This is news to me. Is this an official stance by Lampizator regarding warranty related to adapter usage?
Introducing the LampizatOr Poseidon DAC
- Thread starter Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus
- Start date
I stated it was the retailer for the U.S. distributor informing me. I don't know what the manufacturer or distributor policies are. I'm not going to swap input tubes let alone with an adapter. My Poseidon sounds superb even if it isn't in a SOTA system, just high end.
Maybe it is just semantics, but, I assume you are just referring to Lampizator North America? Afaik, USA customers can only buy direct from Lampizator North America, and they are the only USA distributor/retailer, but I could be mistaken.
If it is Lampizator North America you are referring to, then I don't think the adapter comment is correct, as the owners of Lampizator North America use, and promote the use of tubes requiring adapters in Lampi DAC's all the time, and post here on WBF about it.
Case in point about Lampizator North America utilizing adapters... in this thread!
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You are both correct that the manual indicates what substitution tubes are permitted. I purchased my unit through Lampizator North American affiliate unofficial retailer who also showcases the Lampizator line at audio shows. So, whether or not it is not a warrantied or not substitution, he told me not to do so. Another person on another WBF forum told me I should be trying boutique fuses on all my equipment including my Class D new Foundation amps on my speakers Von Schweikert VR9 SE Mk2 upgraded, my Jay's Audio CDt3Mk3 and my Poseidon. I have a 10+ year history of improving my former lesser equipment using boutique fuses. They called me lazy. Those older EAR equipment and lesser quality DACs, pre-amps needed a boost in sound quality through better power supply fusing (my custom built electronics had either no fuses or circuit breakers). I think either the Westminster Labs or Lampizator clearly stated NOT to change fuses, probably the former.
I have 23 years experience using subminiature tubes in line stages and phono pre-amps. They're great and only two tubes in that time ever needed replacement due to getting noisy. Hope you enjoy what you're hearing. Sorry to bother you.
To be clear, I'm not offended, arguing, or bothered. If people don't want to roll tubes that is totally fine. I understand just going with the stock tubes. I think a few of us were just wanting to clarify Lampizator "official policy", versus a particular retailer's suggestions.
Care should be taken to only buy adapters from trusted sources, as we've seen damage caused to a DAC from the use of a bad adapter from a certain particular seller, and perhaps your retailer had read about that in the other thread here on WBF- hence his advice?
TP, plasmod, and ebay seller 'xulingmrs' are very good sources for adapters.
Care should be taken to only buy adapters from trusted sources, as we've seen damage caused to a DAC from the use of a bad adapter from a certain particular seller, and perhaps your retailer had read about that in the other thread here on WBF- hence his advice?
TP, plasmod, and ebay seller 'xulingmrs' are very good sources for adapters.
FYI:
This was the U.S. launch demo of the Poseidon, and you can see the Lukasz used an adapted rectifier here...
FWIW, the concern you raised of course has merit -- whenever there's an additional component there's the added risk of something going wrong, but luckily many Lampi owners are crazy and would take the risk for good sound
I read that too. I purchased NOS tubes that measure perfect but are noisy and can't use them.
It's not just poor quality control, it's also counterfeit items. Especially in clothing items. Poor quality substitutions often come from China and remanufactured and/or used products sold as new. Some Boeing parts were found weeks ago to be lower quality substitutions manufactured overseas. That's dangerous.
As to the video concerning adapter use for a rectifier tube, okay, I have had no warning concerning that although my retailer indicated I should try various rectifiers as they have the most significant affect on the sound. I have two other NOS rectifiers to try.
Hey everyone,
Just a quick note on the subject of tubes and adapters. We have not made any formal changes to our policy regarding their use. However, we've recently encountered several frustrating incidents with certain adapters not being properly made, which have caused significant issues, including damage to DACs and expensive, rare tubes as well as unexpected noise issues. Some WBFers, including on this very page, have experienced these incidents firsthand, and it is a challenge to support and can create unnecessary negative sentiment.
We, of course, understand the appeal of tube rolling, but more variables equates to greater potential for problems. Therefore, we urge you to err on the side of caution and, if you must use adapters, do your homework on the vendor.
Happy listening,
Fred A.
Just a quick note on the subject of tubes and adapters. We have not made any formal changes to our policy regarding their use. However, we've recently encountered several frustrating incidents with certain adapters not being properly made, which have caused significant issues, including damage to DACs and expensive, rare tubes as well as unexpected noise issues. Some WBFers, including on this very page, have experienced these incidents firsthand, and it is a challenge to support and can create unnecessary negative sentiment.
We, of course, understand the appeal of tube rolling, but more variables equates to greater potential for problems. Therefore, we urge you to err on the side of caution and, if you must use adapters, do your homework on the vendor.
Happy listening,
Fred A.
Thank you. So what is the official policy? (Sorry if I missed it)
Bummer some people had this experience. What are the symptoms of bad adapter damage?
Not sure i get the joke. Does it really smoke? He mentioned noises. I have some noise issues and so am wondering if adapter caused this.
Not surprised at all to see the issues with the latest developments in sense of tube rolling.
In the "old" times before plugging each single "new" type I/we wanted to try I/we asked for the green light from Lukasz. Only upon obtaining that we used this particular tube and I've never had any single issue - with or without using the adapter.
These days I have a feeling (maybe it's just me) that more and more exotic tubes are being plugged into DACs with or without adapters (and I assume without prior approval from the producer) so no wonder s..t is happening.
In the "old" times before plugging each single "new" type I/we wanted to try I/we asked for the green light from Lukasz. Only upon obtaining that we used this particular tube and I've never had any single issue - with or without using the adapter.
These days I have a feeling (maybe it's just me) that more and more exotic tubes are being plugged into DACs with or without adapters (and I assume without prior approval from the producer) so no wonder s..t is happening.
At low volumes I get a bit of static in left channel, occasionally speaker popping in/out. Only happens occasionally. I tried moving tubes around, but issue persists.
I am a very happy owner of the Poseidon DAC for several months now. I don’t post often on WBF, but I love reading these threads so thanks to all who do post. I’ve been upgrading my rig so maybe I’ll post more going forward.
My question is how can I figure out which tubes are used in which configuration? Does using Bypass mode effect which tubes are in use? Does it make a difference which output is used, meaning RCA versus XLR? I realize there is good information in the Poseidon user manual on the tube positioning (page 5), but unfortunately I am not technically inclined enough to know what it means. The manual does say, “It is possible and allowed to listen to one phase only if you use a single ended amplifier. Simply remove the tubes you don’t need.” This suggests that not all tubes are in use for every configuration.
The reason I ask is until today I been using the Poseidon in Bypass mode with another preamp. Then today I decided to try going directly into the amps using the Poseidon for volume control. I made the switch and suddenly I wasn’t getting sound from one speaker. After some troubleshooting I tracked down a bad EL6 tube which I had purchased on eBay and used with Laszlo’s EL6 -> 6j5/L63 tube adapters in place of the 6j5 tubes. To be clear the bad tube wasn’t from Laszlo but from a seller on eBay. Fortunately I bought 5 of them so I swapped in the spare and bingo sound from both speakers using Poseidon for volume control. I did switch from XLR outputs into my preamp to RCA outputs direct to my amp because I did not have a long enough XLR cable.
But I wonder why I wasn’t having any problem in bypass mode with the bad EL6 tube in? That suggests to me that the tube wasn’t utilized in bypass mode? Unless it just happened to fail when I made the switch. Any insight into clarifying which tubes are used for what purpose in the Poseidon would be appreciated.
My question is how can I figure out which tubes are used in which configuration? Does using Bypass mode effect which tubes are in use? Does it make a difference which output is used, meaning RCA versus XLR? I realize there is good information in the Poseidon user manual on the tube positioning (page 5), but unfortunately I am not technically inclined enough to know what it means. The manual does say, “It is possible and allowed to listen to one phase only if you use a single ended amplifier. Simply remove the tubes you don’t need.” This suggests that not all tubes are in use for every configuration.
The reason I ask is until today I been using the Poseidon in Bypass mode with another preamp. Then today I decided to try going directly into the amps using the Poseidon for volume control. I made the switch and suddenly I wasn’t getting sound from one speaker. After some troubleshooting I tracked down a bad EL6 tube which I had purchased on eBay and used with Laszlo’s EL6 -> 6j5/L63 tube adapters in place of the 6j5 tubes. To be clear the bad tube wasn’t from Laszlo but from a seller on eBay. Fortunately I bought 5 of them so I swapped in the spare and bingo sound from both speakers using Poseidon for volume control. I did switch from XLR outputs into my preamp to RCA outputs direct to my amp because I did not have a long enough XLR cable.
But I wonder why I wasn’t having any problem in bypass mode with the bad EL6 tube in? That suggests to me that the tube wasn’t utilized in bypass mode? Unless it just happened to fail when I made the switch. Any insight into clarifying which tubes are used for what purpose in the Poseidon would be appreciated.
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Congrats to the Poseidon, nice gear. Looking at the manual on the Lampizator Homepage, it seems that the input and output tubes are even used in DAC only mode. Only the volume control is bypassed. I guess the malfunction in your setup as a pre is related to the fact, that you connected the Poseidon via XLR (balanced) to your amp, while you used rhe RCA outputs (unbalanced) in DAC mode to your pre. Is that true?
Hi thanks for your reply. Yes correct I had to switch from using XLR output to RCA output due to cable length limitations when I went from DAC only mode (I.e. Bypass) to DAC + preamp mode.
It seems counter intuitive though, I would have thought all output tubes are needed for XLR output, but perhaps not for RCA (single ended) output. It seems my “bad tube” was not being used in Bypass mode using XLR output, otherwise I would have noticed the problem with that configuration. But it was needed for RCA output in DAC + preamp mode, hence no sound from my speaker (until I replaced the bad tube).
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The Poseidon manual includes the following schematic
and states „It is possible and allowed to listen to one phase only if you use single ended amplifierr. Simply remove the tubes you don’t need.“ So my guess would be, that in balanced mode (and if the following component is really balanced), all tubes have to work properly, in single ended mode only one tube pair per phase per channel.
and states „It is possible and allowed to listen to one phase only if you use single ended amplifierr. Simply remove the tubes you don’t need.“ So my guess would be, that in balanced mode (and if the following component is really balanced), all tubes have to work properly, in single ended mode only one tube pair per phase per channel.
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