LampizatOr Baltic 3

[mourip]

There's no High/Low gain switch on the B3 anymore, hopefully "it just works" for everyone now...

Mine came with the switch but I have not moved it from high position except once to see if it made a sonic difference. I thought that the low setting took away a bit of SQ so I never went back to it even with my e80cc tubes which are supposed to have a bit more gain than a 12AU7.

 

[LutzderErste]

Mine came with the switch but I have not moved it from high position except once to see if it made a sonic difference. I thought that the low setting took away a bit of SQ so I never went back to it even with my e80cc tubes which are supposed to have a bit more gain than a 12AU7.

me too

 

[VoicesInMyHead]

I got a pair of RCA 12bh7a with black plates dimpled D getter from 1958 the other day. I first put them in my amplifier for use in it's preamp section but they turned out to be incredibly microphonic! I've not heard a tube ring like that before when tapping it or by only adjusting the volume, and bear in mind I've picked up radio transmissions from airplanes some years ago! I decided to swap place with the Tungsram e80cc and put them in B3 instead. This seems to work much better!

Reading up on it I guess the 12bh7 was never meant to be a preamp tube and it seems it's actually not uncommon for it to be a bit microphonic in these situations, but the good thing is that it seems to work fine in the Lampi and that the DAC is not as sensitive as my amplifier.

I think both the e80cc and the 12bh7a was a good improvement from the Mullard cv4003's I was using in the B3 before.

 

[Miki70]

Hi and greetings,

My name is Miguel Casellas, Im from Mexico and I would love to become a happy Lampi Owner

I have been reading a lot lately about the Baltic 3, I just sold my Terminator-II a few days ago in order to upgrade to the Baltic, but now im on a stop situation until i can clear things in order to move on on my right direction, since some changes have been issuing the B3,
FIRST: the engine, Lukasz says that there is a new engine ( How is it: better ? ) since feb 2022.
SECOND: The Volume Control, i have read that the Volume control has fitted better to somebodies ears with their preamps on the $10 to 25K...I still having my Denafrips Athena which is a steal for 2,000 usd and I will keep it if I get the B3 with VC so I can A/B, and...
THIRD: the NEW added pacific display that will come standard on all B3 with VC, but although i can see this happening i have no clue of how are the performances on the new engine vs the previous... Do any of you Gents have VC on your B3 ?

I can see you guys have a profound love to your B3, I thought to message you all and bother you with my doubts and maybe someone can share.

Thanks in advance and all the best to you all.
Peace !
Miguel

 

[jonstine]

Hi and greetings,

My name is Miguel Casellas, Im from Mexico and I would love to become a happy Lampi Owner

I have been reading a lot lately about the Baltic 3, I just sold my Terminator-II a few days ago in order to upgrade to the Baltic, but now im on a stop situation until i can clear things in order to move on on my right direction, since some changes have been issuing the B3,
FIRST: the engine, Lukasz says that there is a new engine ( How is it: better ? ) since feb 2022.
SECOND: The Volume Control, i have read that the Volume control has fitted better to somebodies ears with their preamps on the $10 to 25K...I still having my Denafrips Athena which is a steal for 2,000 usd and I will keep it if I get the B3 with VC so I can A/B, and...
THIRD: the NEW added pacific display that will come standard on all B3 with VC, but although i can see this happening i have no clue of how are the performances on the new engine vs the previous... Do any of you Gents have VC on your B3 ?

I can see you guys have a profound love to your B3, I thought to message you all and bother you with my doubts and maybe someone can share.

Thanks in advance and all the best to you all.
Peace !
Miguel

My new Baltic 3 with VC and new display is on its way from Poland.

1. I don’t know which engine is on it. “53” got a lot of press, but that had DSD512 I believe, and the newer Baltic 3 advertises DSD256, so not sure.

2. I have heard the same, and intend to use mine as a preamp as well, hence why I added the VC option.

3. Confirmed. From June 1st this year, all new VC units will have the Pacific display, and also remove the Lampizat0r ring light.

I don’t have any previous exposure to Lampi, and bought the Baltic 3 without having seen or heard one, but doing lots of research and reading. I won’t be able to give you any impressions on how it sounds versus previous engines and versions prior to this, but I will give you my honest perspective on how it sounds when I get a chance to break it in. Should be later next week!

 

[Miki70]

My new Baltic 3 with VC and new display is on its way from Poland.

1. I don’t know which engine is on it. “53” got a lot of press, but that had DSD512 I believe, and then newer Baltic 3 advertises DSD256, so not sure.

2. I have heard the same, and intend to use mine as a preamp as well, hence why I added the VC option.

3. Confirmed. From June 1st this year, all new VC units will have the Pacific display, and also remove the Lampizat0r ring light.

I don’t have any previous exposure to Lampi, and bought the Baltic 3 without having seen or heard one, but doing lots of research and reading. I won’t be able to give you any impressions on how it sounds versus previous engines and versions prior to this, but I will give you my honest perspective on how it sounds when I get a chance to break it in. Should be later next week!

Basically you and ( me hopefully soon ) are the NKOTB

Looking forward to your impressions

Thanks for your gentile feedback

 

[wisnon]

The B3 is an incredible value for the money.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hi Miguel!

Welcome to WBF!

 

[Ron Resnick]

I spent the afternoon yesterday listening to JimFord's new Baltic 3 + Aurender streamer. We did not have another DAC in the system to compare to the Baltic 3 on an apples-to-apples basis.

I always like the sound of JimFord's Tannoy Westminster RG loudspeakers and Canary tube amps system to begin with. I think the Baltic 3 sounded very good, and I think it is an amazing value at its MSRP! I wonder what more the Golden Gate 2 brings to the table at a multiple of the price of the Baltic 3.

 

[Sablon Audio]

Here’s a data point you might find interesting Ron.

I recently had a friend with a rather exotic system visit and he found mine to sound better. He uses Pacific / top model Kondo pre & power / feastrix field coil speakers. My system (in the footer) is relatively modest however I have a superior source (Extreme v his Melco). Put simply, Baltic is an over-performer when fed with a top notch signal.

 

[wisnon]

I spent the afternoon yesterday listening to JimFord's new Baltic 3 + Aurender streamer. We did not have another DAC in the system to compare to the Baltic 3 on an apples-to-apples basis.

I always like the sound of JimFord's Tannoy Westminster RG loudspeakers and Canary tube amps system to begin with. I think the Baltic 3 sounded very good, and I think it is an amazing value at its MSRP! I wonder what more the Golden Gate 2 brings to the table at a multiple of the price of the Baltic 3.

B3 is hard to beat, even at price multiple. Perfect start to any Lampi journey, though people tell me the Amber 4 is special too. As for the Horizon, I wish I had the budget...

 

[jonstine]

She’s here! Only about 2 hours on the new Baltic 3, but already a considerable improvement over my previous DAC (Black Ice Audio FX DSD).

I’ll give more impressions as break-in occurs, but right off the bat I notice a much cleaner and clearer high end. Not sharp, but clear. Excited to see how the next several hundred hours play out!

 

[Miki70]

Hi Miguel!

Welcome to WBF!

Thank you Ron

Warm Regards !
Miguel

 

[byZan]

Now I have also had my Baltic 3 delivered a few weeks ago.
Since my main system in the home has been taken down due to the fact that my D'Agostino S250 that I have there has been upgraded to MxV, I took the opportunity to redo a bit.
So Baltic 3 had to take place in the cabin's system to be tested and compared to the Lumin X1 I have in that system. I do not have a pure streamer there so Lumin had to take that place via USB (Sablon). No optimal connection, which was also heard. I could state that Lumin should play as intended and that makes it damn good. But heard that with Baltic it got better on many levels. So I was even more excited to get it in place at home where it was intended to take place from the beginning and now it plays there, but unfortunately with the same connection as before but now with Lumin S1 as streamer.
More about this in my thread here

Concludes by writing that I am super happy with the choice of Baltic 3 and have already tested another rectifier tube with positive reactions as a result. This will be good when everything has settled down.

/ byZan

 

[Miki70]

She’s here! Only about 2 hours on the new Baltic 3, but already a considerable improvement over my previous DAC (Black Ice Audio FX DSD).

I’ll give more impressions as break-in occurs, but right off the bat I notice a much cleaner and clearer high end. Not sharp, but clear. Excited to see how the next several hundred hours play out!

View attachment 95519

How is the B3 sounding so far, could you comment on the Volume control side, is it good or superb ?

 

[Ron Resnick]

Can the Baltic 3 be ordered without the volume control?

 

[VoicesInMyHead]

Can the Baltic 3 be ordered without the volume control?

Absolutely, and that's my personal preferred way, to keep the DAC simple. We are lucky to be able to customise a bit for our different needs. IIRC the volume option was not even available from the beginning but added later, probably by popular demand. I think it was said the B3 come as it is, no choices except LED ring color to keep production simple, but having once opened Pandora's box, it's difficult to close it again....

 

[cpcat]

I like the new faceplate/display on the VC models. I wonder if Big 7 Mk2 and GG2 are now shipping with these too.

 

[christoph]

I like the new faceplate/display on the VC models. I wonder if Big 7 Mk2 and GG2 are now shipping with these too.

I agree they look great!

 

[wisnon]

Can the Baltic 3 be ordered without the volume control?

Yes, the VC is optional.