Introducing the LampizatOr Poseidon DAC

[respected_ent]

I have a matched quad of E81L tubes with TP adapters available. If interested, please pm me.

 

[Kreatif]

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Poseidon​

A New Reference by LampizatOr​

We rode the waves of success with our iconic “Horizon DAC”, which raised the bar higher than we ever thought possible for digital sound. But then, we faced a challenge. With all we have learned and discovered in creating the Horizon, the gap between our flagship and the rest of the line was too large.

Of course our statement piece should stand above and beyond the rest of our line, however, with all we have learned, and my own personal philosophy of wanting to bring audio pleasure to all, even those not operating in the highest of budgets, we have decided to trickle down much of what we have learned to create The Poseidon DAC, inspired by the Greek God of the Sea, bringing you closer to the horizon of audio pleasure, with Introductory Pricing at half the price of the Horizon DAC.

This DAC will share substantial DNA with the Horizon, in terms of sound quality, aesthetics, build quality and the ability to bring musical joy to even the most hardcore of analog fans. It aims to not only compete with, but better, any DAC at any price, outside of our own product line, at a cost accessible to a wide audience.

Poseidon will single handedly replace 3 DAC models in 4 variations each, all together 12
DAC models. It is a huge task next to impossible. From Big7 SE to the beloved Pacific DAC.

Why Poseidon?​

• Inherits the glorious design style of the Horizon.
• Customizable aesthetics! Choose between the sleek Silver Sahara and the enigmatic Black Hole.
• Replaces 12 of our DAC models – A monumental achievement!
• Approaches the Horizon’s unmatched sound quality, ready to serenade even the staunchest analog purists.

Innovations Galore!​

1. New Remote Control & OLED Display – Control and clarity right at your fingertips!
2. Vast Array of Tube Options – Customize your audio experience to perfection.
3. Integrated Volume Control – First-of-its-kind, right within the tube scheme.
4. Record-Breaking Impedance Levels – implementing our highest input and lowest output impedance levels ever maximum compatibility with most every system.
5. A redesigned auto mute circuit minimizing digital artifacts

A Closer Look at the Tube Compliment​

Features the precision of the 6N1P (Soviet Army) input and I/V conversion stage.
Packed with 12 triodes, including the trusted 5U4G rectifier, 4 double triodes, and 4 single triodes. A robust amplification stage to ensure crystal-clear audio output.

Debuting the Engine 11X: The Digital Powerhouse!​

Crafted especially for Poseidon, the 11.X engine boasts:

• Software-driven & firmware configurable setup.
• Complete isolation from USB and i2S lines.
• Ultra-precise clocking mechanism.
• Supports DSD512 and PCM 768 kHz as standard.

The Poseidon is a true reference level source. We have implemented everything we have learned to date within our operating budget to bring a solution that stands above all competitors sonically, aesthetically and in terms of heirloom quality build.

This thread can serve as the de facto information thread for sharing information, impressions and inquiring about the Poseidon.

And now for a sneak peek of the brand new chassis. Kindly note the machined aluminum in these images is raw.:

Hello everyone, it's my pleasure to share my review of LampizatOr Poseidon on SondNews.net.

LampizatOr Poseidon — A God with a Human Soul - Soundnews

— One — Disclaimer. How does one write about true Gods? Is it by kneeling, acknowledging, and witnessing their supremacy and inhuman powers? Is it by glorifying their impressive stature and otherworldly beauty, or delving deep into their souls? Most of these divine beings reveal a soulless...

soundnews.net

I really love my Poseidon and probably I could not be very objective in this situation But I tried.
I hope it will be a relaxing read. Regardless, please share any feedback you may have. Thank you so much for your interest!

Best Regards,
Catalin Cristescu

 

[Golum]

Super nice review and the way how You've put it together

 

[Kreatif]

Super nice review and the way how You put it together

Thank you so much!

 

[Mamon]

Hello everyone, it's my pleasure to share my review of LampizatOr Poseidon on SondNews.net.

LampizatOr Poseidon — A God with a Human Soul - Soundnews

— One — Disclaimer. How does one write about true Gods? Is it by kneeling, acknowledging, and witnessing their supremacy and inhuman powers? Is it by glorifying their impressive stature and otherworldly beauty, or delving deep into their souls? Most of these divine beings reveal a soulless...

soundnews.net

I really love my Poseidon and probably I could not be very objective in this situation But I tried.
I hope it will be a relaxing read. Regardless, please share any feedback you may have. Thank you so much for your interest!

Best Regards,
Catalin Cristescu

Cool review with a lot of love, I've been living for a year and I agree with everyone, but there's one thing to note, driver lamps also have a strong effect.
I own a Tesla and I also didn't hear the strong influence of the lamps on the left until I changed to a Philips ecc40 50s. They had a very strong influence on musicality and transparency.
Highly recommended.
The Tesla e88c can't do that.

 

[Kreatif]

Cool review with a lot of love, I've been living for a year and I agree with everyone, but there's one thing to note, driver lamps also have a strong effect.
I own a Tesla and I also didn't hear the strong influence of the lamps on the left until I changed to a Philips ecc40 50s. They had a very strong influence on musicality and transparency.
Highly recommended.
The Tesla e88c can't do that.

Thank you so much for your appreciation and kind words! Is there a reliable source for this? And also for the adapters? Thank you!

 

[Mamon]

Thank you so much for your appreciation and kind words! Is there a reliable source for this? And also for the adapters? Thank you!

Philips is rare, I found it at a local market. You need to search on ebay..

The @Laszlo adapter is here on the forum.

 

[Jjjue]

I am a Poseidon owner and love it! I recently purchased a Valvo 2504G and am looking for a TP adapter. Please let me know if you have for sale.

 

[SeagoatLeo]

I purchased the Westminster Labs Quest 2 pre-amp. It is very superior to the Poseidon pre-amp stage. When posters write about warmth, resolution and airiness, I understand as I used the Poseidon for about 1.5 years. With the Quest 2 pre-amp for the past several months, I've experienced another level of warmth, resolution and airiness, with stock Poseidon tubes. I did try a highly recommended RCA smooth black plate with hanging D getter rectifier. Even warmer but less resolving and too dark, less open although depth was quite good. I'd like to know what systems and genre of music others have & enjoy that they require tube rolling. My other equipment for digital includes the WL Rei monoblock class A amps, Jay's Audio CDt3Mk3 CD transport, all WL Ultra cabling except for SPIDF cable and Von Schweikert VR9 Mk2 upgraded speakers. As I indicated earlier, the Poseidon pre-amp section sounded excellent for analog but not as compelling for digital.

 

[ronfint]

I had my Poseidon updated with the new dual mono digital engine E12x2 in October, and it’s been home in my system for almost 3 weeks. This was a very big update that came with major improvement. There is a post on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/528652417885048 ) from someone who had their Pacific similarly updated, and I agree with everything said there. In my system, the new digital engine brings much more resolving power with a lot more detail apparent in the music.

This improvement is not dependent on the tubes being used, but I still prefer the same tubes that I posted about a while ago. It would be interesting to know how the Poseidon or the Pacific with Engine E12x2 compares with the Horizon or Horizon 360. (Having heard only the Poseidon, I can’t say.)

At any rate, I’m very happy with this update, and I’m grateful to Rob Reich of LampiNA and to the Lampizator factory for making it happen.

 

[Socrates428]

I had my Poseidon updated with the new dual mono digital engine E12x2 in October, and it’s been home in my system for almost 3 weeks. This was a very big update that came with major improvement. There is a post on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/528652417885048 ) from someone who had their Pacific similarly updated, and I agree with everything said there. In my system, the new digital engine brings much more resolving power with a lot more detail apparent in the music.

This improvement is not dependent on the tubes being used, but I still prefer the same tubes that I posted about a while ago. It would be interesting to know how the Poseidon or the Pacific with Engine E12x2 compares with the Horizon or Horizon 360. (Having heard only the Poseidon, I can’t say.)

At any rate, I’m very happy with this update, and I’m grateful to Rob Reich of LampiNA and to the Lampizator factory for making it happen.

Nice! And great to see HDMI/i2S available, too, and not just tethered to Taiko (good choice to break free here from the very limited pairing for the many of us not wanting a $50k computer...). My original Poseidon was, to me, clearly behind SOTA in detail plus (related) had a high noise floor no matter what tubes or power cords or power filtration used, so the E12x2 appears to be a wonderful upgrade here.

Any updates to the preamp side too, hopefully? I agree with the prior posters that the preamp, though good, holds the DAC back, and it really comes to life with improved dynamics and dimensionality with a preamp in the mix.

 

[ronfint]

Nice! And great to see HDMI/i2S available, too, and not just tethered to Taiko (good choice to break free here from the very limited pairing for the many of us not wanting a $50k computer...). My original Poseidon was, to me, clearly behind SOTA in detail plus (related) had a high noise floor no matter what tubes or power cords or power filtration used, so the E12x2 appears to be a wonderful upgrade here.

Any updates to the preamp side too, hopefully? I agree with the prior posters that the preamp, though good, holds the DAC back, and it really comes to life with improved dynamics and dimensionality with a preamp in the mix.

As far as I know, this is a digital engine upgrade only. I don't know if anything else is involved in Poseidon 2.

 

[fbs]

Is E12x2 related to I2S support or simply superior in terms of SQ to E12 and/or E11P?

 

[ronfint]

Is E12x2 related to I2S support or simply superior in terms of SQ to E12 and/or E11P?

The second, I think. E12x2 and I2S support are separate lines on the updated price list.

 

[SeagoatLeo]

I purchased the Westminster Labs Quest 2 pre-amp. It is very superior to the Poseidon pre-amp stage. When posters write about warmth, resolution and airiness, I understand as I used the Poseidon for about 1.5 years. With the Quest 2 pre-amp for the past several months, I've experienced another level of warmth, resolution and airiness, with stock Poseidon tubes. I did try a highly recommended RCA smooth black plate with hanging D getter rectifier. Even warmer but less resolving and too dark, less open although depth was quite good. I'd like to know what systems and genre of music others have & enjoy that they require tube rolling. My other equipment for digital includes the WL Rei monoblock class A amps, Jay's Audio CDt3Mk3 CD transport, all WL Ultra cabling except for SPIDF cable and Von Schweikert VR9 Mk2 upgraded speakers. As I indicated earlier, the Poseidon pre-amp section sounded excellent for analog but not as compelling for digital.

I have to amend my prior post. I reinserted the RCA rectifier after altering the footers and shelf. It still was darker sounding until about the 50th hour when it opened up. I read that the no longer made Elrog 5U4 (due to lack of thoriated tungsten filament material) was the best 5U4 for the sound I desired. As to the pre-amp section, it is quite good for use for my Nakamichi cassette deck and 78 rpm records although I definitely prefer my EAR 324 phono pre-amp directly into the Quest 2 with an XLR cable.