First, the Elite BDC is noticeably heavier than the Sbooster. The case is also much higher quality AND includes some nice feet as standard.
Second, the cable connection to Lumin D2 is superior on the Elite BDC. It is obviously a higher quality connection AND it is a locking connection (GX12 or GX16?). There's no way it could come loose without you intentionally unscrewing it. This is a huge problem with the Sbooster, where merely bumping the cable that attaches to Lumin caused it to disconnect power. As is well known, this can permanently damage the Lumin.
Third, the sound! Compared to the Sbooster the sound is both more dynamic, more real, more detailed, and yet manages to still be more refined as well. Background is ULTRA black. Just inky, liquid black.... And it's from this background that all notes emerge. String instruments have body, but the bow still has bite as it interacts with the string. The decay heard in the recordings seems to carry on longer And with more realism. The apparent physical size of the soundstage width/height/depth is obviously larger. But this increase in soundstage dimensions is still very natural And actually seems to vary greatly based upon the song/recording. The delineation of instruments in the sonic image is clearer And they feel both more solidly anchored, but that they also have more space in between them. This effect is most instantly apparent with orchestral works (Mahler, Holst, etc). However, And I reiterate, all these effects are NATURAL. None seem synthetic.
I am fortunate to be able to hear live music often, including a full size symphony orchestra. I am well acquanted with actual music. This is the closest my Lumin D2 has yet sounded to actual, real music. In fact, no less than two professional musicians have heard it and been absolutely shocked by it. High praise, indeed.
And I have relatively clean power as far as most users are concerned. I use a Topaz Ultra Isolator 2.5kVa 1:1 Isolation transformer with .0005pf interwinding capacitance that then feeds a Furman Elite 15 PFi conditioner. Without being smug, I imagine this is cleaner power than most systems will ever see. And the Elite BDC still made an enormous improvement. I would have to guess that this improvement would be even larger over the Sbooster with less optimized AC power from the wall.
I could not be happier And cannot believe that this amount of improvement can be had, for a streamer/DAC that I already owned, via "just a power supply". Thank you!!
Oh and equal improvements seen with my Chord Qutest DAC and they Elite BDC for that.
- Collin Bruce from USA on Elite BDC 12Vdc 2Amps for Lumin D2
