LampizatOr - Any Golden Atlantic, Amber II or Atlantic dac users here? or other recommendations ...
- Thread starter joeinid
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Paul
Senior Member
Mainly, I choose the GA due to size of the unit. The Big 7 or GG are way over sized in my opinion. Also , as I experienced the Lumin A1 is sounds bit more analog than S1 and I heard the GA is as well over GG. Hope I made the right choice [emoji4]
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That's the statement I was making above. If you place one dac (GA) next to another (lumin) and one sounds more analog than the other, one can't do much about the lesser sounding one. It is what is. But if GG is the lesser sounding one, you can transform it. Usually within the hour If you have the tubes at hand. If your GA sounded more analog than the GG, the GG had a match issue that can be easily handled. If the GA had a match issue it can't.
like joeinid, i am in research mode and have been closely following this thread. i have also crawled all over the lampizatOr website and read all the reviews i could find... of the three models specified:
> i think the A+ is probably the best choice - mostly from a cost vs spec/feature perspective. seems that the A+ provides most of the lampizatOr magic at ~1/2 the cost of the GA. also, i would think it is at a price point where it could be readily sold used when/if an upgrade is ever considered, which is a big plus.
> depending upon needs and preferences, i would think that one might outgrow the amber 2 pretty quicky.
> the GA is an interesting choice and i would be tempted to go there, however, if one is allowed to go off-menu i would opt for the big-7 instead. it is more or less the same price as the GA but the ability to tube-roll is a huge plus for me. on the downside, it is not much smaller than a grand piano an i would have trouble finding space for it.
any higher up in the lampizatOr product stack makes the decision much harder as at that price point other dacs that must then be put in the mix - nagra, brinkmann, etc.
...all of which brings me back the the A+. for my needs and preferences, it hits sweet spot in the lampizatOr line - i think.
only question now is which color button on the faceplate? i would lean toward amber.
> i think the A+ is probably the best choice - mostly from a cost vs spec/feature perspective. seems that the A+ provides most of the lampizatOr magic at ~1/2 the cost of the GA. also, i would think it is at a price point where it could be readily sold used when/if an upgrade is ever considered, which is a big plus.
> depending upon needs and preferences, i would think that one might outgrow the amber 2 pretty quicky.
> the GA is an interesting choice and i would be tempted to go there, however, if one is allowed to go off-menu i would opt for the big-7 instead. it is more or less the same price as the GA but the ability to tube-roll is a huge plus for me. on the downside, it is not much smaller than a grand piano an i would have trouble finding space for it.
any higher up in the lampizatOr product stack makes the decision much harder as at that price point other dacs that must then be put in the mix - nagra, brinkmann, etc.
...all of which brings me back the the A+. for my needs and preferences, it hits sweet spot in the lampizatOr line - i think.
only question now is which color button on the faceplate? i would lean toward amber.
Actually, at a lower price point there might be competing dacs. At a higher price point there are none as far as I am concerned.
And Lukasz posted on FB he is experimenting with the 845, and that is his favorite valve for the dac so far. I won't be surprised if he ends up with 212 valves one day.
And Lukasz posted on FB he is experimenting with the 845, and that is his favorite valve for the dac so far. I won't be surprised if he ends up with 212 valves one day.
Christophs
New member
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- Sep 21, 2016
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Maybe a GG might be the right choice
Excellent choice.
But I would opt for the GG2 (even though I haven't heard that one myself)
I know A+, GA and GG from several direct comparisons in my systems and in other systems.
Each of the 3 DACs is absolutely excellent bang for the buck at their respective price point.
I would always chose the R2R engine over the chip based PCM and I would add the chipless DSD512 engine if funds permit.
If DSD is your preferred format and you are on a budget, I would ditch the R2R/PCM and only order the chipless DSD512 engine as this one sounds quite a bit better than the DSD part of the combo R2R engine.
Someone with GG budget does not have to choose between both engines. And while the chipless DSD has it's own magic, I love a lot of the native PCM. Also both engines have a different gain. Certain music sounds better native, certain Upsampled. Have both. DSD is only 500 euro or so more
- Thread Author
- #49
Thank you!
Does anyone have an ultimate preference for single-ended or balanced GG2? Or should I ask does one sound better given everything else equal? I am leaning towards balanced myself but could go either way.
Does anyone have an ultimate preference for single-ended or balanced GG2? Or should I ask does one sound better given everything else equal? I am leaning towards balanced myself but could go either way.
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Single ended. Unless you are extremely loaded and can willing to spend rolling quads. Please understand. The tube roll tu match your gear is essential. If you get in a balanced and just play it for a supposed lower noise floor out really won't help Unless you optimize by the tube rolls.
It is very important to understand why we are so energized about Lampi over four years. Because it keeps transforming every few months. You find a recti or an output tube that breaks new levels every few months. This is very difficult to achieve in a balanced dac. Eventually you might get bored of listening to the same dac or find something better, if you don't have the ability to change it
It is very important to understand why we are so energized about Lampi over four years. Because it keeps transforming every few months. You find a recti or an output tube that breaks new levels every few months. This is very difficult to achieve in a balanced dac. Eventually you might get bored of listening to the same dac or find something better, if you don't have the ability to change it
i can definitely see your logic in that line of thinking... to help guide the research of those following this thread, which are the lower price point dacs with a tube output stage that deserve comparison to the lampizatOrs and further investigation?
the very high end lampizatOrs might well be in class of their own. its just at that price i would want to turn over all the rocks so as to be confident with the end decision.
I have done shootouts with Nagra, MSB select II, vivaldi, esoteric and the 40k Aries cerat.
I have not done compares of Atlantic to lower priced dacs but there are many.
My second digital choice is Neodio origine which is mainly a CD player, though it has an USB input. We compared it to trinity, 75k stahltek transport, etc. It sells factory direct for 15k Euro plus vat
My point still.. You can get another dac, say aqua formula, and you can place it next to GA. Maybe in your system it will sound better, maybe it won't. You can't do anything about the one sounding less. I have had shootouts with GG with other dacs where with one valve it sounded less so I simply switched, 2 mins, to make it sound much better.
This is exactly what analogphiles do all day long. They change arm, cart, etc to get their stuff to Sound good. Digital people miss a trick here. I visit fellow Lampi audiophiles and some haven't heard their GG properly yet. Nothing changes in dacs except the addition of externalities such as cables and isolation. With GG you can change am important integral part of the dac.
As an analog analogy, the Allnic 3000 phono lost out easily to half priced Zesto. I posted that on another forum and Myles Astor suggested I swap rectifiers. A few months later I did so at a friend's and we both were stunned by the improvement. So I went back to the first place of trial a year later and forget the zesto, the Allnic also took out the Trulife phono that was almost twice it's price. The dealer was stunned. He hadn't realized how powerful a 300 quid recti could be
I have not done compares of Atlantic to lower priced dacs but there are many.
My second digital choice is Neodio origine which is mainly a CD player, though it has an USB input. We compared it to trinity, 75k stahltek transport, etc. It sells factory direct for 15k Euro plus vat
My point still.. You can get another dac, say aqua formula, and you can place it next to GA. Maybe in your system it will sound better, maybe it won't. You can't do anything about the one sounding less. I have had shootouts with GG with other dacs where with one valve it sounded less so I simply switched, 2 mins, to make it sound much better.
This is exactly what analogphiles do all day long. They change arm, cart, etc to get their stuff to Sound good. Digital people miss a trick here. I visit fellow Lampi audiophiles and some haven't heard their GG properly yet. Nothing changes in dacs except the addition of externalities such as cables and isolation. With GG you can change am important integral part of the dac.
As an analog analogy, the Allnic 3000 phono lost out easily to half priced Zesto. I posted that on another forum and Myles Astor suggested I swap rectifiers. A few months later I did so at a friend's and we both were stunned by the improvement. So I went back to the first place of trial a year later and forget the zesto, the Allnic also took out the Trulife phono that was almost twice it's price. The dealer was stunned. He hadn't realized how powerful a 300 quid recti could be