My question is will I be missing some of the joy if I just stick with the stock tubes and sound as Lampizator designed it with? I'm not seeking "perfection" or "the best," just a higher quality of sound presentation off CDs and digital downloads (not streaming). I really dislike tweaks, I just want to hear music (28K LPs, 7K 78s, 15.5K CDs, 250 R2R).
Maybe I should add that I am currently using a voltage regulated tube pair of 125 w monoblock Class A/B amps and possibly the Westminster Labs Rei amps. No one has offered an answer to my query yet.
Orrman-I notice that you have Devore O/96 speakers. I found that they are super warm and rich sounding, especially lovely on vocals and small instrumentals. I hope you enjoy your Poseidon.
I've owned Lampizator DACs since 2012. I would say that existence of better tubes and adapters for some of those tubes is not the reason not to get and enjoy a Lampi DAC. They are great with stock tubes and I've seen many happy owners who love their Lampi DACs and don't bother. It is just that some people found out by doing that a DAC can be improved even further with better tubes or with tubes that are more suitable for a particular system. So better/different tubes are a bonus, an icing on a cake. Albeit, a big one. And tubes are not expensive. Some are, but some are cheap. One way to go, is get a Lampi DAC, burn it in, enjoy it for some time, whatever this time is and whatever is comfortable for the owner, and then when the owner wants to try something new or is eager to upgrade, get Some tubes and be surprised, inspired, shocked and ultimately happy once more.
Here is what tubes in a DAC do:
1. Improve the sound of the entire system due to better system matching, e.g. any system is unique and a different tube (not necessarily a better one) can make your DAC more synergistic with your particular system. I heard huge improvements with "worse" tubes due to this.
2. Provided the system synergy is there, better tubes = better sound in all areas. Like getting a more expensive component.
In short, consider getting better sound with better tubes a bonus, and this bonus you can postpone for as long as you personally want.
But tubes are probably much cheaper than a very good power cable that can also do a Lot. So... personally I would now do both, and then the best digital cable I can afford. Among those 3 tubes can be the cheapest.
@Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus
