LampizatOr Golden Atlantic + TRP

[Monsterzero]

Question:

I have a line on a NOS factory matched pair of smoked glass KT66s. However theyre branded Genalex,but the guy says theyre Marconi/Osram. Legit?

 

[leftside]

Question:

I have a line on a NOS factory matched pair of smoked glass KT66s. However theyre branded Genalex,but the guy says theyre Marconi/Osram. Legit?

Yes. What are the date codes?

Genalex was the branding for the US market I think.

 

[Monsterzero]

Yes. What are the date codes?

Genalex was the branding for the US market I think.

I will ask him tomorrow about the codes and let you know in a PM on Head-Fi. Thanks.

 

[christoph]

I will ask him tomorrow about the codes and let you know in a PM on Head-Fi. Thanks.

Why only there?
Please let us know here as well.
Oh, and regarding the sockets in the TRP: yes, they are springy and especially new tubes need to be inserted (and pulled) gently and carefully, IMHO
Older, used tubes often "slide" in and out easier

 

[Zero000]

How solid does the TRP feel when changing tubes? I remember when I first inserted tubes into the Atlantic it felt very "springy" as the tubes are being inserted into a PCB board. This would annoy me if I was tube rolling, but I lived with this in the first Atlantic, as the only tube you roll with that is the rectifier.

With my other tube gear, the tubes are inserted into a solid base/platform. Is the design of the TRP different to the first version of the Atlantic, or are the tubes still being inserted into a PCB board?

When Lampi began much was made of the fact they were hardwired. At least the bits that could be were. Better for SQ they reckoned.

Then they went PCB. Oops. Instant loss of credibility.

I liked the handmade approach personally.

 

[bonzo75]

The big 7 and GG became much better after they went R2R and there were so many other upgrades to chip too. Point to point vs PCB is so theoretical and there were many other changes

 

[Shredder]

Since receiving my TRP upgrade in August, I have been using a quad of Gold Lion KT66s. They sound great. Given that I can tube roll, however, I am getting the itch for something different. I am mostly interested in new current run tubes, not NOS due to price ($950 for quad of GEC KT66) and reliability. Would like to try something a bit warmer than the KT66. From this thread, there seems to be a consensus that the Gold Lion KT66 beats the Kt77s. I am wondering what kind of results people have had with the KT88? I have only seen passing reference to them. Any other suggestions welcome.

BTW, FYI, FWIW, I just switched out my pricey GEC U52 rectifier for a $15 Chatham potato masher. It still needs to break in but I like what I hear thus far. Not a huge difference really, but a touch more warmth. Kind of amazing at that price. And, unlike most, I like how it looks.

Take care all.

 

[Monsterzero]

After trying out a few more expensive rectifiers,I went back to my potato masher as well.

 

[Shredder]

As I am in the mood to tinker, I have also been playing red book PCM instead of upsampled DSD 512. That is sounding surprisingly good to me as well. They are actually sounding pretty close (with limited sample admittedly) although the PCM seems a bit more natural and less bright. Image focus slightly reduced. At least those are my initial impressions. Would be nice to reduce CPU demand and get an sq boost at the same time. We will see.

 

[christoph]

After trying out a few more expensive rectifiers,I went back to my potato masher as well.

Can you name the potato mashers oponents?

 

[Monsterzero]

Can you name the potato mashers oponents?

None of the heavy hitters as all my funds these days are going towards cables,but I prefer the potato masher over the Brimar 5Z4GY and the Raytheon JRK60.
The potato masher seems a bit faster with more detail,which pairs well with my warm ZMF Verite closed headphones.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

yesterday my wife and i had the pleasure of a visit from Lukasz and his girlfriend Rachel. this was an all too brief stop during their ski trip, and Lukasz brought along an Atlantic TRP dac for me to try in my system for a week, he will be back to collect it next weekend. these type visits are one of the real highlights of our hobby. we quickly installed the TRP on it's shelf, installed the tubes, plugged it in and started listening. we used the Gobel Lachorde USB cable into the SGM Extreme server. Emile (from SGM) had installed the Lampi drivers that morning.

until he arrived i had no idea which dac he would end up bringing; the last time i had seen Lukasz was at Axpona last April, he had mentioned a possible ski trip to my neighborhood, and i was commenting that i really liked how the Pacific was sounding......so i had (wrongly) figured that would be the one he would bring. he said that he needed to bring a dac he could reasonably fit in his luggage. enough of that stuff.

the TRP was/is delightful sounding!

i did read the first few pages of this thread to get a feel for the vibe of this product, and it seems Lukasz as would be expected, did bring some nice tubes. right now the recti is the KR 5u4g, and the driver tubes are the NOS GEC KT66's. and this has the latest 'Pacific' type digital engine capable of 512 dsd.

i don't think it's relevant to compare the under $10k TRP to my $120k MSB. to me my comments should be about enjoying the TRP, and how it plays in a cost no object environment with a USB cable 60% of the list price of the dac, and a server 3x the value of the dac. can it deliver in this type system? and how do i think it relates to the (now gone 2 years) GG1.5 i owned?

short answer is yes it delivers, and it gets into the ballpark of the GG1.5 if not the quite the front row seating. maybe a week from now that could change.

yesterday Lukasz sat in my near-field sweet spot for most of the three hours we listened. he had the volume control and the Roon remote, and he mostly played his music, some of which i knew, and others i did not (always the best part of these events). this morning i am going back through the history and listening to these cuts again myself (now in the sweet spot) on both dacs.

more later.......Lukasz and Rachel were a joy to hang with, my wife listened the whole time, and went to dinner with us later......which was really nice.

 

[Ed_K]

Sounds like a great day Mike. Thx for sharing the experience. I bought the Golden Atlantic TRP a few months ago. Thoroughly enjoy it in my humble system. I think it represents exceptional value and with the ability to swap tubes, you can easily shift the output to meet your particular mood and musical preferences. I'm slowly getting into the tube rolling. Currently using the Psvane Acme Supreme 274B with Gold Lion KT-77's. Perhaps the most surprising benefit was how good Lukasz volume control option is. I have removed my Pass XP-30 preamp and running the Lampi direct to my Pass XA amps. So, have fun playing with it this week.

Ed

 

[highstream]

yesterday my wife and i had the pleasure of a visit from Lukasz and his girlfriend Rachel. this was an all too brief stop during their ski trip, ...

Ahh...So that's why it's been slow going for Taras, the U.S. tech, to get Lukasz to follow up with the microcontroller manufacturer to find out what to do about why the microcontroller isn't synchronizing with the DAC chip on my TRP. ;-) It's a long, unfortunate story that I'll recount when things have moved farther along.

 

[wisnon]

Sounds like a great day Mike. Thx for sharing the experience. I bought the Golden Atlantic TRP a few months ago. Thoroughly enjoy it in my humble system. I think it represents exceptional value and with the ability to swap tubes, you can easily shift the output to meet your particular mood and musical preferences. I'm slowly getting into the tube rolling. Currently using the Psvane Acme Supreme 274B with Gold Lion KT-77's. Perhaps the most surprising benefit was how good Lukasz volume control option is. I have removed my Pass XP-30 preamp and running the Lampi direct to my Pass XA amps. So, have fun playing with it this week.

View attachment 60289 Ed

Now that is a killer tube combo. I prefer it to what Mike has. I will have both sets of tubes as my Acme is on the way. I have heard it before from Golum. Only the Tak recti with the NOS el34s or new Kt77 beats yours and not by much.

What is the serial number and engine on your TRP?

 

[Ed_K]

Can you clarify what you mean by the "new KT77's". I got a matched pair from a guy on Ebay that are supposed to be new but if Genelec has new/improved I'd like to try them. These are nice but better is always nicer . The 6CA7's the unit came with sounded pretty good but I have not tried them with the Psvane yet. My unit is -> sn #1589/build date 07/2019/dsd 512/pcm 5942. Do you know what the pcm5942 means? I bought this from Lampi NA and was told it has the latest engine in it.

 

[highstream]

The test report on my Atlantic TRP (sn 1600), bought second hand as a Taras-unofficially modified "Golden Atlantic and then upgraded to a TRP, doesn't show a PCM # or even have a row for it, just a PCB type 53.

Btw, since you and Mike mention Golden Atlantic TRP, does that model actually exist anymore? I thought the word was that the previous GA and A are now combined into one, the Atlantic TRP.

 

[wisnon]

Can you clarify what you mean by the "new KT77's". I got a matched pair from a guy on Ebay that are supposed to be new but if Genelec has new/improved I'd like to try them. These are nice but better is always nicer . The 6CA7's the unit came with sounded pretty good but I have not tried them with the Psvane yet. My unit is -> sn #1589/build date 07/2019/dsd 512/pcm 5942. Do you know what the pcm5942 means? I bought this from Lampi NA and was told it has the latest engine in it.

that is a killer trp.

new kt77 as opposed to vintage ones. You have the correct ones. have you tried philips or red or siemens vintage el34?

 

[wisnon]

The test report on my Atlantic TRP (sn 1600), bought second hand as a Taras-unofficially modified "Golden Atlantic and then upgraded to a TRP, doesn't show a PCM # or even have a row for it, just a PCB type 53.

Btw, since you and Mike mention Golden Atlantic TRP, does that model actually exist anymore? I thought the word was that the previous GA and A are now combined into one, the Atlantic TRP.

yes... both are now the same...only the copper case differs. Cu case is hard to get...

most Cu trps i see locally are upgrades.

 

[LampiNA]

Btw, since you and Mike mention Golden Atlantic TRP, does that model actually exist anymore? I thought the word was that the previous GA and A are now combined into one, the Atlantic TRP.

Actually there are some material differences under the hood though there were supplier complications initially. Caps, choke, chassis, flight case, connectors and tube compliment are some of the most obvious