Lampizator Big 7 Review

[bmoura]

Thanks Paul, but credit must go to Gopher who reached out to me to contact you, given that you had no local place in Toronto to demo a units. Gopher was busy with Axpona wrap up activities, but recalled that you lamented not being able to hear one and all worked out for the best in a unique and serendipitous circumstance. Very happy for you.

That's a great success story. And adding a Big 7 to your system, I'm sure you must be having a great weekend now!

 

[socfan12]

Congrats, Paul. I know you go after a sound that involves you emotionally and the Lampi ticks that box. That Lampi must be real special. Congrats my friend!:congrats:

 

[Alrainbow]

Congrats ����

 

[MDP]

Congrats Paul :congrats:

 

[Elberoth]

(...) this product sounds like the Shindo/Kondo/Wavac kind of sounds quality. (...)

This is one of the most accurate Lampi descriptions I've came across. Spot on.

BTW - congrats !

 

[Mike]

This is one of the most accurate Lampi descriptions I've came across. Spot on.

BTW - congrats !

Yup. That's what I mentioned in my review. I love what it brought to my system. What I kept thinking about, was "now, what kind of audiophile wouldn't like what the Lampi brings to the table?" I think MAYBE the type of person who talks about truth to source and uncolored sound and the like. I wondered if the guy who has Magico Q7, Soulution 700 amps, Nordost cabling, etc. would like it. Maybe, maybe not...but he probably needs it! LOL.

 

[Mike]

A lot of people are wondering how my Lampizator Golden Gate stacks up against the Big 7 I had the privilege of reviewing. I want to give the GG a lot more time, and I'm still experimenting with different tubes. I've ordered the same tubes Jerry has so we can create a level playing field. I would say, at this point, it is certainly as good/great. Whether it's gains outweigh its cost difference remains to be seen and will depend solely on the guy at the end writing the check. For those out there building a cost-no-object world class system, I think they are well aware of what that last 1-2% costs. With the Big 7 or GG and given the current digital formats (PCM and DSD), I think both achieve a new plateau of sonic greatness for the digital aficionado. I could see me only upgrading my GG to the balanced version once it's more refined and upgrading to MQA capabilities once/if that becomes available. Yes, I was highly impressed with the MQA demo.

 

[bonzo]

I would disagree on calling it Shindo/Kondo/wavac kind of sound. The reason is that rightly or wrongly, such sounds are associated with colored, beautiful midrange, some positives, and then maybe less bass than SS. Having recently heard the Shindo pre, second from the top, I consider it to be more in this category. Kondo I have heard the M7, but have also heard that the M7, M77, and M1000 are very different preamps. Wavac has a very wide price range. So few would really make the right associations that the reviewer intended to make from reading that statement, and would probably end up associating it with the strawman valve vs SS arguments.

I find that Lampi can do some SS things better than SS dacs, like speed, slam and detail on classical which don't come out in these associations. Just My O.

 

[Mike]

I would disagree on calling it Shindo/Kondo/wavac kind of sound. The reason is that rightly or wrongly, such sounds are associated with colored, beautiful midrange, some positives, and then maybe less bass than SS. Having recently heard the Shindo pre, second from the top, I consider it to be more in this category. Kondo I have heard the M7, but have also heard that the M7, M77, and M1000 are very different preamps. Wavac has a very wide price range. So few would really make the right associations that the reviewer intended to make, and would probably end up associating it with the strawman valve vs SS arguments.

I find that Lampi can do some SS things better than SS dacs, like speed, slam and detail on classical which don't come out in these associations. Just My O.

Yup, you're definitely entitled to your opinion. But I stand by my observations. The issue with all these DAC's is that they sound more of the same than different - like comparing different types of apples. The Lampizator is like comparing an apple to a diamond and the best way Paul and I can describe its sonic variance for those who have never heard one is liking a Shindo or Kondo amp to a Classe or Bryston.

The point isn't whether the Lampi has speed, slam or detail - it does - but so do many great tube amps.


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[Alpinist]

Yup, you're definitely entitled to your opinion. But I stand by my observations. The issue with all these DAC's is that they sound more of the same than different - like comparing different types of apples. The Lampizator is like comparing an apple to a diamond and the best way Paul and I can describe its sonic variance for those who have never heard one is liking a Shindo or Kondo amp to a Classe or Bryston.

The point isn't whether the Lampi has speed, slam or detail - it does - but so do many great tube amps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mike,

It's definitely going to be a tough decision when I add DSD to my system next year. In one corner we have the balanced Lampi B7/GG and in the other corner we have the Esoteric K-01X. So I would keep my K-01 and add a balanced B7/GG or sell my K-01 and upgrade to a K-01X. Decisions decisions!

Ken

 

[FlexibleAudio]

Mike,

It's definitely going to be a tough decision when I add DSD to my system next year. In one corner we have the balanced Lampi B7/GG and in the other corner we have the Esoteric K-01X. So I would keep my K-01 and add a balanced B7/GG or sell my K-01 and upgrade to a K-01X. Decisions decisions!

Ken

Ken, That will be a fun decision. If the K-01X is better than the Lampi it will really be something. On another point, as mentioned before Cyril believes in dual mono, unbalanced design at the pre-amp level. Are you planning to keep the 520? Below from his 520 Highlights:


[h=2]Design[/h]Unbalanced design ensures the fewest components in the signal path. Physical separation of the left and right channel provides optimal separation and cross talk performance.

 

[Paul]

Mike,

It's definitely going to be a tough decision when I add DSD to my system next year. In one corner we have the balanced Lampi B7/GG and in the other corner we have the Esoteric K-01X. So I would keep my K-01 and add a balanced B7/GG or sell my K-01 and upgrade to a K-01X. Decisions decisions!

Ken

Decision decision...I bet it will be completely different sounds

 

[bonzo]

Ken, That will be a fun decision. If the K-01X is better than the Lampi it will really be something. On another point, as mentioned before Cyril believes in dual mono, unbalanced design at the pre-amp level. Are you planning to keep the 520?

I already did this comparison in two systems. In both systems both the owners and I preferred the Lampi. The first system is without the 10MHz clock, the second is with. The first system has a Shindo pre, second from top, Shindo monos, and high end Audio Note speakers with external crossovers. Here, it was a no contest. Preferred the Lampi on each and every attribute, by far, when we used the Esoteric as transport into the Lampi via a low end spdif. When the Esoteric was replaced by a noisy mac air, we lost a lot but was still better than the esoteric alone.

Also tried the Lampi direct into the Shindo power amps. Without the Shindo pre the sound was cleaner and faster, but the pre had more body and weight, though more colored. I preferred the pre marginally. Pre is also quieter

 

[bonzo]

The second system had the clock. With the clock, the performance of the K01 just shoots up. Now it was close. The soundstage without the clock loses a lot. The owner told me he thinks without the clock it is 40 - 50% less. Frankly, here i couldn't prefer one over the other. The owner preferred the Lampi. He lives local to me here in London. If one of the Esoteric owners wanted to chat with him, I could put you over. The owner of the above Shindo gear and I are primarily classical and opera, while this owner is non-classical. He also has Tara Cobalts, which we found excellent on the Lampi. Here the Esoteric was used as a transport to the Lampi, but a noisy mac air we lost more than with the esoteric and clock, unlike above.

All comparisons are PCM

No pre was used when the Lampi was in the mix

 

[Alpinist]

Ken, That will be a fun decision. If the K-01X is better than the Lampi it will really be something. On another point, as mentioned before Cyril believes in dual mono, unbalanced design at the pre-amp level. Are you planning to keep the 520? Below from his 520 Highlights:


Design

Unbalanced design ensures the fewest components in the signal path. Physical separation of the left and right channel provides optimal separation and cross talk performance.

Hi Paul,

Right now, I am using the balanced (XLR) connection between my Soulution 520 preamp and 501 amps. Are you saying that hooking up a single-ended Lampi B7 via RCA connectors to the 520 preamp will sound superior to a balanced Lampi B7 connected to the 520 preamp via XLR connectors?

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Alpinist]

The second system had the clock. With the clock, the performance of the K01 just shoots up. Now it was close. The soundstage without the clock loses a lot. The owner told me he thinks without the clock it is 40 - 50% less. Frankly, here i couldn't prefer one over the other. The owner preferred the Lampi. He lives local to me here in London. If one of the Esoteric owners wanted to chat with him, I could put you over. The owner of the above Shindo gear and I are primarily classical and opera, while this owner is non-classical. He also has Tara Cobalts, which we found excellent on the Lampi. Here the Esoteric was used as a transport to the Lampi, but a noisy mac air we lost more than with the esoteric and clock, unlike above.

No pre was used when the Lampi was in the mix

Thanks Bonzo,

The nice thing about the K-01 and the K-01X is the opportunity to add the G-01 clock at some point in the future and really boost its performance. I like this as an option. But I also love what Lampi is doing with DSD and think it would be a great addition to my system. Keeping the K-01 for PCM and adding the Lampi B7/GG for DSD would not be a bad thing at all. The K-01 performance is absolutely tremendous on PCM.

Best,
Ken

 

[Alpinist]

Decision decision...I bet it will be completely different sounds

Hi Paul,

Exactly! I already have the Esoteric sound in PCM with the K-01. And it sounds amazing. Adding the Lampi B7/GG for DSD could give me an entirely different sound. Since I'm a purely digital guy, this would be my analog.

Best,
Ken

 

[Paul]

Hi Paul,

Exactly! I already have the Esoteric sound in PCM with the K-01. And it sounds amazing. Adding the Lampi B7/GG for DSD could give me an entirely different sound. Since I'm a purely digital guy, this would be my analog.

Best,
Ken

I had a K05 and I'm sure your K01 is another league but with my experience the K05 couldn't touch the Big7. Not even close. Hope you get a chance to hear them in your system. [emoji106]

 

[bonzo]

I had a K05 and I'm sure your K01 is another league but with my experience the K05 couldn't touch the Big7. Not even close. Hope you get a chance to hear them in your system. [emoji106]

Read my K01 review above, it couldn't either. With the clock I thought it was close, but the owner preferred the 7. And this is on PCM

 

[Paul]

Read my K01 review above, it couldn't either. With the clock I thought it was close, but the owner preferred the 7. And this is on PCM

Thank you bonzo. Yeah I read your post and your friend has a dream system which I love. However I just didn't want to say something I haven't heard. Also who knows we all have a different taste so some might find better with Esoteric. To me they sounds ( again with K05 ) too analytical and last me only 2 months in my rig.