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The A1 Network Music Player is two years old but in otherwise flawless condition and very lightly used. All original packaging and accessories are included. A truly outstanding unit that holds its own against extremely high-end vinyl rigs, which must be very well set-up to beat it, in my experience. Thanks for looking, and please email with any questions. Asking $4000, which includes a brand-new iPad Mini 2, which is required to control the Lumin A1.

Forrest - I'm using a 2011 Mini, though the 2010 is more or less comparable, I am told. The modification is the installation of an internal power filter that he's developed. You can read about it on the site. This modification is non-reversible, unfortunately, but I certainly can't imagine wanting to reverse it.

losingmyreligion - I've owned a Shunyata Hydra 4 and a Synergistic Research PowerCell 6. The latter in particular is an excellent piece of gear, but by no means cheaper than what I'm "shilling" here, and not as good a value in my experience, which is why I ended up selling it... I have come to the conclusion that a well-designed linear power supply for the source is an extremely cost-effective way to get a significant improvement to the system versus line conditioning for the system in general. Of course, this may be system-dependent, to some degree, but I tend to doubt it. At any rate, I apologize for any wrong implication about the extent and quality of your research. I just hate to see somebody coming along and dismissing a product, apparently off-hand, when they've done no apparent research on it themselves. At any rate, I'm not interested in a pissing contest with you or anybody else here. If you're interested in the gear, great. If not, peace out, brother.

I would humbly submit that you might want to do a bit more research before you make such bold pronouncements about linear power supplies and power conditioners... just speaking from my own experience...

Yeah - I told him the same, lol... I'm pretty sure he's in the process of redesigning the logo, partly for that reason...

I posted this review on Audio Circle yesterday, and it's already generating a bit of discussion, and just realized - why the heck didn't I post it here on CA, also, where folks are probably even more interested and focused on this kind of stuff? So here goes... I've come close to writing audio reviews on various components that I've liked over the years, but this time I'm actually doing it because I think I've stumbled upon something that is really outstanding and which people -- everybody who's into audio, really -- should be aware of -- the power supplies for digital components made by Core Audio Technology, a relatively young company based in Los Angeles. I must say at the outset - I think this company and its products could be a game-changer for the industry - a company that we all will have heard about in a year or two... more on that later. After doing a ton of research, a few weeks ago I sat down with the wife and explained to her the advantages of clean power for digital audio -- taking the Mac Mini that we use as a music server off the grid with battery power, for example... Well, I was quickly told me in no uncertain terms that NO WAY IN HELL was I going to introduce a car battery into our living room or anywhere near it, no matter how big a soundstage and black a background we were talking, so that sent me back to the drawing board... I found a handful of non-battery power supplies for digital, corresponded with a few of them, and was feeling tentative, getting the sense that this was still a somewhat undeveloped niche. Then I somehow found the Core Audio site on a google search, thought there were some intriguing blog postings on the very subject of digital audio, and sent them an email. Within minutes, I got a response from Ryan, the company's owner. To make a long story short, Ryan's grasp of the issues of digital audio seemed to be anything but undeveloped, and I fairly quickly decided to try the entry-level power supply for my Mac Mini. It's called the Kora (most of their components have names that start with a "K" for some reason) and it's $600, also requiring the installation of an internal power filter for the Mini for a total of $1150 - not chump change, but fairly comparable to the battery option I was considering, and some of the others too. I should mention that my system lately has included a dB Audio Tranquility SE DAC as well as an Ultra Fi DAC-41, which I've been using to feed an EL84-based Sam Kim Heathkit integrated amp (astonishing piece of gear in its own right), driving a pair of Tonian TL-D1 speakers. I've got a wonderful Sablon Audio Uber Robusto power cord feeding the Tranquility SE, and using various excellent ICs to the amp including KCI Silkworms, Ridge Street Audio Poiema 3s and Audio Magic Liquid Air Illusions. That's some great gear, to my ears. But I believe that adding this power supply to the Mini was the biggest single improvement my system has ever had. Both of the DACs I've been using have reputations for lending a very analog-like sound, and I've appreciated that aspect in both of them. But it wasn't until I dropped the Kora into the mix that it REALLY started to sound like something I could potentially mistake for vinyl... The soundstage got bigger, far more detailed and with more vivid tonal colors throughout the midrange, Airy, lush highs, etc,. with a far more robust, tight and well-defined bottom end. Above all, things just got more effortless, engaging and enjoyable. I could go on about the sound, but the bottom line is that everything got better - and by a considerable margin. I can't imagine that anyone using a Mac Mini as their server would not come to the same conclusion. I would encourage anybody in my situation to consider reaching out to Ryan - who by the way has provided the most responsive customer service I've ever experienced for just about any product. Meanwhile, I just turned another friend of mine on to the Core Audio power supplies who, in addition to powering his Mac Mini, is now also using one to power a relatively inexpensive DAC that Ryan recommended - he said the result is a DAC that completely blows away his DAC-41 in the same configuration, and for less money. According to Ryan, that configuration is good, but nowhere near as good as his amp, which takes a digital feed directly from the Mac Mini and keeps the digital signal intact, amplifying it and reclocking it before it's converted to analog at the output stage. The result, I have been told, is mind-blowing and unprecedented in audio, and I've just ordered one that's slated to arrive next week. I don't generally like using superlatives, but in this case I think there's a product that deserves such praise, and I'm just at the entry level right now. I think we all will be hearing a lot more about Core Audio and its products before too long. I'm happy to answer any questions, but would also recommend that folks try Ryan, who has some of the most interesting perspective on audio I've ever come across.

Hey, wgscott - thanks very much for this - have you, by any chance, compiled a to-do list with this? I hate to to admit that I'm looking at it and not totally sure where to begin. I'm wondering, for example, if all of these settings governing features like animation effects, dialog boxes and keyboard shortcuts are applicable if I'm not using any of these things while playing music? Or do these features create noise by virtue of being enabled, and the project is simply to switch everything off (or, in some cases, disable the "re-enable" options)? Are there any tweaks available on this program that you've found particularly important? As for the second option that has five free trials - is that a more comprehensive version that theoretically can be used once to create a permanent change in settings? Yes - I am asking you to spoon-feed me, hold my hand, etc. - sorry, I saw in that other thread that you might be doing a lot of that around the house lately! Thanks, James

I installed this little tool and the scope of its tweaks seems to be very limited, not to mention the fact a window pops up each time I log on forcing me to select my tweaks all over again. Am I missing something? Meanwhile, has anybody else of late compiled a more comprehensive list of useful Lion tweaks?

Hi All, I recently switched to a new amp and speakers, going the tube and high-efficiency route, with my source remaining a very nice USB DAC fed by a headless Mac Mini, which I usually control via screen sharing with my MacBook Pro over a Wi-Fi powered by an Airport Extreme. The new speakers are more revealing, especially in the upper frequencies, and that seems to have uncovered a problem. I've been trying to root out what I can only seems like a kind of ultrasonic energy that's being emitted from the speakers that's constant and independent of whether there is any music playing or not. This ultrasonic energy is not audible, but manages to be extremely irritating and fatiguing. It reminds me of what I've experienced coming from certain types of tubes, including KT88s and 6550s, in certain configurations, as well as Soviet-manufactured tubes. While I have suspected that my tubes might be a problem, I'm using some very nice NOS Telefunken EL84s in the output stage, so hunted around for other possibilities. I did some experimenting last night and made a surprising discovery - I unplugged the Airport Extreme and it seemed to reduce the problem substantially. Of course, this wasn't much of a solution, as I need the Wi-Fi network to control the Mac Mini. So I took some sheets of sound insulation containing a layer of soft aluminum and leaned them in front of my Airport Extreme, and that also seemed to reduce the problem. In addition, I went ahead and placed some of these sheets under the wall outlet for the amp and DAC, thinking this might help shield them from any interference coming from other Wi-Fi networks on floors below in my apartment building. I'm wondering whether anybody else has had a similar issue with the Airport Extreme or other Wi-Fi server, and had success solving the issue? While these sheets of aluminum have helped, they haven't gone away completely, and I'm wondering whether any folks out there have any thoughts on what I could do to root out this problem short of splurging on a bunch of shielded cabling (I know I may end up having to do this anyway, as I'm using 18 feet unshielded speaker leads). I'm thinking of making some kind of sheath out of aluminum to house the Airport Extreme, and wondering about any other potential budget ideas to shield the rest of the system. Thoughts?

Eric - the ideal USB input is on the far right, closest to the outer edge of the unit, as you look at the back of the Mini. It's also important that no other USB inputs be in use. Meanwhile, I'd like to report that I'm totally happy at this point controlling my mini with the Macbook Pro via screen sharing. While I do have to hit the power button of the Mini to wake it up, that's a very small inconvenience considering the vastly superior experience of using the MBP vs. an iPhone with an app using VPN, etc.

Thanks Eloise - I bought my airport extreme about six months ago, and the mac mini is a year old, so presumably they're both capable of doing this. From the links you sent me, looks like there's some configuring of the AE that needs to be performed here? I reckon I'll give it a shot when I return home later this evening.

Yes, the Airport Extreme Base Station is what I have. It won't wake up using screen sharing either, which is what I'd really like to be able to do even more...

I'm using an Airport Extreme, which is connected to the mini on wi-fi.

I finally got a spare moment to try out waking up the Mac Mini with the remote app, but it doesn't seem to be working for some reason. The remote app doesn't recognize the mini's library when the mini is sleeping. I did check that box you mentioned in preferences. Thoughts?

Just figured I'd follow up to say I went ahead and purchased a Mac Mini and it's now performing flawlessly as a headless hub for my computer music setup. Screen sharing works great, although there is the matter of waking it up at the beginning of a session. Pushing the button in the back isn't too big a hassle, I find. Some folks may be interested to know that an expert in these matters advised me to use the USB jack on the far right for the best and most balanced sound heading to the DAC, and also that using any other USB jacks on the unit isn't advisable. I've confirmed this with my own tests, so no keyboard or mouse for my mini.