Lampizator dac thread, Amber / Baltic / Atlantic / Golden / Pacific / Horizon

I would really like to try out a Mojo DAC at some point given the high praises here.
FWIW, fuses can be a pros/con, but it’s yet another way to further tune a component… sometimes to a really good effect.

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It’s rarely a real issue outside the power supply, then only when it isn’t connected to a load (read the amp), and even there usually the caps are bridged with resistors to drain them.
The only time a cap can stay charged is if it isn’t delivering into some load.

The 400V PSU on my amp has an excessive amount of Capacitance, it’ll play music for a good 5 seconds after power is disconnected and it’s under 2V in about 15 seconds when connected to the amp.
If it isn’t connected to the amp, the drain resistors take several minutes to drain it, without those, it’s a LONG time.

If your worried stick a multimeter in it and check, one side of the output transformer will be connected to high voltage, just clip the negative lead on the multimeter to ground, and use 1 HAND to poke at them.
There’s nothing int he making noise part of the amp that’s going to hold a charge.

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And you didnt send me any with the friendship cables? Doing the same. Neither Home Depot, Lowes, or Ace carry the correct ones. Bring back Radioshack.

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Dayum, that SMSL amp is going to be happy!

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Baltic 3 owners. I have found excellent synergy between the Lampizator Baltic 3 DAC and the Innuos Zenith MK3 streamer using a good USB cable between them. Nothing else required, seriously this an excellent synergistic match.

If you happen to be looking for great used components and want allot of value for your money mating these 2 pieces together will give excellent results and you can rest assured there is really not much beyond your standard tube, isolation and whatever cable upgrades you feel your wallet can handle, upgrades required.

These 2 pieces were both made during a similar time span by European companies, i’m not sure how either of them implemented their USB components BUT what i can tell you with much confidence is that combined they really work well together :pinched_fingers: and do not require much if any outside enhancement to perform very well.

I have tried to enhance the USB feed out of the Innuos Zenith Mk 3 (using vrious DDC devices) and i have tried the Baltic 3 through AES, SPDIF, and USB. Just leave them both alone, connect them via a good USB cable of your choosing, (my preference is FTA Callisto usb) and enjoy. I have found the most pleasing sound character via this specific mating.

This was a public service announcement based solely on my own experiences, but my results have been consistent enough over the past few years that i finally felt confident enough to put this in writing, on the internet, for anyone to stumble across. :hugs:

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Curiously, I was reading the Comet manual, and it states that USB will sound the best. Then AES, BNC, RCA and Toslink. It says it a few times in there. I always use my SU-1 or U2 Pro DDCs, primarily because one of my two PCs is a big ass gaming machine. I wouldn’t have thought USB would sound any good, but I guess I must try it.

Thank you @Souldriver for the opportunity to audition Golden Atlantic 3 and see how the differences in performance from Poseidon feel to my ears. Running GA3 with Siemens F2A and WE 422a. Poseidon is stock tubes and RCA rectifier (might use the WE when I get back to Poseidon to see how things change).

Also funny to see the size and build quality difference - it isn’t close lol

More to come!

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So I’ve been running the Amber 3 for some time. Love the damn thing, and i would love to explore up Lampizator’s models

However, for anyone that has had the Amber 3, do you guys remember the stage being foggy or cloudy? Like it could be more precise than it is?

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I had the Amber 3 and an Aqua La Voce here for a long time (relatively) together, was really close but I ended up keeping the Aqua because it had better “clarity”, I felt the Amber had a more expansive stage.
Having said that the Aqua is an NOS DAC and some of that “clarity” is really just that it’s NOS. And I never swapped any tubes in the Amber.

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yeah, this was its highlight.

That said, it would be interesting to know which digital input you’re using. I had my Amber a long time ago but do recall that Coax worked better than USB, then again I was using a DDC into it. I don’t remember it being hazy or fuzzy or not detailed but then again that was the nicest DAC I’d ever heard So my memory is what may be hazy in this response.

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Can that fog come from the tube lifespan running out?
I would think the indicator would be distortion for that, right?

I’ve used both! I preferred the USB but it and the coax cable are in two different price tiers. It wouldn’t be fair.

That being said, the coax was close!

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It’s unlikely, but I guess it could have an effect.
Usually they just die rather than sounding bad the only real exception to that I have heard was a 6sn7 that shipped with my Viva, it just sounded terrible not distorted per se, just not good.

It’s just hard to comment of thinking something is foggy, is it’s not precise enough to get a good understanding of the sound and it’s hard to know what your point of reference is, foggy compared to what exactly?

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I feel as if the placement of instruments in the stage can be ambiguous sometimes; depending on how busy the track gets.

In other chains ive heard instrument separation being laser-focused in those same areas of the track

I was actually switching DACs yesterday, and I think I figured out my answer. A case of synergy.

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