Aries Cerat, Lampizator, Audio Research, Analysis Omega, Rockports
- Thread starter bonzo75
- Start date
Hi Ked, thanks for this eloquent write-up and your visit!
As you write, with the Aries you can change the bias in a given range and as such change/adjust the sonic signature quite dramatically.
I hadn't realized I still had the bias set at the point where they were at the beginning of the burn-in of the DAC (when the DAC sounded less polished), reason for getting some extra warmth, at the detriment of resolution, in the chain.
Bringing your Lampi forced me to think actively on how to improve the Kassandra again and I am lucky I found it
. It is now, now you have left, 0,1V up from where it was before in my system and I am glad our comparison put my nose on that.
Fact is that with the 242's in place with the omegas, we had a jump factor for a moment. Changing the bias of the Kassandra to match the 242 dynamics was possible although with hinsight I didn't put it up high enough, so in my modest opinion the comparison was not exhausted. You are a master tweaker, whereas I am only at the beginning of the curve Do allow me to say that I found the difference between the 45's and the Kassandra not marginally but very much depends also on what sonic background and expectations we have. You are an avid supporter of panels, I am much less so.
Other than that, a pity the 242 couldn't work in my system with the Aviors as the gain was too high. As noticed with the 45's, as the speaker sensitivity gets higher, the differences start to be more pronounced. This is not saying we all read or hear them in the same way, but that is an old truth!
Now, comparing with >100 dB horns would be the next big thing...
Anyway, the Lampizator is the first DAC I hear in my chain (not that I heard many yet, only the Chord Dave, the Aqua Formula and the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC) which made me scratch the back of my head for a moment. Given its price point, it is clear it is a very good product value.
As you write, with the Aries you can change the bias in a given range and as such change/adjust the sonic signature quite dramatically.
I hadn't realized I still had the bias set at the point where they were at the beginning of the burn-in of the DAC (when the DAC sounded less polished), reason for getting some extra warmth, at the detriment of resolution, in the chain.
Bringing your Lampi forced me to think actively on how to improve the Kassandra again and I am lucky I found it
. It is now, now you have left, 0,1V up from where it was before in my system and I am glad our comparison put my nose on that.Fact is that with the 242's in place with the omegas, we had a jump factor for a moment. Changing the bias of the Kassandra to match the 242 dynamics was possible although with hinsight I didn't put it up high enough, so in my modest opinion the comparison was not exhausted. You are a master tweaker, whereas I am only at the beginning of the curve
Do allow me to say that I found the difference between the 45's and the Kassandra not marginally but very much depends also on what sonic background and expectations we have. You are an avid supporter of panels, I am much less so.Other than that, a pity the 242 couldn't work in my system with the Aviors as the gain was too high. As noticed with the 45's, as the speaker sensitivity gets higher, the differences start to be more pronounced. This is not saying we all read or hear them in the same way, but that is an old truth!
Now, comparing with >100 dB horns would be the next big thing...
Anyway, the Lampizator is the first DAC I hear in my chain (not that I heard many yet, only the Chord Dave, the Aqua Formula and the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC) which made me scratch the back of my head for a moment. Given its price point, it is clear it is a very good product value.
Last edited:
Hi Ked, thanks for this eloquent write-up and your visit!
As you write, with the Aries you can change the bias in a given range and as such change/adjust the sonic signature quite dramatically.
I hadn't realized I still had the bias set at the point where they were at the beginning of the burn-in of the DAC (when the DAC sounded less polished), reason for getting some extra warmth, at the detriment of resolution, in the chain.
Bringing your Lampi forced me to think actively on how to improve the Kassandra again and I am lucky I found it
Fact is that with the 242's in place with the omegas, we had a jump factor for a moment. Changing the bias of the Kassandra to match the 242 dynamics was possible although with hinsight I didn't put it up high enough, so in my modest opinion the comparison was not exhausted. You are a master tweaker, whereas I am only at the beginning of the curve
Other than that, a pity the 242 couldn't work in my system with the Aviors as the gain was too high. As noticed with the 45's, as the speaker sensitivity gets higher, the differences start to be more pronounced. This is not saying we all read or hear them in the same way, but that is an old truth!
Now, comparing with >100 dB horns would be the next big thing...
Anyway, the Lampizator is the first DAC I hear in my chain (not that I heard many yet, only the Chord Dave, the Aqua Formula and the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC) which made me scratch the back of my head for a moment. Given its price point, it is clear it is a very good product value.
Michel, I beg to differ. At its price point, it is better with the 242
. I scratched my head that the special 45s could not beat it - first dac I have heard. And that is the second best valve, though a far low second as those who have read our Lampi reports know. Regarding the gain, gain is one thing, valve factor is another. As you see, even with 45 when system gain is matched, sonic characteristic is not the same. I agree with you that Aries pulled ahead more on the Rockport compared to the 45. My word marginal was w.r.t to on the Analysis.
As for if I had Rockports, I would adjust system gain with the pre and power. Christoph already used 242 with his Lampi on his Odeon 32s, and he is very happy with the results. He has two amps, they didn't work with one, they work with the Kronzilla.
for me, strategy is speaker first (Apogee or horns), Lampi next (I have had Jadis pre power, NAT top of the range pre and power (75k total or so), and they did not compare to what Lampi did. That is true with Analog as well. Then get the power amp to drive the speaker, and the pre to drive the power. So while auditioning the pre, I can adjust it to the system gain. Also, Lukasz can equally adjust the Lampi gain to suit an existing system.
That said, the one amp that did melt my heart was the li'l brother of what you own - the Tenor 75 OTL .
I thank you for the tweaker comment and return it. You are new to the Aries, yet you fixed that quickly. I have been with Lampi for 3 years, and will continue to be until someone buys me out with a Techdas trade in.
Guys, it is a pleasure to deal with Michel. His hard work with his clients is incredible.
Interesting read Ked and reflects my experience also with 242s as you well know having seen them beat any other tube by a country mile in my system. The Kassandra must be a great dac to be ahead with the GG running special 45's.
What level of Impera preamp was this one?
Michel - that room is to die for! Amazingly done. What is the noise floor in there with nothing on? Imagine the imaging to be superb?
What level of Impera preamp was this one?
Michel - that room is to die for! Amazingly done. What is the noise floor in there with nothing on? Imagine the imaging to be superb?
His room has challenging dimensions but the sound treatment is excellent, and not at all dead etc - he has had a lot of experience with bass traps style stuff and prefers these. I have to do an SMT write up in due course
Thank you for the compliments on the room.
Noise floor is very very low as it is in a concrete basement. As i cannot measure below 30 dB with my phonic, i can only tell the noise floor is below 30... very good already, and not one cubic cm of absorber in there, i.e. no energy is lost but equalized by the SMT wings and the helmholtz resonators.
This is the Impera 2, the basic impera in other words.
well, good news for you, Tenor Audio still has one or two on the shelf, with full Tenor warranty. So, be careful what you wish for
it influences the gain of the unit in which you change it. Or at least the sensation of it... i am not a techie mind you...
Those who have the finances and haven't picked these up, check your speakers before you do anything else - can these drive them? Do you want to change your speakers to something these can drive? If one or the other, pick them up. Thank me later
Wait till you guys do some recti rolling and also try out the PX4 and PX25s too. Finally, all PCM? The pride and joy of the Lampi is the chipless DSD engine. Kedar, you really need to do the latest upgrades. Not sure if you have latest firmware and super clocks, plus the chipless DSD512 engine. Just got mine back and its a different/better Dac than before!
Glad you guys had fun.
Glad you guys had fun.
Px25 and Px4 - could have been used for tone compare, but wouldn't have been better on other aspects. I don't have the clocks and 512 yet. A
Correct, that's my case.
I must say after the last upgrade I love my B7 even more, the new PCM is outsanding, for me it's now equal to DSD engine.
Last but not least the new unpowered Salamandra usb cable is a game changer.
Just a quick question, when you swapped tubes out and the gain went up did you rebalance the SPL level so you were listening at the same level as previously? Did you check level between demos?
Very good question, and that is effectively important, whether changing tubes or equipment... not always easy effectively. As Bonzo was in the 'driving seat' 95% of the time, me sitting on the side, he had control over that element.
so no, we did not have an SPL meter at hand.
In your opinion were you listening louder when the 242s were swapped in or was it close to the same level?
We moved volumes. With the 242 we brought down volume by 8 steps (13 to 5). And we moved up and down with both dacs. The SQ benefits with 242 were no question. Even at the side. With the the Rockport, in one case we found that volume at 4 and 5 had huge differences, so we could not adjust exactly, as the Aries preamp jumps up by 2db from 4 to 5.
It has surely cut the gap, but i still give the DSD512 engine the edge. loL
Still regret that we did meet up that time...would have been such fun and an honour!
Brad when Chris gets the 242s and has his setup sorted out, i am sure you will hear for yourself. Pity you guys are so far away...I would relish another meetup soon! Perhaps next Saturday? LoL
Last edited:
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |