Luminox Audio Rubeus IEM Cable – Bass Warmth On Sound
Luminox Audio Rubeus is a $230 USD cable for IEMS, configurable with a multitude of connectors and plugs, designed to be ergonomic, look beautiful and help you achieve a better listening experience all the time. Today we will review it together and also compare it to other IEM cables including STE AG W16 (580 USD), STE Cu W16 (400 USD) and Effect Audio EVO 1 (440 USD). Thanks to Optimisation Elements and their adapters, we can compare MMCX and 2-Pin cables on the same IEMs just fine, so regardless which connectors you need, we’re here to explore how they sound like.
Introduction
Luminx Audio belongs to a parent company that has over 33 years of experience in audio, and they have come to challenge the whole audio world with their cables. With the exception of their flagship, all of the Luminox Audio cables are priced for the music lover to enjoy without breaking the bank, but offer a unique design, outstanding quality and exceptional build quality. Although we’re in the introduction part of the review, those are words you can quote from me, as I already have quite a bit of experience with those cables. To put it simply, I had a hard time taking photos of close-up, small products for a while, so this review has been delayed a bit, but happily we sorted things out with a few macro lenses for our photo setup. I never states this officially before, but Audiophile-Heaven, as a review website could have existed with much less effort for photos, the reason I and we strive so hard to have good photos is because I have a passion for photography, I love all arts, visual and audio, and this is why the photos you’re seeing strive to be impressive, I can and will make a negative review but still try my best with the photos because I love taking photos, and it doesn’t change my point of view about a product. This was not with any relation to the Rubeus, this is a cable that sounds good, and works good for a fair price, but I felt like sharing this little bit of info about our work and art.
I’d like to thank Luminox for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion. Audiophile-Heaven has no affiliation with Luminox beyond this review.
Product Link
You can grab one from www.amazon.com here – https://amzn.to/49MALbY
You can grab one from Luminox Audio here – https://luminoxaudio.com/shop/p/rubeus
Build Quality/Aesthetics
Luminox Audio is sparse with the information available about the Rubeus, and we know we can order it with connectors for any IEMs out there, and with 3.5mm Single Ended, 4.4mm Balanced and 2.5mm Balanced connectors, at the moment of writing this review.
The name of Rubeus comes from Latin meaning Precious Red Stone, and the construction of the cable includes a 6N OCC Copper x2 and a 4N Silver Plated Copper x4 structure. The company promises a lush and dynamic midrange, transparent and spacious soundstage, plus a slightly warm chesty closed vocal, with a rich spacious bass detail, made for ambience and boomy music enthusiast.
The cable itself looks pretty cool, has a tight braiding, and it doesn’t have microphonic noise, there are no ear guides, and it is softly winded around my ears, which allows me to get a better comfort than both cables with solid ear guides, and cables with soft ear guides, and Luminox uses a good PVC jacket that will not allow the cable to become hard after wear, as I’ve been using it for a few months and there’s still no hardening effect.
The 4.4mm Balanced jack has a little red stone insert, and the Y separator uses a little stone-like shape that resembles a ruby. The cable has a natural length of 1.2 Meters, it is very flexible, and it uses a transparent bit of stress relief at the jack level, and at the IEM connector level too. The IEM connectors that I have are 2-Pin Standard, but they are compatible with IEMs that use a 2-Pin recessed connector too, as I am currently using them with both standard 2-Pin IEMs and with Recessed 2-Pin IEMs as well.
The full list of IEMs that I paired the Luminox Audio Rubeus with includes BQEYZ Winter, Spirit Torino Twin Pulse Beryllium, YanYin Canon II, Sondz Avant, ThieAudio Hype2, Letshuoer Cadenza 12. The sources used for today’s review include FiiO Q15, HIFIMAN x Golden Wave Serenade, HIDIZS S9 PRO Plus Martha, FiiO K9 PRO ESS, and Hiby R3 II Gen 2. Since the version I am using has a 4.4mm Balanced connector, I always used the balanced output of the source in question, and I’ve been pairing the Luminox Audio Rubeus with a good number of IEMs and sources over a long period of time to get the best idea of how it sounds like. There are no issues with the cable that I can mention, it works as intended, and is of a good quality, with no visible glue or parts that stick out where they shouldn’t, and no paint came off during my usage of it.
Sound Quality
The general signature of the Luminox Audio Rubeus is clean, slightly warm, slightly smooth and slightly dark, with a slightly boomy bass presentation, a warm midrange and a warm treble with full extension and no roll off. The transient response and texture presentation is clean, natural and pleasurable, as Luminox Audio Rubeus takes the edge off aggressive music, but leaves in the resolution, clarity and details, improving the soundstage width, depth and allowing for a better instrument separation. Overall, this is a cable that can relax a sound, smooth it out, and make it more enjoyable without reducing the pure resolution that the IEMs or the source has.
Starting with the bass, Rubeus tends to have a really strong sub bass, bass and mid bass. While the sub bass will sound strong, Rubeus doesn’t change it enough to be overly noticeable, but it adds bass up to around 180 – 250 hz, so it has a rather strong warming effect, especially on bass guitars and a bit on voices, creating a slight effect of added boom on music, thus the added boominess. The bass is well defined still, and it has a nuanced expression.
Luminox Audio designed a midrange that has a warmer, more lush presentation, but this doesn’t blunt off the upper midrange, instead allowing guitars, female voices and pianos to stay emotional, present and juicy in textures. A wet texture usually indicates a slightly slower Transient response, making all music easier to listen to and enjoy, and Rubeus is a relaxed sounding cable which will take the edge off all instruments, instead giving them space, a smoother texture, and allowing musical notes to be played more like live music than a digital recording.
To pair with the smoother, relaxed midrange, we have an airy, bright and brilliant treble, which also applies this slightly smoothing effect to the transients, taking some of the sharpness and edge off the treble, but leaving in all of the extension, air and energy. This makes the soundstage wide, holographic, and deep, as Rubeus allows the sound to happen, not constraining it in any way. Overall, it is a cable with a high resolution, it reveals details nicely and brings a bit of character to music.
Comparisons
Luminox Audio Rubeus vs STE Cu W16 (230 USD vs 400 USD)
The build of the STE CU W16 is a bit too rigid, although somehow it is slightly more flexible than the AG version, both are fairly rigid, and changing the material they are made of mid way is not a great idea as you get microphonics from the textile covered part of the cable, but the PVC coating above won’t conduct microphonic noise. The length of W16 is a bit short for me, while Rubeus feels more natural, the flexibility of Cu W16 helps a lot with the comfort.
Sonically, Cu W16 is the closest cable to the Rubeus, both have a warming effect, and both leave the treble pretty much untouched, although Rubeus sounds boomier, adds a bit more warmth, while Cu W16 tends to sound deeper and with a slightly more definition. Given the difference in price, and the fact that Rubeus is more comfortable, I would recommend it, makes for a more compelling offer. As far as I know, STE might actually have closed, so it is likely that you can only find the Rubeus and order it new at this moment.
Luminox Audio Rubeus vs Effect Audio EVO 1 (230 USD vs 440 USD)
Effect Audio EVO 1 is more solid than Rubeus, both having sturdier cable structure, but also having a less flexible build. This creates more microphonic noise during wear, and Evo 1 has almost solid ear guides, creating problems during wear, while Rubeus has no ear guides at all, it is not tangle prone, and has a flexible build, the ergonomics being better with the Rubeus. There are places where Evo 1 is looser in the soldering, as you can at certain points see bits of cable and space between the solder points, while that does not happen with the Luminox Rubeus.
Sonically, Rubeus sounds smoother, warmer, deeper, and with a boomier, fuller bass. Evo 1 sounds dry, textured, and can emphasize texture / resolution, at the cost of being more aggressive and getting fatiguing in the midrange. The treble of Rubeus extends more in the high-end, with more air and sparkle, Evo 1 sounds flatter, and also narrower, but smoother in the treble, and with a drier bass, which has a lot of texture, and a faster transient response, while Rubeus sounds slower and prolongs the decay and the attack of each musical note, resulting in a more mellow, relaxed sound. Overall, Evo 1 is a cable to emphasize a mellow midrange and create the feeling of detail and resolution for IEMs where that’s lacking, while Rubeus warms up, relaxes, keeps things airy, deep and well separated. Evo 1 has a tuning that would work specifically with some IEMs, while Rubeus would work well with most IEMs, as long as they’re not slow and warm already.
Luminox Audio Rubeus vs STE AG W16 (230 USD vs 580 USD)
The construction of STE AG W16 is more solid, but it is a thicker, less flexible cable that I am having a hard time using often, because as it changes texture mid way, so from textile to PVC, you feel that and as the textile material brushes against your clothes, it can induce some microphonic noise, being less ideal than Rubeus, which has a soft, tight braiding, more efficiently eliminating brushing / microphonic noise and effect. The STE plugs and jacks are more solid, but also heavier, resulting in a cable that pulls down on your earphones, while Rubeus is more comfortable, keeping things more ergonomic.
Sonically, Rubeus is warmer sounding, with a boomier sound, adding more mid bass and a bit of scatter, with a looser transient response and smoothing out aliasing effects and artifacts, basically making textures softer and easier to enjoy, while STE is focused on the resolution. Both cables tend to increase the width of the soundstage, but Rubeus increases the depth too, creating distance between you and the singer, while STE AG 16 flattens the soundstage and widens it, creating a wide, but flat image. Instrument separation is great on both, but as Rubeus gives more depth, it creates a more convincing image of each instrument than STE AG W16. Given the price difference, it is easier to recommend the Rubeus, and if you have a bright IEM you want warmed up, it is the better solution, but if your IEMs are already warm and thick / smooth, STE AG W16 can fix that.
Value and Conclusion
With a meager price point of 230 USD, Luminx Audio Rubeus is a neat way of improving your listening experience, adding some more extra warmth, mid bass, and keeping things clean and crisp, increasing the soundstage size and making your music a bit more dynamic, the price / performance ratio being excellent for an aftermarket cable. Although aftermarket cables in audio are notoriously known for being pricey, Luminox Audio sets the record straight with their Rubeus, giving us a product which is of a good quality, and can improve the performance of your flagship, warming it up for less than what most sources cost.
At the end of the day, if you want to make your listening rig prettier, if you want to add a bit of warmth and bass to the sound, and if you like high dynamics and a soundstage, Luminox Audio Rubeus is a fully recommended purchase today and a cable I will happily be using for more reviews as well.
Product Link
You can grab one from www.amazon.com here – https://amzn.to/49MALbY
You can grab one from Luminox Audio here – https://luminoxaudio.com/shop/p/rubeus
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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