I was going to mention something along these lines. I was a tad hesitant to commit to anything, but as someone that recently upgraded from Amber 3 to Golden Gate R2R, I could have been blissfully ignorant at Amber 3. It’s a damn good sweet spot.
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The problem is that once you hear what you can get above, you can’t go back lol
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How are the Lampizator amps? I assume good if not better but they dont get the mentions the dacs do. Their wood sides are dreamy.
I’ve heard some and enjoyed them, but never with enough time to really comment on them. Worth considering though depending on the setup I’d say from brief demos. Although I would say lampizator is likely more competitive in DACs than amps
The Baltic is something you’ve recommended before but it’s a damned unicorn in the wild used. Seems like they’re all balanced which is nice to have, but is there an appreciable step up over the Amber 3 on top of whatever benefits one could squeeze out of the balanced out?
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Absolutely, if the Baltic was SE I’d still say the same, the balanced is just a nice extra
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I hate reading these comments somedays…the curiosity becomes a hard itch i feel the need to scratch 
I’m looking for a power cable for an Amber 3. Anyone have a recommendation under $300?
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Generally what way would you be looking to tilt things or what sonic aspects would you want to focus on?
I tried a number of “reasonably” priced power cables, and ended up with the WireWorld cables.
But I will caveat that with the fact I’m running off a power regenerator which tends to make power cable differences more obvious so YMMV.
Aurora or Electra 7 are both in your price range depending on length.
If you don’t have a regenerator, I was surprised how good the Ifi Supernova cable sounded on my secondary system, but it’s slightly over budget.
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When youre going up the lampi tiers (amber > baltic > atlantic) is there a big sound signature shift, or is it the Lampi house sound being more refined with more features on each step?
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If you stick with the modern lampi line it’s fairly consistent but will depend on what tubes you have in there to an extent when you get to the higher end models. I’d say both the amber and baltic are more neutral slightly forward slightly warmer, the atlantic trp generally tends to be a bit more clean and neutral than the aforementioned (golden atlantic a bit warmer), the big 7 mk2 and gg 2 leans a bit thicker and more relaxed but still reasonably neutral sweet, and the pacific is more forward, dead neutral, and no nonsense. Def going to depend on what you have rolled though, but you can all tell they are lampi and I’d doubt one would love one and strongly dislike another
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And I assume then all models are in the natural, organic camp?
My understanding/experience is the modern stuff is intentionally neutral, the older models were tuned to be a bit more “bloomy” but they were never heavilly that way.
You would not call “tube” on an amber 3 just listening to it, it’s a very natural, organic sounding pretty much dead flat neutral. The first time I really noticed the tube was there at all was when I was listening to it analytically against the LaVoce S3, it’s really subtle, it is there and it does add a certain richness to the signature, but it’s not something without the benefit of an A/B with a comparable DAC you’d even notice.
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I’d say they are all yes
I’d agree based on the older stuff I have heard
I think you start to notice more when you get to the dht models, starts to affect the sound a fair bit more
I think there are other aspects you hear with DHT’s that are harder to quantify than just midrange weight or richness, so I’d imagine that’s the case.
Looking forwards to hearing for myself (hopefully tomorrow).
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And tomorrow is my D&D night, looks like a few of us have big days tomorrow.
I think neutral leaning towards warm and I tend to focus on imaging and separation.
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Gotcha gotcha. In that case while it is a bit above your budget a bit, a triode wire labs ten plus is pretty great for the price and I think it will both increase spatial clarity and add a bit more richness without going overboard. Only concern I might have is a bit extra added smoothness but I don’t think it would be in any way detrimental imo. This would be my bang for buck pick here
I do think something from synergistic research like a uef black or blue would really improve imaging and separation, although they are a bit more clarity focused, reasonably neutral but slightly on the cooler side of things so it will not lean warmer
There are other options I liked but they push a bit higher. So I know these do push a bit higher than your budget, but I think there’s a distinct step up in the 400-500 ish range compared from 200 and below that is worthwhile investing in imo. I think if you wanted to fit in your budget, I’d suggest you look at what’s out there used, as you can find those 500 ish cables used for about half. Can’t really advise on that though since it depends on what’s out there
Actually if I had to pick one in or close enough to budget it would be a shunyata venom hc v2, I think that would scratch the itch with a warmer lean and more technical ability, without affecting overall balance
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Point taken and thanks for the recommendations. I think I’d rather spend more and get a cable that is better suited for the Amber and what I’m looking to get out of it.
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