Venit, vidit, Lampucera

[davidavdavid]

For whatever reason, I woke up far too early and having nothing better to do I turned to YouTube, as one does, and on my home page the video I'm posting below at the top of the suggested video list. It was informational, to say the least:

DIY: Lampucera

 

[Carlsbad]

So does his DAC have Engine 11?

I like this guy a lot. (this is the first time I've ever seen him. I don't spend much time on youtube because I have to listen to it. I prefer to read while listening to music).

When I was young and poor I would have been all over this. He shares a lot of design priorities and component preference with my own strategies. I wish he was in the US, I would invite him to bring it over and compare to my new GG3. I did notice his comment on the output cap sizes and I think I'll look inside and see what the GG3 has. The GG3 has tremendous "kick" (the term he used) so I'm just curious, not likely to start modifying it yet but I'm never above modiifying anything I own.

Notice at the end he lists some of the things he didn't include that are standard on modern DACs. For high end DACs like Lampi, this is not a problem. I'm sure they are all implemented in a way that does not degrade sound. But when you are a budget DAC maker ($3K or less) trying to mass produce dACs, then the mass produced DACs may have to do things that degrade sound. This could explain some of why he is so happy with the performace of this DAC. I am a minimalist at heart but can aford the luxury of a Lampizator.

 

[matsurus]

That was interesting..
I think i might build one, i just built TDA1541A tube dac, so it would be interesting to see how it could compare..

 

[davidavdavid]

That was interesting..
I think i might build one, i just built TDA1541A tube dac, so it would be interesting to see how it could compare..

In the last segment, he talked about different brands of capacitors and sizes, and one of his crew swapped out capacitors for larger ones in his Lampizator Baltic 3.

Granted, I have to/want to believe that the internal construction has evolved exponentially since this EARLIER design, but by how much ??? hmmm...

 

[matsurus]

In the last segment, he talked about different brands of capacitors and sizes, and one of his crew swapped out capacitors for larger ones in his Lampizator Baltic 3.

Granted, I have to/want to believe that the internal construction has evolved exponentially since this EARLIER design, but by how much ??? hmmm...

No idea. never heard Lampizator before so interested to see how this one sounds..

I have heard gustard R26 (that iiwi compared) and i think it is a very fine dac, my friend who owns it does not like that it makes instruments larger than they are sometimes but i don't care, i like it big.
Only thing that was quite missing was organic flow, and more alive quality of vocals from my earlier tube tda1543dac i compared r26 with.
So, if this lampucera has tonality that betters r26 and even better holographic soundstage, i definitely will be interested since i don't have money right now for 10.000e dacs..

 

[Carlsbad]

In the last segment, he talked about different brands of capacitors and sizes, and one of his crew swapped out capacitors for larger ones in his Lampizator Baltic 3.

Granted, I have to/want to believe that the internal construction has evolved exponentially since this EARLIER design, but by how much ??? hmmm...

Looking at the build sheet for my Lampizator Golden Gate 3, I see that the output caps are 1.0uF....wouldn't be hard to change them out, even if just for an experiment.

Jerry

 

[matsurus]

You should if you want, i have changed many capacitors in gear, but not to same brand and just bigger value.

If you do it, report away what you hear..
Also parts quality matter, audio note dac 1.1x and 5.5x has same circuit, more expensive has better parts.

 

[Carlsbad]

You should if you want, i have changed many capacitors in gear, but not to same brand and just bigger value.

If you do it, report away what you hear..
Also parts quality matter, audio note dac 1.1x and 5.5x has same circuit, more expensive has better parts.

I may have in stalled a capacitor or two in my 40+ years of tweeking.

 

[matsurus]

Well , i actually ordered the kit from china, same as in video.
It should come in a month or two, and as it happens i already have in stock 2.2uf audyn true copper in hand + case..
I have to design and build my speaker on the side though, so no idea of any timelines but lampucera is happening..

 

[Superchunk]

I'm getting interested in doing this as well, please update us when you get building

 

[Nuforce]

I switched off he said the output stage uses 9 pin tubes.

 

[Chris1967]

I will try this out, and report back.

I have already experience with the Lampucera (with tube buffer) he is talking about (Version 1 with one opamp), and i have a Lampucera2 (with 3 opamps) no output buffer, which i am using at the moment with my headphone rig.

They both sound rich, full with adequate detail, but very addictive sound. They are by no means a match to my Rockna Wavedream, but they are never meant to be.

I have never tried out one of these dacs without the opamp output stage together with Lampization, so i am also curious.

 

[Superfi]

Lampucera PCB in CNC milled aluminum case. Fully modded...
Western electric (or directly, Raven by Lynn Olson) inspired output stage. Since DAC has differential outputs I want to use it that way (BTW my whole system is balanced/differential).
Audio path parts (tubes and surrounding parts) and smoothing caps (DC link MKP) are on CNC milled teflon boards.
PY88 TV damper diodes are also on CNC machined teflon pcb. Those diodes are described in Lynn Olson article as lowest noise devices and smoothest of all rectifiers. So, why not? We use them already with great success in AMity amplifier.
Choke and anode voltage are on double C cores, R cores for DAC voltages, Vacuum state shunt reg for E182CC which are tightly matched.
Lundahl nano crystalline core output transformers, wired in step down ratio (to have standard output level and lowest output impedance).
All signal wiring with Neotech OCC silver.
RCA and XLR outputs
USB (by Amanero), AES-EBU and bnc digital inputs
22 kg, all allu custom made case.

Had in the past ML 36S/37 combo, Naim CD555, Lampi Baltic 2 anniversary and B3, Aya (NOS TDA 1541A with top grade parts etc). I enjoy all of them but this one especially.

 

[Mogwai77]

I purchased two sets of the Lampucera Lampizator kit
• One with a tube output stage
• One without

The tube version sounds good
• Z-Jantzen capacitors
• Stock tubes
• Proper R-core transformer

The other kit is almost finished
• Miflex and Mundorf gold-silver-oil capacitors
• As shown in the video

I plan to share my impressions soon, likely within a week.
Are there other DIY Lampucera builds around?