I'm thinking about trying some NOS rectifiers, the Lampi B3 specs says GZ37 can be used, but how about GZ34, are they compatible? Does anyone know?
LampizatOr Baltic 3
- Thread starter VoicesInMyHead
- Start date
Same rectifiers can be used as in all other Lampi dacs meaning TRP, GG2, PAC...for example 5u4g, 5R4GY, 596, 274b,422a,GZ34,.......................
On my dealer, Greg's advice, I replaced the supplied Russian rectifier with a Psvane Acme 274b and it was a nice upgrade. It improved the overall drive and impact of the sound, much like rolling the output tubes. I have a Telefunken ECC82-TK (12AU7) pair that replaced the stock output tubes, and Greg has given me three other pairs to try, which I shall do this weekend.
I actually have a more or less brand new Psvane Acme 274b in a box here, which suffered from the same advice I gave you yesterday to keep them running for a bit longer....
I got the KR 5U4G RK just a few days after and I'm feeling bad about not giving the Acme more hours. While I felt the KR was an instant upgrade at the time I should probably swap them for a while. Either way, having NOS tubes in the rest of the DAC I feel tempted to go there with the recti also.@Golum thanks! ...and that 596 looks devilicious!
Guys try good NOS rectifiers and I’m almost sure you’ll forget about the new production ones and you can find fantastic ones for less $ then new production...
Lukasz Fikus said every 5 volt rectifier can be used in a Lampi DAC
It's been a while so I thought I should provide an update for the Lampi tube roller lunatics club.
You may recall my last substantial post was on the topic of selecting the best match for my system in the 6SN7 spot. That award went to the red base RCAs, hands down.
Today has been spent rolling the back row on the Lampi Baltic 3. My dealer, Greg, kindly supplied three pairs to try, as shown in the photo.
First up were the RCA tubes. They offered a nice uplift in quality over the Telefunken ECC82-TK (12AU7) which I bought from SX Pro as a replacement for the factory supplied tubes. Mainly an improvement in clarity, like a veil has been lifted from the music.
Next came the Mullards, which come exquisitely packaged in their original boxes. They seem to drive my power amp better than the RCA tubes, and I think there is a tiny bit more detail and timbre from them. A more three dimensional rendition of the music.
The final set are the Mullards in the white boxes. They glow intensely when I turn the unit on, then they settle down. Whilst It's getting hard to tell the Mullards apart, I think I like these best. They have real presence compared to the others and more pronounced bass. Perhaps that's an artefact of detail? Who knows?
My only concern is that this last pair are marked "Mike" on the boxes. I hope he doesn't want them back ;-) You can see them installed on my B3 in my second picture and I think they might be impossible to remove!
In any event, this was all made possible by Greg Drygala who kindly loaned three sets for the back row and three sets for the 6SN7 position. I have now settled on the best of each and the DAC sounds glorious. A massive uplift from the factory supplied tubes. If you read this and own a B3, you owe it to yourself to get rollin'
You may recall my last substantial post was on the topic of selecting the best match for my system in the 6SN7 spot. That award went to the red base RCAs, hands down.
Today has been spent rolling the back row on the Lampi Baltic 3. My dealer, Greg, kindly supplied three pairs to try, as shown in the photo.
First up were the RCA tubes. They offered a nice uplift in quality over the Telefunken ECC82-TK (12AU7) which I bought from SX Pro as a replacement for the factory supplied tubes. Mainly an improvement in clarity, like a veil has been lifted from the music.
Next came the Mullards, which come exquisitely packaged in their original boxes. They seem to drive my power amp better than the RCA tubes, and I think there is a tiny bit more detail and timbre from them. A more three dimensional rendition of the music.
The final set are the Mullards in the white boxes. They glow intensely when I turn the unit on, then they settle down. Whilst It's getting hard to tell the Mullards apart, I think I like these best. They have real presence compared to the others and more pronounced bass. Perhaps that's an artefact of detail? Who knows?
My only concern is that this last pair are marked "Mike" on the boxes. I hope he doesn't want them back ;-) You can see them installed on my B3 in my second picture and I think they might be impossible to remove!
In any event, this was all made possible by Greg Drygala who kindly loaned three sets for the back row and three sets for the 6SN7 position. I have now settled on the best of each and the DAC sounds glorious. A massive uplift from the factory supplied tubes. If you read this and own a B3, you owe it to yourself to get rollin'
You guys are very lucky to have dealers lending you tubes to try. I'm more or less always taking a chance when buying...
I'm just going to return to my rectifier thougts for a while. I swapped my the KR 5U4G RK for the Acme 274B for a few days, but even though I could appreciate some of the 274B's qualities my preference was definiely with the RK tube. I consider that contest settled in my setup and I have actually parted with the Acme. My main curiosity was however how old NOS tubes would compare and today I got this cutie delivered by UPS.
GEC U52 with brown base and black anodes. Actually sounding marvellous already, but will give it some time to settle before judging. Currently using it together with Tung-Sol VT-99 and Adzam 12au7 but have another pair of 12au7's on the way from France which feels interesting.
I'm just going to return to my rectifier thougts for a while. I swapped my the KR 5U4G RK for the Acme 274B for a few days, but even though I could appreciate some of the 274B's qualities my preference was definiely with the RK tube. I consider that contest settled in my setup and I have actually parted with the Acme. My main curiosity was however how old NOS tubes would compare and today I got this cutie delivered by UPS.
GEC U52 with brown base and black anodes. Actually sounding marvellous already, but will give it some time to settle before judging. Currently using it together with Tung-Sol VT-99 and Adzam 12au7 but have another pair of 12au7's on the way from France which feels interesting.
B3 in the house again. This time I’m using VT99 with RCA 5u4g top getter and some stock Mullard 12au7 and this really plays fantastic...amazing DAC..
I have a Amber 3. I really like the DAC’s tonal balance and openness, layering, texture, dynamics and top to bottom frequency extention. Gee, I guess you’d have to say I really like most everything about the Amber 3. The Baltic 3 looks very appealing but I wouldn’t want sacrifice much any of the aforementioned attributes to gain or loose in another area. There seems to be a consensus that the Baltic 3 is on the warm side. I wouldn’t categorize the Amber 3 as warm, I hear it as pretty neutral but very extended, but not aggressive on the top and I like that.
I don’t want to trade off high frequency extension for more warmth.
In my dream list of improvements for the Baltic 3 over the Amber 3 I would be thrilled just to have greater Image density and added resolution but retain all the goodies from the Amber 3, any improvements beyond that would be icing on the cake. If anybody has upgraded from the Amber 3 or compared it to the Baltic 3 I would appreciate impressions and if my expectations are too high.
I don’t want to trade off high frequency extension for more warmth.
In my dream list of improvements for the Baltic 3 over the Amber 3 I would be thrilled just to have greater Image density and added resolution but retain all the goodies from the Amber 3, any improvements beyond that would be icing on the cake. If anybody has upgraded from the Amber 3 or compared it to the Baltic 3 I would appreciate impressions and if my expectations are too high.
I came from Amber 3 myself (after having owned L4 DSD, Atlantic and GA before), I know what you mean, I loved that A3 also, for the money it felt like a no-brainer and like you had won the lottery kind of. I tried to make it as clear as I could in the first post of the thread, and I think others who have gone the same way would agree, there's simply no way you're not going to love the B3 even more. I don't think you're loosing anything from A3, but you're gaining so much more, and if you are like I was thinking you're not really into tube rolling.... well... just wait!
I sold my A3 before I got the B3 so I never did any side-by-side comparison, but there was really no need. If B3 is within your budget and you like Lampi DAC's I just don't see how you can go wrong with it. To me it's the sweetspot of price and performance, and while you might not get all the tube options of TRP, GG2 or Pacific, there's more than plenty to choose from.
This Amber 3 just broken a few weeks ago. I’ve had so many “OMG” listening epiphanies regarding what I had been missing prior to the Amber 3. The next logical thought became, I want a more of Lampizator must offer. The Baltic 3 appears to be that leap up.
Don’t think too much - phenomenal unit. If within price range just go with it and you’ll thank us all later. Waiting time at the moment is like two months...so get ready to wait if you decide..
Its exactly the same size as A3 except of course for heigth due to tubes.
There's 3 PDF documents on the top of the Baltic 3 page, with the very logical url:
BALTIC 4 DAC | lampizator
www.lampizatorpoland.com
Not sure why the Batlic 1 hasn't been removed from this page.
Similar threads
