Shocking Lampizator Service

@bubinga that is undoubtedly generally true. but that doesn't mean you can't extract/discern general quality/build issues from the all of the noise posted. I still believe that Lampizator DAC's are not robustly manufactured/built and easily prone to damage during shipping or other use. Witness @wokeuptobose 's side comment which wasn't even part of his main post. Funny thing is that I am actually thinking of accepting perceived risk and repurchasing a Lampi DAC because I miss some of the tube/house sound!

Just to put another twist on this, the problem I was having with channel imbalance came back intermitantly, so I started trying to figure it out with Lukasz again. I am embarased to report that the problem I had is/was due to a quad of tubes that had a bad tube in the mix. This Quad was a NOS set from the 70s, not the factory supplied tubes. I have no tube tester so I was swapping tube sets out and discovered the bad tube by accident. This makes sense as Lampi reported they could not duplicate my issue on the bench, but did repair some shipping damage I caused by shipping it back. I am now once again in love with my Horizon and my system overall. The invitation to roll all kinds of compatable tubes in the Horizon is a wonderful thing, but you need to know a wee bit about tubes before you start to roll tubes in it! When my Audio friend in Seattle learned I was getting a DAC/PRE with 7 tubes of three different types and I asked him for a tube education, he didn't know where to start. I'm learning and it's fun!

Typically, most people who respond to threads like this tend to post negative comments.

Not criticing those folks but this is not unusual and is human nature. You will see this phenomena on other luxury products like expensive vehicles and other hi end, limited sale products. 

I can tell you if your warranty is up be prepared to write off the DAC, My Gen 4 Lev 5 the LCD screen apparently went out, I had a local tech take a look. He is quite qualified. Lukaz refuses to offer informational or any help at all................SAD because as mentioned above the DACs do sound good but apparently the $$$ reigns supreme if they are not making a mint, Tou just are not that important..............Color me an EX-Customer that will definitely advise anyone against the Lampizator product

I agree, this thread had too many folks that needed repair.   I would be afraid to buy a Lampizator based on this thread.  

I had the very same experience with Lampizator Amber 4.

 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).

@wokeuptobose  A cursory look at your moniker had me seeing "woke up tooobese". I can relate. But I did get it worked out.

@audphile1 

+1

It’s not Lampizator customer service that’s impressive, but how many people have reported they had issues just on this thread alone. Good to know. 

@nolojunko refers to Fred Ainsley who is also represents the Destination Sound Group. I’ve found that all (Lukasz/Rob/Fred) go out of their way when it comes to supporting the product even when it comes down to simply answering questions.

I’m glad to hear of this level of support on a new product as Lampizator is at the top of the list for my next dac purchase. 

Yes, his name is Rob not Fred and he is the US Distributor/direct marketing dealer. His companies include the ones listed below.  Being a former national sales manager I can tell you that working with an inventor/founder like Lukasz can be a challenge. Yes, you can ask either Rob or Lukasz questions via email and both will respond. Folks like many of us on this forum tend to ask technical questions, and I find it cool that the inventor/owner will respond. 
 

Destination Sound Group
North American Distributor for LampizatOr

North American Distributor for Tobian Sound Systems
North American Distributor for Final Touch Audio
Authorized Dealer for Taiko Audio

Authorized Dealer for Westminster Labs

Authorized Dealer for Critical Mass Systems

http://www.dsgdistro.com 

http://www.lampizatorna.com

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.  

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Yep had issues coming out of my ears on my Atlancic, after several trips back to the factory out it went and in came a LL Echos End Reference. Never looked back you can never look back. 

The Atlantic sounded great when it worked. 

While their DACs sound fantastic, if you scan various forums I think you will notice that there is a very high rate of issues and warranty service with Lampizator. I have had three Lampi DAC’s pass through my hands and they all had issues requiring service - one prior to purchase, one while owning, and one after resell. And note the three additional examples above in this short thread alone. Build quality/QA is not there yet imho. Same goes for NA distributor - very responsive at times but they obviously mis-packed one of my DAC’s such that it got beat up during shipping. That said, the DACs sound great in the right setup (output noise can be high so proper preamp matching is critical). I am sure the Horizon sounds amazing.

Many years ago I bought used  adcom gear and on day one by my negligence blew out the left channel of the gfp 555 amp. I called them up as I lived near their operation in East Brunswick NJ. They told me bring in the amp with a dozen doughnuts. While I waited they fixed the amp and while at it made some other improvements/updates.

Baltic 4 owner here in Canada, I had a warranty issue as well, which was resolved eventually but it was not straightforward. I suspect Horizon and Baltic owners DO get different treatment, but then again there is only one distributor in NA and Lukasz has maybe 10-15 employees so small scale "cottage industry" size without huge cash flow or cheap credit, and thus he is beholden to the ’white glove’ folks for purchasing his higher margin DACs. Frankly it’s amazing what he’s done with such limited resources - the Baltic is hands down the best DAC sonically speaking I have owned so far. I own a small business with 25 employees and I am under pressure every day deciding where and when to allocate resources.

Actually gdhprentice is one of the most knowledgeable people on this forum.  I'm pretty sure he knows they are hand made .  

Why did one Lampi owner have a solution over night and another waits 1 1/2 months?   Either the distributor dropped the ball or they are waiting for parts. 

As for white glove treatment?   I never expect it, but when I do it restores my faith in the mfg and strengthens brand loyalty.  

There are still global parts shortage in every sector so it's not a great time for repairs ....

@ghdprentice Dude you are clueless and uninformed so I will inform you. These are hand made one at a time! They are making only 500 worldwide over the next 4-5 years. Do you think they just pump Lampizator’s down the assembly line? It takes a month to make like 4 or 5 of them at a time! So now you are informed please use this as a learning opportunity! They fixed it!

I have a faulty Amber 4 which is less than a year old. The local Singapore  Lampi distributor promptly came over, ran some tests and confirmed there was an issue with the USB board. He packed it in it's original packaging and took the unit from me on 24 April. Couple days later he messaged that he had shipped it to Poland. Couple of days ago I asked the distributor for an update. He said the factory couldn't give a definitve date for the repairs. Still wating after 1-1/2 months. Thank goodness the local distriutor loaned me another DAC (not a Lampi) so I have at least something to listen to. Amber 4 certainly not getting the same attention as the Horizon.

I had a similar experience ,my new Krelli integrated amp stopped working after  a week , I called them ,I am 1 state over  they had anew one at my door  the next day,  and they included a label to have the defective unit picked up .

which never happened  which was a few years ago. That is great service.

Good to know some companies still respect customer service!

Sure, yes I have a great relationship with my dealer. But let’s pretend I bought a $50K car several months ago and it would not start in the morning. I would expect the vehicle to be picked up and repaired and given a loaner immediately. A single phone call… and go about my business. 

An individual audio component costing $50K should be white gloves, absolutely no effort to the purchaser. Heck, when my Sony 77” OLED failed… they delivered and installed a new one and took away the old one… sure it took a week… but it only cost $6K.

Glad to hear about your good experience.  Lampi did a great job on your repair.  It is not the norm in high-end audio to have someone bring a new component to your house and set it up the next day if something goes wrong.  Horror stories with domestic and international products are not uncommon, including with Audio Research.

ghdprentice has probably spent a ton of money with his dealer and gets the deluxe treatment for that reason.

Thanks documenting your experience. Good to hear.

Although, given the cost of the unit, I would expect to have a replacement unit at my doorstep the next day, while my unit was fixed. I know that if any of my ARC Reference stuff would ever have a problem (they cost less than half of your Horizon) my dealer would deliver a unit for me (and hook it up) to use in the mean time while he shipped mine off for repair.