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Shocking Lampizator Service

I bought a Lampizator Horizon several months ago and have been delighted with it. A few weeks ago there was a pop and the left channel lowered in output so my imaging was off center. I tried different diagnostic combos until I realized it had to be the Horizon DAC/PREAMP. I emailed Lukasz and he said yes they needed to look at the DAC, and that they would take care of everything. A few days later I was emailed  a prepaid label to ship it back to Poland. Rob, the US Distributor also weighed in via email to make sure everything was being handled.  I dropped the flight case off on may 30th (they offer home pick up as well). I got two email updates one explaining that the problem was mechanical as it must have been dropped by the shipper on the initial shipment to me. That's an impressive drop given the Horizon is shipped in a flight case with at least 6 inches of foam around it. The thing is that I got it back to  my house yesterday June 9th. That's 11 days round trip to Poland for a repair! My dCS Vivaldi Upsampler had a known issue that I addressed 2 years ago. It took over three weeks round trip to their Boston repair facility. I am not bagging on dCS as their turn around time is normal. It's the Lampizator service that I find SHOCKINGLY great. Frankly, I was concerned when I made the investment in the Horizon about service should I need it being based in Poland. Lukasz has built a business model that is truly global. I can highly recommend the Horizon as an outstanding DAC and pre-amp (the volume control reminds me of the ARC REF 10 if you know that unit, it is great!), and the service is second to none I have encountered this far in my audio journey. 

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oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,825 posts
 

Reliability is a high priority to me.  Generally speaking , my failure rate has been super low in the past 40 plus years...   once I have a failure I usually avoid the brand next purchase .  VTL is a great example, except that amp failed three times on me.

ghdprentice
6,965 posts
 

I realize they are custom made. When you develop world wide distribution network you work through potential scenarios. Depending on the business you make choices on service levels and how you will maintain your reputation. In this scenario, I would imagine you would have a demo unit in the country that could be used in case of a failure. I was not involved with the distribution planning… but that is what I would have done. Or, if caught by surprise, I would have bought a “seat on a plane” to deliver it. I have rented planes to get product to customers during emergencies.

rspyder
98 posts
 

I have a Lampi Horizon as well.  I traded in my Pacific DAC because Lampi gave me a full credit after 2 years towards the Horizon.  I had the ARC Anniversary 40 preamp and when the ARC Ref 10 was released a year later I asked it I could get a full-credit exchange.  ARC said - NO!  I then experienced drop-outs in the right channel with my Anniversary 40.  ARC didn't drop of a loaner preamp the following day. In fact, it didn't even offer to do that when they couldn't fix the problem.  Fortunately, I had a great retailer who stepped in and gave me a 70% credit towards the ARC Ref.10. I then went to the Munich Hi-End Show a year later and heard what I wasn't with my Ref.10.  I sold my Ref.10 and bought the Octave Jubilee Preamp, which is so much better across the board.

 

labpro's avatar
labpro
88 posts
 

I have had 2 Lampizator DAC’s over the years. One of the original Level 4’s and now a Big 7. Never an issue with the DAC, just a faulty remote. Fred, I guess he’s the US dealer, literally sent me his remote to use until Poland could replace mine. Always found the company and it’s representatives to be honest, fair and responsive. 

nolojunko
34 posts
 

Seems service level varies from customer to customer.  My experience in NA thus far has been disappointing ($12,500 DAC).  I found Lampi NA's response to my issue almost dismissive and it was completely unhelpful.   I'm definitely willing to give Fred another try, however.  This time, I'll phone for help instead of email.  I'm hoping for better results this time.  I really don't get why we have only one dealer in the entire U.S.  

GPoint in EU is so much better, so much more responsive, and appears so much more knowledgeable, based on the fast, detailed replies.  Isn't this NY "dealer" just a direct market model, exclusive to the entire U.S., which is likely Lampi's largest market?  The last two questions I had (mainly due to the user manual being comparably the worst of seen of any high-end audio product in my 50 years), I ended up just emailing Lukas.  Mind you, this is just my individual experience and is not meant to infer anything else about their service level.  

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