Anyone with recent Lampizator experience?

[msimanyi]

I'm strongly considering a Lampizator Atlantic 3 TRP DAC. I'm curious if anyone on this forum has relatively recent experience with Lampizator DACs. The key changes on the Atlantic were released Q3 2022, so earlier than that might be useful to hear about too, but the more recent the better.

Apparently there's a new "digital engine" (the digital side of the DAC) called Engine 11, which trickled down from their Horizon DAC and in fact was just incorporated in their Baltic DAC as well (positioned one step below The Atlantic.)

If anyone has positive or negative commentary, I'd appreciate hearing it.

 

[Ronin]

I have had a couple of Lampi's. Amber ans Baltic. It was a while back but no complaints at all. Definetly a niche company but I was able to email with question and got responses next day- from the owner I belive. Very good sound. I would call it "smooth detail". I used it at the time with a Pass amp and it worked marvelously. If you had an Issue, getting it fixed could be a problem with shipping. I have since stuck with "local" products where I can and just don't do tubes at all anymore as (for me anyway) SS components work as well such as dcs or Chord.... As I mentioned though, email support, operation and sound was very good. Best of luck

 

[msimanyi]

Thanks Ronin. The team at Lampizator North America have been quite helpful and explained how any returns would be processed if I want to repair, update or upgrade the unit. I'm moving forward with it under the assumption it won't need frequent shipments to Poland...

 

[msimanyi]

Following up on this: I did make the decision to order their Atlantic 3 TRP (fully balanced option, no volume control.) The US distributors (lampizator.com) offer a 7-day trial period, and they extended it a few days so I'd have two weekends to install it and start the break-in process.

Short version: this DAC has exceeded my hopes. It is incredibly revealing without being harsh, and I've never heard my system sound so smooth, detailed and involving. The sense of body for instruments and vocals is simply wonderful, and brass, strings, cymbals and voices keep impressing me with their recreations.

Longer version:

The tubes provided from the factory had some sort of issue, but they've taken care of that. It's likely broken in now, and I changed out the signal tubes to a different set with stunning results. Break-in supposedly takes up to a couple hundred hours, but that can be done without the amps on.

I'm feeding it from a Grimm MU1 streamer. That only outputs via AES, and the technical configuration of AES means that it can handle up to 24/192 but no higher. That's fine for me, as the Grimm upsamples and reclocks, and Lampizator says it *can* handle it if the front end is up to the task.

I understand the Baltic 3 is supposed to be outstanding too. It's a bit more cost-effective and still permits tube rolling. I've never heard one, but if it's anything like the Atlantic (and I suspect it is), the "life" in the music is addictive. If I sit down and start listening, I may very well be there until 1:00 am or later.

If you're looking for a DAC and these fit your budget, you could do far worse than something in the Lampizator line. I think if I won the Lotto, I'd buy their flagship Horizon in a heartbeat.

 

[Tosh]

Pretty sure Lampie himself is a member over at diyaudio.com if that helps?

 

[Big Dog RJ]

The Lampizator line of gear is superb! They make some very special DACs, and well worth the money spent.
At the time I was looking to upgrade from my McIntosh digital player, I narrowed down a short list of three units. One of those was a Lampi. It was superb on stats and really has that full bodied sound to it, absolutely nothing lacking.

The only thing that was bothering me is that my entire system is tube based. So I really didn't want to add more tooobs... not knowing which one goes bad or needs replacing when time's up, and that's the annoying thing for, since I'm not getting any younger. I have used tube digital gear in the past, CJ, Cary and ARC and they were fine but didn't quite last too long in tropical climes, not sure.

Anyway, this time round I opted for SS, and ended up with Esoteric digital gear. Although Esoteric is mighty fine, I really would have loved to have settled on a Lampi DAC. Can still get one and use the Eso as a transport, mmm... now there's a thought.

Enjoy those very fine tunes!
Woof! RJ

 

[msimanyi]

Thanks RJ! I totally get it. I'm largely SS with a small smattering of tubes. (The PS Audio M1200s have a tube input, and obviously the Lampi DAC.)

I continue to be wowed by this product, especially in combination with the Grimm MU1. I keep telling myself "go to bed", but then listen to four more songs. Pretty soon it's 1:00 am and I'm falling asleep where I sit...

 

[Big Dog RJ]

Thanks RJ! I totally get it. I'm largely SS with a small smattering of tubes. (The PS Audio M1200s have a tube input, and obviously the Lampi DAC.)

I continue to be wowed by this product, especially in combination with the Grimm MU1. I keep telling myself "go to bed", but then listen to four more songs. Pretty soon it's 1:00 am and I'm falling asleep where I sit...

Now that's enjoying the music!
Good stuff mate
Cheers, RJ