With all the hype, I demoed a fully loaded (volume control, XLR outputs ..) Lamp L4 in my system for a week. Overall I found the sound too forward, aggressive and hard for my taste. Lukas discourages tube rolling and stock tubes (forgot the type) are rare so tough to roll.
Compared to my MW Transporter at the time using older technology, it had higher resolution and detail. Fit and finish is ok. The meter that displays volume level stopped working in the 2nd day displaying garbage. I tried everything and never got it working again.
Several months later I reluctantly demoed a PS Audio PWT MKII w/bridge and ended up purchasing/replaced the MW. Nothing beats a home demo before purchase. |
Abruce, is it French for "Bendix tubes are fabulous"? Agon is so educational. |
Wisnon, From Lampizator Transport webpage: Plays files in untouched form - full resolution. (up to 96/24) It appears Transport is no longer based on SB Duet. SB Touch? proprietary design? Any ideas? |
Sgr, how's your PWD II Bridge connected to the computer? Wired or wireless? |
Wired with CAT7 cable. Wired is the way to go. Several months ago I replaced my generic ethernet cable with AQ CAT7 and it was HUGE improvement in every parameter. If you plan to keep PWD for a second system, it's worth a try. I also find replacing the 2 fuses with HiFi-Tuning Supreme (direction back to front) was another improvement. |
When I demos Lamp a year+ ago, Lukasz discourages tube rolling and doesn't apologies for his decision. So when did Lukasz changed his tune? Customers spoke up?
L4 has potential but didn't like the stock tubes. It was too agressive and 2D. Might give another chance if I can tinker with the tubes. |
I decided to stick with the Offramp and just purchased the Dynamo power supply for the Offramp. Perhaps someday I can compare both the Lampi converter and the Offramp. Like to hear both in my system. I can't comment on the sound but the Lamp transport is a much much simpler setup. All you need is a digital cable between transport and DAC and run Logitech Media Server on ANY computer with horse power. No special drivers, power supplies ... Now if the Lamp transport buffers data before play, using wireless and generic cables will yield the same performance as wired and audiophile grade cables. I run a similar setup and prefer Logitech Media Server over eLyrics and JRiver Media Servers. For home music servers, I would run something similar to Bryston BDP-2 or ethernet. |
From Lampizator Transport web page: "MY LampizatOr Transport plays from own FIFO RAM Buffer." This is the buffer I'm asking? Does it buffer X amount or number of tracks before play starts. Without going into too much detail, I was just using JRiver, Audirvana ... as examples. |
Many members on this thread are familar with TRL Samson ... TRL SS sound. It doesn't sound like SS or tubes but just music. I tell ya, it's a superb match with the TAD E1. It's competitive with all MORE expensive SS amps I've demoed. Along with my VAC SigMKIIa, I wonder how it stacks up to Zesto and Concert Fidelity?? Look forward to the Newport Beach Show in May snd check them out.
Almost sold them last year and turns out the problem was my old EW Andra II. It's too bad Paul doesn't market his stuff. |
I heard mixed reviews of the TAD rooms. The word flat was bandied around. Not up to their normal standards. It would be news if there was no mixed reviews. When is there ever consensus in this hobby? Since there are many familiar with TRL in this thread, I just want to share how well Paul's SS amp stacks up against the BIG ticket competition. There's nothing for me to add on TAD. It's heavily reviewed by professionals and owners. The transport is a highly modified Squeezebox DUET with a tube rectified PSU and a tube SPIDF output Spec indicates 24/96, still based on Duet? Duet only supports 24/88.2. Maybe SB Touch? |
Berony, does the Lamp Transport cache/buffer data before play? A track? whole CD?
Lukasz knows his stuff. In his Lamp Transport page, he clearly explains why computer audio is superior to cd player and without saying, IF executed correctly. |
I am not sure the buffer size used by the Squeezebox driven TranspOrt. Its never been an issue with a wired or even wireless connection in my experience, but I will do some digging in case people with latency issues in their home networks have questions. It's a performance issue and not just latency. All computer buffers to enhance performance. Bryston BDP, Audirvana, JRiver ... they all buffers at least 1st track before play. If you ask Lukasz about buffering he will understand. I'm interested how much his transport buffers before play. |
Wisnon, Computers have been using buffers/cache forever to improve performance. This is true in both hardware and software. From Lamp Web Site: Once again - how can a "stupid" computer modem sound better than reputable real CD transport ? Computers are supposed to be BAD.
I will try to explain how I see it:
Just imagine: It thakes 70 minutes for the Philips CDM2-Pro mechanism to read all data from CD disk. The same amount of data is read by DVD drive in 2 minutes. Blue Ray reads it in half minute. Hard drive reads it in 4 seconds. RAM buffer reads it in less than a second. MY LampizatOr Transport plays from own FIFO RAM Buffer.
The Data from CD must be read by a laser, which constantly needs to adjust focus, servo adjusts linear speed of motor, and track tracking. The data is demodulated from laser waves, and missing bits or errors are interpolated and corrected. Vibrations make reading difficult.
The HDD Lampizator Transport player needs nothing of that. Perfect, 100% accurate data is fed to RAM buffer and just (FIFO) - sent out to DAC according to external precision clock.
This scenario is 100 x more simple, errofr free and accurate. I am surprized that CD players play anything at all ;-) This is what I've been saying for years but Lukaz has the numbers to support it. "Perfect, 100% accurate data is fed to RAM buffer and just (FIFO) - sent out to DAC according to external precision clock." Lukaz recognizes the benefits processing from RAM so just can't imagine there is no mod to the stock SB FIFO RAM buffer. |
Abruce, yes it was because the Dude preamp needed breakin. Speaker is new, Dude is new ... that's what I called excellent show preparation. So what was broken in, component rack? LOL! |
Thanks for the information good news bad news perhaps for L4 owners Just wait another month, it will be BAD news for BIG 26 owners. LOL! |
Knghifi, the reality is that almost everything at CES or any show is new. That is why at Friday through Sunday shows, you really should just show up on Sunday. If this is reality and believe in break in period, why bother showcasing your system if they are not at its best? It could do more harm than good when 1st impression is crucial. What do you do before selling a car or house? Components take time to settle plus fine tuning so usually sounds best on the last day from my experience. |
Audioengr, I'm ONLY questioning reason for bringing NEW components to a show. Show schedules have not changed for years so no excuse IMHO not to prepare properly. When I move my components, it takes days to settle so I understand Sun has the best sound. I had TAD E1's in my room 2 years ago at Newport show. They claimed they were broken-in. They weren't. Took 2-3 days before they opened-up. From my experience, it takes ~350+ hrs before E1 opens up. I would not show unless 500+ hrs. |
Wisnon, I see your posts on Lamp in various websites. Do you have a professional affiliation with Lukaz or just a satisfy customer? |
