and I think it will even thrive more now.

The streamer that piqued my interest at a couple of events: Grimm Audio MU1:

It is of course a streamer, but it promises to be much more.
It is also a high quality upsampling device. Grimm's opinion is that if the DAC doesn't have to do that heavy duty, you'll get less calculation mistakes in the D/A conversion.
Further, its FLL clocks are top quality. Grimm is known for its professional clocks, used in recording studios.
It is a Roon core server.
And in future updates (in the next months), it will be a multi-channel streamer, and FM radio too.

 

[bart]

The price of admission is quite steep, a bit less than 10K euro without SSD, a bit more than 10K with SSD (up to 4 Tb).
But if you look at clocks and upsamplers of other top brands (like Auralic, dCS, Esoteric, MSB, Chord), it suddenly makes more sense.
And you avoid the additional cables, as it is an all-in-one device.

We listened to the MU1 that sent its bits to the Hegel H590.
This is the amplifier/DAC that we use at home nowadays.
Speakers: Vivid Audio Kaya 45.
Cabling: Furutech mostly.

We also used a CEC CD-transport to get an impression of the quality of the clocks and upsampling of the MU1.

The KEF LS50 wireless stood there to see the possibilities that Roon offers.
More about that later.

 

[bart]

First track came from this album:

Marvellous!
Of course, not everything is comparable to our system at home.
The room is different, cabling also.

But there was the Vivid sound and I do know the Hegel sound too.
Our G2 Giyas offer a bit more body and delicacy than their more modest brothers Kaya 45.
What impressed me here was that there was quite a lot more separation and soundstage depth than I'm used to hear at home.
It was all a bit more lifelike also.

We were in for another surprise.
We thought the album was on the server of the store, but when we checked the pathway in Roon, we saw it was an 'ordinary' Tidal stream!

These findings were confirmed when I put the following album in the CEC tray:

'Black Coffee' is a fantastic piece of jazz.
Just Ella plus piano.
Her voice was more present in the room than I could remember having ever heard.


This effect became even stronger in the first piece of 'Folk Singer':

The only audiophile blues album it is sometimes called.
I had never heard the venue so well.

Wow, the MU1 transforms CDs into terrific source material!
And Tidal or Qobuz streams undergo the same metamorphosis.
10K seemed more and more reasonable...


From above:

The gold coloured knob in the middle serves as source selector.
Can be pushed and turned.

.

 

[bart]

As the MU1 also is a Roon core, we tried it out with other end points.

The KEF LSX is an attractive little active speaker with an amazing soundstage and stereo image for such a little thing. And it does do bass!

1200€ for a pair.
For our kitchen...? :scratch2:

.

 

[bart]

Next: KEF LS50 wireless.
Bigger sound of course.

2300€ for a pair.
I liked it even more than the passive version, driven by a Hegel H120.
A hifi bargain!

The MU1 didn't object to switching and altering Roon endpoints one single bit.
Ben even demonstrated the 3 playing together, all different things (internet radio, streaming services).
A cacophony for sure, but an indication that the MU1 interiors do function, even if it is still a work in progress.
Updates come rapidly though.

When you add a multi-channel DAC - like Exasound or Merging Nadac Anubis - you'll have a great surround streaming system, that will do almost every file available now.

 

[bart]

Some other impressions of the store.

Zanden, oh so photogenic:

 

[bart]

Ben, thank you for the time you took to explain the basics of upsampling, streaming via Roon, jitter, clocking, etc.!

Conclusion

The MU1 has become a top candidate for us, as it does/will do all the things we want in our system.
For high quality surround sound, this is a device that can not be overlooked.
But also for stereo only audiophiles this is a must audition!

 

[Kuoppis]

As the MU1 also is a Roon core, we tried it out with other end points.

The KEF LSX is an attractive little active speaker with an amazing soundstage and stereo image for such a little thing. And it does do bass!

1200€ for a pair.
For our kitchen...? :scratch2:

.

Have the Kef LSX in an additional TV room, can only recommend them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Kuoppis]

First track came from this album:

Marvellous!
Of course, not everything is comparable to our system at home.
The room is different, cabling also.

But there was the Vivid sound and I do know the Hegel sound too.
Our G2 Giyas offer a bit more body and delicacy than their more modest brothers Kaya 45.
What impressed me here was that there was quite a lot more separation and soundstage depth than I'm used to hear at home.
It was all a bit more lifelike also.

We were in for another surprise.
We thought the album was on the server of the store, but when we checked the pathway in Roon, we saw it was an 'ordinary' Tidal stream!

These findings were confirmed when I put the following album in the CEC tray:

'Black Coffee' is a fantastic piece of jazz.
Just Ella plus piano.
Her voice was more present in the room than I could remember having ever heard.


This effect became even stronger in the first piece of 'Folk Singer':

The only audiophile blues album it is sometimes called.
I had never heard the venue so well.

Wow, the MU1 transforms CDs into terrific source material!
And Tidal or Qobuz streams undergo the same metamorphosis.
10K seemed more and more reasonable...


From above:

The gold coloured knob in the middle serves as source selector.
Can be pushed and turned.

.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, gave heard good thongs about Grimm.

Are you now 10K poorer?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bart]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, gave heard good thongs about Grimm.

Are you now 10K poorer?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Not yet purchased.

Yes, this kind of device can be a gamechanger.
Not everybody can spend 100K on a MSB or dCS stack...

 

[Kuoppis]

In case I would go for dCS I would be happy with the Rossini or Bártok. But I think the Grimm would play in the same league.


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[Mike]

Not yet purchased.

Yes, this kind of device can be a gamechanger.
Not everybody can spend 100K on a MSB or dCS stack...

MSB Discrete is $10k and I will tell you, it’s superb. Add a Roon Renderer module and you’re all set (or just stick with USB and your music server if choice). Haven’t heard anything better at it’s price point. The Grimm sounds interesting, I’ll have to check it out. But I’m not sure I would be comfortable buying a digital streaming device from a speaker company. That’s just my two cents.


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[bart]

MSB Discrete is $10k and I will tell you, it’s superb. Add a Roon Renderer module and you’re all set (or just stick with USB and your music server if choice). Haven’t heard anything better at it’s price point. The Grimm sounds interesting, I’ll have to check it out. But I’m not sure I would be comfortable buying a digital streaming device from a speaker company. That’s just my two cents.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Mike,

They're not really a speaker company.
Check out their history on the Hans Beekhuyzen channel.
There is a 13' video that describes their background.
Their clocks are what made them famous.

I'm sure the MSB discrete is a killer DAC, but I want something that streams multi-channel also.

 

[Ritmo]

It is a good looking piece. Hope to hear it in Munich.

 

[bart]

It is a good looking piece. Hope to hear it in Munich.

They were there last May.
I'm tempted to go also this year...

 

[Kuoppis]

Gentlemen, might be nice to meet up. I’m planning to attend this year as well.


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[bart]

Gentlemen, might be nice to meet up. I’m planning to attend this year as well.

Good plan! :thumbsup:

 

[bart]

Eelco Grimm and Guido Tent, Grimm Audio's designers, wrote me that the software update that will allow multi-channel streaming will be launched in 2 more months.
There is an update before that. It will give the possibility to control the volume over AES and also to decode even more hi-res formats.