Welcome to the world of Lampizator.
Make yourself comfortable right here in the center,
and you'll finally realize why they call it the SWEET spot.
As for swapping tubes, let it all break in first and learn the sound, then you can experiment.
Enjoy |
Happy for you JWM! Just wait till you have over 150 or hours on it! |
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Outstanding, Charles and Jeff!
I'm so glad you guys followed up and heard a Lampi in your own environment!
As Lissnr say, let it burn in for now then drop me a line and I'll give some rectifier tube guidance.
Duelands take forever (400+ hous) to fully mature, but the good news is the break in is rarely rude and you should enjoy the majority of getting there.
Welcome to the Lampi crew! ;) |
Hi Gopher ( fred),
I believe that Jeff has happily found his long term digital front end. No need for any more angst, he can just relax and enjoy the music, which is the point.
Charles, |
Jwan, you said you had a Big 5, was that a typo? Did you you mean Big 6? |
He has a level 5 dac built into the larger "big" chassis which is an option instead of the two box Level 5. I personally prefer the one box look, but not everyone can accommodate the depth of the big chassis. |
Goopher is right the Big 6 uses the 16 bit phillips chip. I did not want to go with that chip as I wanted to be able to play 24/192 files as well. |
Glad your enjoying it JWM. The L5 is a monster out of the box, even with stock tubes. You heard my L5 ( At CES) and it only had 150hrs on it. At 500+hrs any hint of edge or glare is now gone. The sound will become sweeter and even more addicting. Enjoy! |
Okay. Thanks for clarifying. |
My good friend Charles1dad brought over his digital cable that he does not use anymore. The rca cable transformed my system and I'm am now getting the best sound I ever had at my place. It took away a very slight edge and added bass weight and beautiful organic coloring to the instruments on any cd that we played. I kid you not it was like going to any new component that you can think of. My Zadies Lamp connected to the PS Audio transport is amazing. I only have 96 hours on it and I don't kow what I am going to do when 400 comes around. I didn't even roll tubes and the only thing I addressed was to place brass audio points under the DAC and Transport. This opened up the soundstage quite a bit. Cistrum stands are now in the cards. The digital cables I tried were ASI Live Line, Luminous Audio, Wireworld. Of the three I liked the Luminous Audio cable the best. The cable that did the transformation was the Acoustic Revive digital cable. I was going to try the Wywires Gold cable, but now I don't know if I will. I am so happy I could yell it from the rooftops. |
Jwm, the Sistrum stands are good. Dale and the Lampi gang noted nice improvement when the L5 and USB transport were placed on SP4s at CES. |
Jeff,
Your sound today was enchanting and organic bliss. Thanks for having me over.
Charles, |
SP-4 Sistrum Platforms™
Price: $ 2,975.00
Really |
Jeff,
I'm so pleased to read your developments. It sounds like you've got a wonderful synergy going.
Sistrum products are fantastic, but they aren't all aesthetically appealing... I recommend an SP-101 if you can deal with it, but otherwise an apprentice stance will be nicely hidden under your DAC and still provide a sonic uptick.
Keep us posted as the hours accumulate! |
SP-4 Sistrum Platforms™
Price: $ 2,975.00
Really When you calculate the material and machining costs involved and then compare that to competing isolation products or to the average piece of electronics, really. The fact that they have an actual sonic impact is an added bonus. It is not simply furniture. I find the aesthetics quite appealing. No, they won't necessarily blend in with the average living space like a MDF equipment rack, but they still look kool (at least they do in my listening room). |
The Star Sound Apprentice stands are quite effective sonically and are very reasonably priced. |
I was thinking of the apprentice stands. |
The Sistrum SP-4 is a 4 shelf rack based on the SP 101 Platform.
The Apprentice is a single component plateform that cost 329-429.00 each depending on the size. |
Another vote here for the Sistrum stands as they are a serious performance improvement. Robert at Star Sound is a pleasure to deal with and very knowledgeable. While he obviously carries some pricey stands which I have no doubt will be exceptional, I also agree that his Apprentice series is a great way to get immediate and obvious satisfaction in his product line and there's also a very fair and easy upgrade program as well. Once I tried one of his stands, of course I'm sure there are plenty other great products available and many I haven't tried, I felt I was quite obviously 'done' with the world of footers/stands/spikes/supports, etc. .
I use his spikes under my Rel Stadium subwoofer, my 5/8" rod supported DIY rack, and I also use several of his older SP-003 series platforms as well...one under my Dude, one each under my mono blocs and one under my Lampi Big 6... I also have an SP-101 under my BGX A2 dedicated subwoofer amp. Each piece takes noticeable leaps in overall speed, precision, and accuracy but the signature benefit consistent with each one is CLARITY.
And it's cumulative.
Very impressive |
Abruce, to put it into further perspective, the Mapleshade shelving systems (which you own and are a fine product) are in the same price bracket at least according to their website.... |
I don't think Bruce has a qualm with the price of the SP-4, multi-shelf component rack. I think he believed the SP-004 was $3k for a single component. |
http://www.audiopoints.com/Sistrum.php |
Gopher you are so correct
Thanks all for the education |
Abruce, they are worth a try. I believe they have a return policy. I find the impact of Sistrum correlates with the amount of vibrational energy at hand (subs>Speakers>tube amps). Start with the Apprentice line. It is cheap and you can try it under everything.... |
Bruce, they do make a difference. Not as much as upgrading to a Dude however:-)
I used them for years under speakers, amps, the Dude, CD players and each time the improvement was quite nice.
I keep watching for used ones as the smaller ones can be had for as little as $150. SP101, 102, and 103's. They are less expensive than the bigger models, but do a very nice job. |
We all understand the importance of the output cap in our Lampi dacs. I see the input cap just behind the RCA input is rather unknown and not a known quality brand like Duelund or Jensen. Ever wonder what a cap upgrade in this position would do? The L4 has a .50 uf cap right behind the input.
I will report back! |
Has anyone managed to squeeze in an ST-shaped rectifier into their L4G4? I have heard of someone using an Osram/Marconi U52 but I don't see how it could possibly fit being ~ 4.5" tall. |
Funny you mention this... Lukasz has been experimenting with that cap position and mentioned results have exceeded his expectations of changing that input cap. |
Interesting. Who knows. I am the ultimate modder and have a passion for looking for places to improve. Many folks would stay away from these sorts of changes for obvious reasons. Many changes hurt and don't help. They sometimes just change things and not necessarly for the better.
I leave the top off of my Lampi and have already tried several things. This is one that may or may not yield any real improvement.
The parts quality in my Lampi dac are already very good, but part of my passion for this hobby is fine tuning to the perfect sound for my ears in my system. I love the smell of solder!
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Input caps?
Yeah, small value (0.1uf) Duelunds apparently sound good there (digital input). Makes the bass more Duelund-like. Small Alu jupiters work well there too. The copper jupiters not ready yet, so we can only speculate.
I hear there is a cheap no name cap that works REALLY great for output, but not for digital section. This is nice cheaper alternative for L4 guys who are not capacitor brand conscious and dont want to stretch the budget for the the Duelund upgrade. |
For any of you out there planning on attending APOXNA in Chicago next month, please be sure to check us out in room 432
We will be partnering with Vapor Audio, Purity Audio Design and Verastarr and plan to bring our game faces!!
We plan on providing our Level 7 statement DAC along with one of our TranspOrts. |
Good to hear, looking forwarding to meeting the crew, will Lukasz be attending |
Wow!!!
L7 in da house with Vapor...yummy. Which Vapor speakers?
Make sure to play some Lampi DSD too! |
Wisnon,
I know! I'm quite excited for this show--I think we will have everything dialed in on time and be ready for action when the doors open.
Vapor will be featuring their new "mini-Nimbus" speaker called Derecho. Per Ryan: it will look like a bulked up, floor standing Cirrus. It will feature dual 8" pro-sound woofers, a high sensitivity ultra low distortion 6.5" mid, and the RAAL 70-20XR tweeter and is supposed to be around $8k. |
Hey Fred, we're really looking forward to the show as well! I'll have some time to get to know the Lampizator at home, which will also be fantastic. With the room we've put together I have no doubt it'll be a must hear.
We (Vapor Audio) will be debuting the Derecho - 93db floorstander, CNC cut stacked ply-lamination cabinet, and drivers like you said. It'll come in at under $8K/pair. Components that punch well above their price tag will be the name of the game in our room. |
Ryan,
What will be the minimum reccoomed power for a tube amp to drive the Derecho? |
Ryan,
Oh, do you have pictures? When will they be available. I may have a UK buddy who is interested. |
No pictures yet as the first pair is still under construction, but soon. Prototypes were built to test the design, now we're finishing up the final production version.
They'll have plenty of output for medium sized rooms with as little as, for example a 9wcp 300B SET. We don't fudge our sensitivity specs like most manufacturers do, so 93db will be an honest 93db. But like always, deciding how much power you need depends on the listeners wants. If you want to keep the dynamic punch and bass fullness, you'll probably want to start more in the 20-25w range.
At AXPONA we'll be using them with the new Purity 18wpc 300B monoblocks. |
Thanks Ryan, I will pass along the info. |
To any New Yorkers curious about our Level 7 Statement DAC, we will have one on display this Saturday at the official New York Head-fi meet in Babylon, New York.
The unit is burning in now and should have over a hundred hours on it by show time and should be ready to impress! |
What is the difference between the L5 and the L7?
Some time ago there was a discussion of the volume control on the L5 at THE Show. I have since heard the L5 into a line stage and then directly into the amp. Unless you have multiple sources, going direct is far superior. |
My l4 is far superior through my TRL Dude tubed preamp. |
I often listen to Jwm's Big L5 Lampizator which goes through his Absolare Passion linestage and it's truly superb. I've heard no direct DAC- amplifier that would come close. Excellent active line stages are indispensable for superior sound in my opinion. In theory eliminating a component and its IC should be better, my ears say otherwise in resounding fashion.
Charles, |
I don't know what this says about dac output stages. Two amplifier stages versus one should not be superior. Since I have never heard of either line stage you mention, I cannot make other comments. |
The new Jupiter copper caps are out and I have three coming for my Lampizator. Two for output and one for the input cap. These are said to be as good as Duelunds and tad more musical? We will see.
I used the Lampizator direct transport mod on my old Oppo DVD player to see how good the Oppo could be as a CD spinning transport. Wow! What a great mod. You simply go off pin 215 on the main decoder chip and hook a wire directly to the RCA out. Pin 215 is the SPDIF digital out leg. Bypass all those circuit board traces, caps, surface mounted resistors and go direct! Awesome mod!
I also replace a slew of cheap caps with Silmic II and even some large Solen 100 uf caps with bypass also. I added damping throughout the chassis, bypassed the fuse, added a nicer IEC and the sound is stunning. Better then a CEC I owned that cost big money! Not as good as my computer based front end, but the best transport I have owned that spins discs. The cost of the mod was about $75! |
Tbg, I don't think just any active preamp would sound better. But a truly great one will always in my experience. I also think some of this comes down to preference in sound personality.
Love my Lampi! |
Tbg,
The L7 uses power amp DHT tubes. They are harder to work with but the sonic payoff is actually in the extra headroom and ease to the music.
This is what I heard from Lukasz anyway. |
Grannyring, why do you need to change caps in the Oppo if you are going directly from the chip direct to the digital output. |
Good question. These are caps before the chip in the power supply and the caps for storage of the signal out of the CD reader. |
