Lampizator Big 7 Review

wisnon said:
...now that my system is finally stable.
Click to expand...

What's that like?

Well hello Norman. Nice to see you back here. I hope you enjoyed my review. Thanks to Jerry for having a little faith.

Speaking of Jerry, he was texting me last night. He finally tried the 101d's and finally tried the Lampi direct into his Pass XS150's (using the Lampi as the preamp). I will let him share his thoughts on both.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Alrainbow said:
Good morning mike. I actually do not have a favorite setup. It varies for my systems and headphones. The elrog 300b. They are the most detailed 300b tube I have or have heard. Next up would be the globes . But they are unobtainable even though I have three pairs . The recti,s. Are as important as the drivers. So try a few and of rme it's the Sophia but I have the ps vane on order it's a Westinghouse replica . The air force ones that are great in my amp are not in the lampi. Again this is my observation and if there is any one word for lampi to coin it's unique and I mean this as individual for each of us. The dac has something that each of us that we will learns to like . Of the 6A3 the sylvania green base and the tungsol black are very good. But most of the 6A3 have the sound of them with slight variations. The 101D I have are the metal base. And there is a difference from the white base ones. On a system that needs the most details and still has a good bottom end they are great tubes. Very clean but they must be in the right setup to shine. Oh yes one last tube Sophia makes a 300B carbon. It's nice but rolls off the top. So try but do not buy . Also a grewt tube is the we300b ps vane I use this in my woo also it's very clean sounding.
Al
Click to expand...

Al what's the difference between ceramic, white base, and metal base Psvane 101d replicas, in terms of SQ?
 
The review was fine and well written, but I disagree about the PCM. Your PCM module must not have been broken in yet...plus I have a older B7, so not identical to Jerry's.

Jerry was always gonna loan you his dac, so no surprise there. You somehow seem to think I didnt want you to review it? I always knew what the Lampi magic was about, so would be the last person to be surprised. I am glad you now see what I have been prattling on about for so long...

Now the next thing is to do some serious tube rolling...real serious rabbit hole.

I have 10 pairs of output tubes and 11 different rectis...overwhelming!
 
wisnon said:
The review was fine, but i disagree about the PCM. Yours must not have been broken in yet...plus I have a older B7, so not identical to Jerry's.

Jerry was always gonna loan you his dac, so no surprise there. You somehow seem to think I didnt want you to review it? I always knew what the Lampi magic was about, so would be the last person to be surprised. i am glad you now see what I have been talking about for so long...

Now the next thing is to do some serious tube rolling...real serious rabbit hole.

I have 10 pairs of output tubes and 11 different rectis...overwhelming!
Click to expand...

Same here. I haven't heard the BADA or Al's MSB, but the Lampi PCM is the best I have heard. CDPs included. The fact that the DSD is better is a different point. I have heard the Lumin multiple times and it is a good smooth player for convenience, but more Lampi 3 or 4 comparable for sonics, far less the B7
 
I would love to hear Jerry's Lampi again once he feels the PCM is broken in and if he feels it surpasses his BADA. That being said, let's remember, I had to review the actual, not the potential. Don't read too much into it. The Lampi is a fabulous all around performer and for someone looking for a great DAC, it should be very high on their list.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
bonzo said:
Same here. I haven't heard the BADA or Al's MSB, but the Lampi PCM is the best I have heard. CDPs included. The fact that the DSD is better is a different point. I have heard the Lumin multiple times and it is a good smooth player for convenience, but more Lampi 3 or 4 comparable for sonics, far less the B7
Click to expand...

I spent a full day last Summer with AL demoing the B7/MSB Platinum/Hugo and Direct stream. 6-7 hours in total. Great fun.

The Lampi PCM and MSB were ahead of the DS and HUGO and pretty close together. This was with a June 2014 B7. That same B7 has been comprehensively refreshed and AL says its even better! Plus it now has headphone out, but no headamp.

It was hard to separate the B7 and MSB, but perhaps the PCM bite was better on the MSB and the Lampi was better than the MSB for DSD. Honestly though, the PCM was so close, I felt it was a flavour thing. MSB was definitly a it more low level details, but less musical. What surprised me was how decent the MSB DSD was and how the Lampi PCM was NOT embarrassed by its DSD (as I expected). The 3rd surpised was how poor the Hugo and DS were on DSD. The DS was firmware version1.20...so no Pikes peak and no 1.21 (which improved DSD on the DS, reportedly).


Regarding the PSvane 101ds. The WE Replica is circa $550 a pair and is metal base. The white ceramic base is either the Hifi or Treasure series and costs about $170 a pair. I only have the latter...plus a vintage pair of true WE 101d (the "coke bottle" shape - ST- as opposed to the globe shape which is either brown or metal base).
 
Mike said:
I would love to hear Jerry's Lampi again once he feels the PCM is broken in and if he feels it surpasses his BADA. That being said, let's remember, I had to review the actual, not the potential. Don't read too much into it. The Lampi is a fabulous all around performer and for someone looking for a great DAC, it should be very high on their list.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Its not about the review. I think you just are being fed advice for if and when you decide to go down the Lampi rabbit hole... Personally, I would KILL for a SE GG Lampi right now. Why?

Simple, I would not have to wonder if the Gucci parts/copper case make that much of a difference (point would become moot), I would love to have the metal base PSVANE 101d as my stock tube and finally it would mean having DSD256 right now, rather then later when it can be retrofitted as an upgrade. I, like you, am a DSD junkie plus I want to upsample as high as possible with HQP with a powerful computer. JRiver sucks for upsampling and even free Foobar crushes it. JRiver is sweet for media handling, but not upsampling.

For making sure the Transport transmission is really clean to feed the Dac, there is talk that the Corning optical USB and the Uptone Audio Regen device is KILLER and simplifies things greatly at very low cost ($300 max before stepping up to a well regarded 7-9v LPSU).
 
wisnon said:
Its not about the review. I think you just are being fed advice for if and when you decide to go down the Lampi rabbit hole... Personally, I would KILL for a SE GG Lampi right now. Why?

Simple, I would not have to wonder if the Gucci parts/copper case make that much of a difference (point would become moot), I would love to have the metal base PSVANE 101d as my stock tube and finally it would mean having DSD256 right now, rather then later when it can be retrofitted as an upgrade. I, like you, am a DSD junkie plus I want to upsample as high as possible with HQP with a powerful computer. JRiver sucks for upsampling and even free Foobar crushes it. JRiver is sweet for media handling, but not upsampling.

For making sure the Transport transmission is really clean to feed the Dac, there is talk that the Corning optical USB and the Uptone Audio Regen device is KILLER and simplifies things greatly at very low cost ($300 max before stepping up to a well regarded 7-9v LPSU).
Click to expand...

Norman, no one is feeding me anything, but Jerry, Al, Andy and of course Fred and others are answering my questions if that's what you mean.

I'm sure HQP is great, but I really want a simpler solution with a matching iPad app. If I was choosing a source today it would be an Aurender for me. It might not be sonically as good as a CAPS 4 with HQP, but I'll live with that loss for the gain of simplicity and convenience.

Now, let me clarify. Is there any way to output SACD digitally from my T+A spinner to the Lampi? I don't think so, but I wanted to clarify.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Bonzo, AL and I are feeding you advice on how possibly to max out PCM on your Lampi....according to our experiee.

That what I mean. Sorry if unclear.
 
SACD has some kind of compression in it, so is not the best format reportedly and loses out to ripped SACD files.

For simplicity, I am going to try a WinBOOK 801let PC running Windows 8.1 (with AO) ouputting via full size USB to the Corning cable and Regen device then to the Dac.

Internal storage is only 32GB, but I will use 128GB micro usb loaded. So basically the OPTIMAL transport to my mind (SD Card). So no need for a iPad controller and total cost will be $150 for the Winbook (full PC) and $300 for the Corning Optical USB cable and the regen combined. The plus is that the Corning is 35ft long, so no need to be close to the Dac! If this works then it can be the dream playlist device and will play DSD 256 and above with Amanero.

Later on, I will get an Aries Deluxe and try to get Luk to tweak it with new metal chassis/choke rectified LPSU and didgi-Lampizator circuit to square up the digital signal. I think this will be a winner, though still limited to DSD128.
 
Jazzhead said:
Mike , great review ! Fascinating read . Thank you for taking the trouble . Are your views based on the new dual 256 DSD boards ?
Click to expand...

I found out I do not have those boards installed. They were not finished when I got my unit. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
 
Interesting review.

Two questions:

As tested, how much does it cost?

If someone was interested in getting one, who do they contact?
 
Hi Mauidan,

Correction: Jerry has the Big 7 ($10,500) with the volume control module ($1,150) and the DSD128 engine ($575).

Best,

Fred A.
LampizatOr North America
 
No DSD engine, as Jerry confirmed above. DSD128 is what it has, as 256 is not yet available in quantities.

Mike, I misspoke about the Aries…see today's announcement:


Wireless DSD256 streaming – Both ARIES and VEGA are getting new firmware for DSD256 playback support right now. The free new enhancement is available for existing customers. We will demonstrate some stunning original DSD256 recordings streaming wirelessly though ARIES and VEGA.
 
mauidan said:
Interesting review.

Two questions:

As tested, how much does it cost?

If someone was interested in getting one, who do they contact?
Click to expand...

I am getting set up to be a dealer in Florida soon. So anyone who wishes to hear the Big 7 can PM me and make an appointment. I will most likely be getting the much less expensive Amber dac in stock as well, so a lower price point will be available.

Jerry-
 
Gopher said:
Hi Mauidan,

Correction: Jerry has the Big 7 ($10,500) with the volume control module ($1,150) and the DSD128 engine ($575).

Best,

Fred A.
LampizatOr North America
Click to expand...

Fred,

Mahalo for the info.

I thought this thing sold fully loaded for around $5K.

Good luck with your business.
 
mauidan said:
Fred,

Mahalo for the info.

I thought this thing sold fully loaded for around $5K.

Good luck with your business.
Click to expand...

There are various levels of the dac. Your information must be regarding one of the lower levels
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top