Under the radar with Vimberg, Lumin | High End 2019

What a terrific room the Vimberg – Lumin has been. Vimberg is the “almost affordable” division of Tidal speakers, minus the glorious black lacquer and the latest black diamond ceramic Accuton drivers which translates into minus a whole lotta cash for pretty much the same sound the original Tidal designs had some 5 years ago. Which was excellent and still remains a superb solution. A bit less expected was the Lumin part of the system and I am not talking about their DAC/ streaming products which are top notch.

My perplexity entering the room had to do with the amplifiers and their ability to properly drive the Vimberg Mino floor standers. Lumin used a pair of stereo power amps in bridged mono configuration capable of 640W/8Ohm but considering the price of the system, 13K euro for the X1 streaming DAC with external power supply, another 13K for each Lumin Amp and 23.000 euro for the Vimbergs for a total of a little over 60K without counting in the cables by Westminister Labs is among the best sounding affordable systems of the entire show, if not downright the best value for money of the show.

The sound apart from being extremely articulated, in a good way, presented a sense of flow that I wasn’t anticipating considering my lack of love for ESS Sabre based DACs, the X1 uses the top of the line ESS9038Pro which can be tailored more than the rest of the line since it necessitates of I to V conversion and that is the point where a designer can show what he is capable of. Bass was more than adequate, high frequencies were crisp, mid-range was well balanced. Not on the warm side but not clinical either, this was a very well sounding room by all standards. Must admit that the simplicity of this room, a streaming DAC, a pair of monos and a pair of white speakers was a stunning contrast to the cluttered 20 pieces of gear & speakers the size of a refrigerator rooms that most manufacturers tend to show.