Sublime, and Surreal
The Genya is my 7th LampizatOr DAC. From 2014 to 2021 I had a Big 5, Big 7, and then the Golden Atlantic TRP. In 2021 I moved to a Tiny House, and then to a boat, so sold my entire system. In that interim I had the Amber DAC/Amp, and then the Fezz Equinox (this is a damn good DAC for the money). Recently I moved back to a house, and am rebuilding a system. I picked up where I left off with the Atlantic TRP. A month later the Genya was announced so I jumped on board.
For reference I’ve also owned many Linn DAC/preamps (prior to 2014), a Meridian, 3 different Wavelength DACs, and the Chord Hugo TT2. And for reference, the Big 7 as it was, to my ears, is better than all of these. I also considered the Atlantic an endgame components – one I would been happy to own and listen to to the end of time. Even with that I was intrigued by the Genya and knowing what Lukasz could build.
I feel like I’m pretty familiar with the LampizatOr ‘sound’ and what to expect from a LampizatOr DAC (or so I thought), which is why it was a no-brainer to come back to the Atlantic when rebuilding a system.
The Genya though is something different entirely. I don’t know if it’s the particular tube, the no frills design, or the Horizon engine, but the sound doesn’t fit with the other LampizatOr DACs I’ve heard. For me, I’m still listening going back and forth between the critical listening and uncovering what’s different and what’s there, and just the pure enjoyment of listening for the sake of listening.
The primary characteristics I would say is sublime. That says everything and nothing. Honestly though it’s hard to describe. At the beginning I added surreal – again everything and nothing – I’ve never heard anything like this.
Does it have all the good sound stuff – soundstage, depth, breadth, clarity, smoothness – absolutely! It is better than the Atlantic – absolutely. A couple others have said it may lack some bass – I can see that – and I’m fortunate to have both volume and crossover knobs on my speakers for bass, so I’m spared any lacking in that area. I did have to turn up the volume a few notches compared to the Atlantic though. Someone also said it seemed to have a more natural decay off notes, and I would agree with that. It seems to do well, as every LampizatOr I’ve heard, with almost any music or style. Brass and horns, women’s voices, piano is particularly good, hard-core rock, blues, and so on. I’ve had it burning in for about 200 hours now, it took at least 100 hours before it started to open up and sing.
I don’t listen to classical or symphonic music much, still I played some to discover more in the Genya. After listening to a few tracks, I am inclined to explore this part of my collection more. Each instrument – brass, woodwinds, strings, harpsichord, percussion – had a beautiful sound and intonation clearly distinct from all the others.
I played my favorites tracks – tracks I’ve played for decades – Chris Rea, Sarah McLachlan, The Wailin’ Jennys, Traveling Wilburys, Mark Knopfler, Blues Brothers, Ebba Forsberg, Jesse Cooke, and others. Perhaps it was lacking a stereo for over 3 years, but every song is even more of a joy to listen to. There have even been a few moments that I would call a double-take – I’m a bit stunned at the sound and what I’m hearing that I just freeze and listen deeper.
While I miss the glow of the tubes, and that box takes up a lot of space – the Genya is an stunning DAC. I have a new endgame component!
The rest of my system – Don Sachs Valhalla pre-amp/amp, Eversolo DMP-A8 streamer, Vaughn Zinfandel speakers with built-in subwoofer in each speaker. Speaker cables are Linn; VooDoo power cables for the speakers; IsoTek power bar; and the rest is Sablon – USB, interconnects, and 3 power cables.
