Lampizator Big7 MK2 Upgrade

dminches

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Has anyone had their Big7 upgraded to an MK2? If so, can you explain the difference in sound before and after the upgrade? I guess a comparison of an original Big7 and the current MK2 would be relevant as well.

It does seem a pretty significant change. I am considering having this done but I am curious what others have heard.]
 

Golum

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Maybe I'm not to relevant to answer your question directly as I did not hear Big7 or Big7 mk2 as such (maybe DerSiebener with tube rectification can be considered as Big7 which I had at home for several weeks) but I've heard Pac, GG2, GA TRP, Amber 3 all with Engine53 and all of those dacs were kicking some serious … And yes e53 in GG2 vs 1, GA vs GA TRP, A3 vs A2 (I heard all those comparisons) has proved to make a significant difference so based on that experience I would say go for it and don't look back.
 
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bonzo75

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Maybe I'm not to relevant to answer your question directly as I did not hear Big7 or Big7 mk2 as such (maybe DerSiebener with tube rectification can be considered as Big7 which I had at home for several weeks) but I've heard Pac, GG2, GA TRP, Amber 3 all with Engine53 and all of those dacs were kicking some serious … And yes e53 in GG2 vs 1, GA vs GA TRP, A3 vs A2 (I heard all those comparisons) has proved to make a significant difference so based on that experience I would say go for it and don't look back.

Does engine53 change the dac being R2R or not?
 
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Golum

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Does engine53 change the dac being R2R or not?
If I understand you correctly - you're asking if they can cohabitate in one DAC? Don't think so..it's either e53 or R2R...
 

bonzo75

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If I understand you correctly - you're asking if they can cohabitate in one DAC? Don't think so..it's either e53 or R2R...

Ok thanks.
 

bonzo75

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I will stick to R2R. Compared GG1 to Lyra atlas through Allnic 7000 and Ypsilon phono (the latter with a Lyra SUT) at dctom through the Ypsilon preamp two weekends ago. Both of us were pretty happy with his R2R GG. Then at Montesquieu with the Miyajima madake and the Allnic 7000 through the top audiopax preamp this Sunday. I returned delighted.

And based on Lampi factory trip, the R2R was so much superior to chip. Haven't compared to engine 53 yet as there was no engine 53 then but I would suggest that anyone who is looking to change should listen for R2R vs non R2R, don't assume one is better regardless of what you read on forums. There is a clear difference with R2R. If you are unable to demo both, then shift only if you are not happy with whatever you currently have.

Also, the Lampi dacs I have consistently liked (Dctom's, Bill's, what Jazzhead is now preferring immensely to his trinity, 75k Stahltek transport plus dac, aqua formula, neodio origine, and TAD are all R2R).
 
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Golum

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Ked I know your preference towards R2R in Lampi so I won't raise the discussion towards that direction, especially as unfortunately you still did not have a chance to hear e53 (which I hope you will do in the near future)..BTW pity you did not manage to visit Al few weeks ago.
In general both of us don't have a clue what dminches has in his big7 as an "engine", but if it's not r2r, to my ears e53 is superior to previous ones by quite a margin and b7 mk2 is sporting e53.
 

bonzo75

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Ked I know your preference towards R2R in Lampi so I won't raise the discussion towards that direction, especially as unfortunately you still did not have a chance to hear e53 (which I hope you will do in the near future)..BTW pity you did not manage to visit Al few weeks ago.
In general both of us don't have a clue what dminches has in his big7 as an "engine", but if it's not r2r, to my ears e53 is superior to previous ones by quite a margin and b7 mk2 is sporting e53.

The Al visit will happen soon this year
 
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dminches

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Ked I know your preference towards R2R in Lampi so I won't raise the discussion towards that direction, especially as unfortunately you still did not have a chance to hear e53 (which I hope you will do in the near future)..BTW pity you did not manage to visit Al few weeks ago.
In general both of us don't have a clue what dminches has in his big7 as an "engine", but if it's not r2r, to my ears e53 is superior to previous ones by quite a margin and b7 mk2 is sporting e53.

I have an R2R engine currently.

Does R2R and E53 refer to PCM and DSD both? Most of my listening is DSD as I am using HQ Player and upscaling to DSD256.
 

bonzo75

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I have an R2R engine currently.

Does R2R and E53 refer to PCM and DSD both? Most of my listening is DSD as I am using HQ Player and upscaling to DSD256.

Do you listen to DSD through the same engine as your PCM or through the separate DSD engine? In the older ones you had to press a button to switch
 

dminches

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Do you listen to DSD through the same engine as your PCM or through the separate DSD engine? In the older ones you had to press a button to switch

Same engine. When I got my upgrade to R2R I no longer had to press the front button to switch.
 

christoph

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I have an R2R engine currently.

Does R2R and E53 refer to PCM and DSD both? Most of my listening is DSD as I am using HQ Player and upscaling to DSD256.

The R2R and the E53 are both auto-sensing when it comes to PCM and DSD. Works flawlessly on both.

My sonic preference regarding Lampi engines is the following:

The 5942 I like the least, the R2R I really love but the E53 is better sounding and absolutely awesome for the price of the DACs it is used in.
The E53 is only bettered by the E57 in the Pacific DAC that is in another league of it's own.

If you don't want to go Pacific, I would upgrade your Big 7 to the E53 engine.
As much as I really love the R2R engine, the E53 is just better ;)
 

christoph

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Zero000

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Well TBH Pacific was sounding so bad at Munich I am not convinced by anything until I get to hear E53 or 57 at home.
 

christoph

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Well TBH Pacific was sounding so bad at Munich I am not convinced by anything until I get to hear E53 or 57 at home.
That is kind of funny because then you listened to MY very own Pacific (that I bought after the High End was over) :D
I can assure you, obviously from personal experience (;)), that this exact Pacific sounds better than any other Lampi DAC model I have heard so far. And I have heard almost all models in my own System just to be clear :p

Maybe you just did not like the AudioNEC Speakers driven by Jadis amps :rolleyes:
 
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bonzo75

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dminches

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I have a renewed interest in my DAC because I am using HQ Player's new EC modulators and they sound great. I built a new PC to run HQ Player so it can upsample to DSD256 without any issues.

This MK2 upgrade seems to be a good one.
 
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christoph

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I have a renewed interest in my DAC because I am using HQ Player's new EC modulators and they sound great. I built a new PC to run HQ Player so it can upsample to DSD256 without any issues.

This MK2 upgrade seems to be a good one.

Earlier I also upsampled via HQPlayer to DSD as well but I came back to playing all native :)
 
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