Lumin U1 vs Lumin U1 mini + sbooster?

sorry, I was looking at a wrong picture.

This is likely true if you take the "stock" U1 Mini and compare it to the standard U1.

That being said, I took a close look. I think the U1 Mini + Sbooster is probably going to be equal to the standard U1 if you just use them as a digital transport.  

The only thing that the standard U1 has here is a DAC and analog output. If you don't need this and are still intending to do the Sbooster mod on the U1 MIni, then I would say go for the U1 Mini. The digital transport section is the same on both.

I guess that was your experience. For the records the transport section of the U1 Mini and U1 are not the same, the mini has the same digital section as the D2 and the U1 has the same digital section as the S1. Also the U1 does not have a DAC nor analog output.

I think that it will eventually come down to how resolving the system is to allow one to discern the differences. Both my speaker and headphones rigs are fairly resolving which is why I shared my impressions about the differences I noticed between the two.

For reference below are the rigs:

Speaker: LUMIN U1 Streamer —> Chord M Scaler —> Chord Hugo TT2 —> SPL Phonitor X Pre-amp (sometimes PrimaLuna Evo 400 pre-amp for some tube flavor) —> 2x SPL Performer s800 monoblocks —> KEF Reference 5 speakers

Headphones: LUMIN U1 Streamer —> Chord M Scaler (yes I have two) —> Chord Dave —> Woo Audio WA33 tube amp or RAAL-Requisite HSA-1a amp
The rigs feed the following headphones: Focal Utopia, HifiMan Susvara, ZMF Verite Closed a d RAAL-Requisite SR1a.

Again, your experience is apparently different than mine and I’m glad that in your system you don’t seem to perceive the differences between the U1 and the U1 Mini with an upgraded power supply which is great for your wallet...in my system there’s no place for the U1 Mini anymore because the U1 is that much better.

The U1 does not have a DAC, it is a digital transport like the U1 Mini. The "only" difference is that it is a much better transport.

I used to have the U1 Mini and added a good LPS (Kenneth Lau Signature). I thought I had a transport as good as the U1 for half of the price. Well I was naive and wrong. I took home the X1 for a test and connected it as a transport (same like an U1), with the same cables and Aesthetix DAC I used to have with the U1 Mini. 
The difference was huge, the weakest link in my system was the U1 Mini with LPS and not the DAC what I thougt. There is a reason why the U1 costs almost 3 times more than the stock Mini....

I had the same experience as yours, and yes I was also naive and wrong to believe that upgrading the power supply on the U1 Mini would make it as good as the U1....the U1 is just a lot better, that's not even close!

sorry, I was looking at a wrong picture.

You're good! I thought you had first hand experience with the units. You might want to give them a try to notice the differences. 

Its fine having beliefs. But having a belief and actually listening is a different thing. People have been using DI20HE after some pretty high end streamers in their chain including auralic aries g2 with gains in SQ. For those reading this go to head fi and talk to the guys there including Jimmy Chang who did an A-B of dcs bridge vs pi +di20he (dcs bridge is known by many to be better than even the full size lumin u1).

By the way di20he can also take external clock and I don't even have one connected. But a $300 morion ext clock from queensland seller off ebay takes SQ even further! Its a future upgrade I plan on.
I think having a strong ext psu with the u1 mini is a great option because then you have a PSU in another chassis like full size u1 and have the ability to use the psu you want (there are better PSUs out there than sbooster). My dealer modded my u1 mini so I can put on w/e PSU I want. This gives you the flexibility select  a very high quality PSU.
I think the one main advantage of full u1 is that its a cleaner looking solution with less boxes and looks very nice compared to my stack of boxes (but I do like the look of my box stack).

I completely agree with your statement there about having beliefs vs actually listening to it. I hope you’ve listened to the LUMIN U1 and compared it against your current setup rather than “believing” that your setup out performs the U1 based on what you read. 

The aforementioned streamer, in my opinion, is inferior to the LUMIN U1 and probably on par with the U1 Mini with S Booster - again, that’s based on my experience in my system. Your experience might be different. 

I gave up using reclockers and external clocks in order to reduce the amount of boxes to have a more streamlined but “ultra” high performance system, if possible.

Again, I’m glad that you’re happy with your solution, after all that’s what we are all after - the joy of having a satisfying system that completely eliminates the need for further “upgraditis disease”.