I have a balanced GG1 w/ VC I recently upgraded to GG3. It feeds via
XLR an Allnic L8000 pre-amp. I have the GG volume at max and control with the Allnic. It sounds glorious. I have had no issues. Can you describe the problem (s).
Holo May KTE vs. Lampizator Atlantic 3 TRP vs. Mola Mola Tambaqui
I've had months of ear time with all 3 of these extraordinary DACs. Holo and Lampi I own, and Mola Mola was borrowed from a friend. My thoughts:
All 3 of these DACs amazed me in different ways, and are a serious step up from the Denafrips and Oppo DACs I previously had in my systems.
Mola Mola Tambaqui - This is the most detailed DAC of the 3. It has a way of being hyper-detailed without a trace of sibilance. It opened my eyes to how a DAC can drastically improve the 3D holographic nature of sound. Ultimately though, I did find long listening sessions fatiguing. This may have been a result of a the mediocre streaming setup I was running at the time (cheap Intel NUC running Roon).
Holo May KTE - I fell in love with this component within minutes of plugging it in. It was preowned and already broken in. I can crank the volume without being bothered by high frequencies. The weighty bottom end made it seem like I upgraded my amplifiers, my guess is this was a result of the overbuilt monster of an external power supply. Most importantly, the feel of the music and the natural tones got me so much closer to the music, in the same way vinyl does for me. This thing is a tank and has given me trouble free operation nearly all year, staying powered up 24/7. Immense value with this DAC, highly recommended.
Lampizator Atlantic 3 TRP - After unsuccessfully trying to buy this DAC on the used market, I turned to Lampizator NA to purchase new. It was a good experience and Rob ensured everything went smoothly and answered my technical questions. When I received the unit and got it running, the sound was atrocious, the worst component I've ever tested, cheese grater to the ear drums bad. I kept it powered up for weeks and it slowly got better. But still something was missing. I rolled the stock tubes with some Siemens F2As I purchased from a former Atlantic owner (he moved to Poseidon). Instantly the soundstage got huge and lush and I was hooked. This took it to a new level of analog-like sound. I often would forget I was listening to digital, I was just listening and enjoying. Later I tried Tesla EL51 tubes and added a Sophia Electric 274B Aqua II rectifier. These aren't quite as magic in the mids as the Siemens, but they improve bass impact and have beautiful sparkly highs.
In conclusion, the Lampi wins overall due to it's realistic analog sound and holographic nature. The Holo May gets pretty close but in subtle ways reveals a small amount of digital etch, very subtle. The Lampi comes with a lot of trial and error however, finding the right tubes that work for you, with the correct adapters. The unit I ordered is balanced and has volume control. The volume control is okay, but has caused issues feeding an external preamp, which I'm still trying to sort out. If I could go back I would forgo the volume control, and would save money getting a single-ended unit instead of balanced. Single-ended uses 2 output tubes, balanced uses 4.
Getting a proper streamer (Innuos) has made drastic improvements to my system as well. I now believe a great streamer is just as important as a great DAC.
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The Lampi sacrificed detail to get you a "analog" sound. Put your files through the Daniel Hertz master class software. Thereafter, put it through the Mola Mola. Now, you will suddenly have all kinds of detail and your beloved "analog" sound together!
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Great to hear you’re enjoying your TRP3- it’s a wonderful dac. I own the Golden Atlantic TRP 3 Balanced version but opted out when it came to volume control as I already have a preamp. If I could offer some advice I would recommend moving in the direction of single triodes next. While the F2a and EL51 are great tubes (yet overly hyped) I think you’ll find that compatible triodes are overall the better performers. While have my favorite pentodes I run triodes in my dac 95% of the time. If you’d like more information see my posts on WBF’s Lampizator TRP Tube Rolling thread. Sorry to hear of your troubles sourcing adapters for the F2A’s. You’re correct when it comes to “Tubeadapter.com” AKA Xulingmrs, from what I’ve heard they are not conducting business at this time. If you’d like a couple of leads on these adapters (or tubes and adapters) send me a pm. |
@bh123 i have a Baltic 3 that was upgraded to V4 with the new "engine 11" digital section, swapped the stock tubes for the following: -Emission Labs EML274B EMM rectifier -The larger tubes behind the rectifier are RCA VT99 6F8G with adaptors to 6SN7 -The small tubes at the rear row are RCA 12BH7 Have had many DACs over the years but this one set up the way i have it now is by FAR the most analog sounding and comparable to my beloved Linn LP12 Selekt with Grado Reference3 MI cart. Agree the streamer/transport is of equal importance as well as the entire chain from the outlet through to streamer/transport. I have spend $$$ on that chain optimizing - if you can, go fiber optic, a big leap forward in search of the "black background" nirvana. |
@rikkipuu That's what folks do, set the Lampi DAC volume to 0 dB to effectively bypass the internal preamp. Indeed, that's what Rob told me to do. When doing this into PrimaLuna EVO400 preamp, the bass falls apart and sounds like a blown woofer, highs become shrill and unlistenable, everything in between loses its magic. I also attempted a Pass Labs integrated with the same result. But running DAC straight to amp everything is perfectly fine. I gave this feedback to Rob and sent a video of the issue. He checked with technical and they came back with "sounds like you're overdriving the external preamp" and nothing else. I'm stuck, because I'd like to run an external preamp. @deep_333 Maybe, I don't know. What I strive for is emotional engagement with the music. Vinyl and digital with the Lampi get me there better than other things I've tried. So I don't notice or miss the "loss of detail" if any. I also prefer wood thin-walled speaker cabinets over ultra-damped exotic cabinets. @designsfx now you're going to send me down another rabbit hole!!! Appreciate the tip and I'll definitely check out your thread. @kairosman You've got that Baltic dialed in. Next year I'll go all out with cleaning up my network. Thanks for the tip on fiber optic. I'm in discussion with Lucas Domansky on a new server and he said he would give recommendations on associated network gear. |
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