Lukasz Has Done It Again

[Steve Williams]

Set up was a cinch as I only run my system single ended so I have 2 KR 5u4g rectifiers along with a set pf PS Vane KT 88 and I think Im reading it correctly , a second set of KR KT88 tube. A per the photo lukasz posted earlier he seems to recommend the PSVane KT 88 in the rear row (of POS socket) and the KR KT 88 tubes in the front middle row of POS sockets. Much to my surprise, lukasz must have remembered how OCD I am as in the H360 and also running SE I filled the empty right sockets with a spare set of KT 170 (balanced mode requires the be filled with same tubes on the left), Lukasz ovbviated the need for me to fill the 4 outer NEG sockets by provided socket caps labeled Aphrodite. What a nice touch and thank you Lukasz

 

[Steve Williams]

Friends with whom I have already shared the below photos are immediately asking me what happened to my beloved "Mallory Copper top finish" as mine is distinctly different

Mine is the Copper Top Gucci finish which was to my eyes a well worth the purse price as even the copper has a Gucci pattern

So mine is my beloved copper top (which no longer clanks when you pound on it as some of the pundits comment on the previous versions) along with an aluminum body with the front engraved in Gucci finish

Lukasz warned me that this was not a free upgrade option but having seen the prototypes I had no second thoughts and paid the money

 

[Steve Williams]

Let me start with a few photos.. The remote is not like any previous Lampi remote. It is rock solid
and beautiful to look at.

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

The remote

 

[Steve Williams]

The KT88 duo...these are big tubes.....

 

[Steve Williams]

Aphrodite socket caps to preserve the image and the empty 4 POS sockets for SE use

 

[Steve Williams]

Ready to rock and roll

 

[Steve Williams]

I have to take a video the front panel start up as it is beautiful

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

My next thoughts are first impressions and might change BUT it will take a lot to convince me right now that tube rolling will provide better. I cant believe that I am saying this but the sound is so big, and full of so much more. The sound stage has so much more information and seems so holographic that right now I truly cannot tear myself away from what Im hearing. I have had the benefit that Lukasz has used this Aphrodite for a few weeks and the tubes are well run in.

Let me just say that I am a tube roller and Lukasz has thrown down the gauntlet by saying he defies us to find better. I also promised no tube rolling until our event at the end of this month but candidly Im thinking that at the moment I just might have a king's ransom of vintage NOS tubes and adapters to sell.

Granted this is so early in the game and my thoughts might change butI was always taught that first impressions are best impressions and this Aphrodite is a beast

I have not even begun ti explore the depths of the remote as I am going to save that for the coming days as the fibers, phase, screen , tube hours etc all fascinate me BUT at the end of the day it is all about the music and I have to stop here and say to Lukasz. ....I truly never expected the gimormity of Aphrodite......

The last caveat is the ability to finally use my preamp to its fullest and right now I am 8-9 clicks higher on my gain than where I was with the H360 and gain at 63.

More to come tomorrow. Im back behind closed doors. This is going to be a long night

@Sampajanna...you have to start somewhere and as we all agreed, the stock tubes are the starting point. I know you dislike the new rather than vintage tubes and so "DID" I but right now all bets are off

 

[Steve Williams]

Looking at these photos I am shocked that I am not seeing adapters and NOS vintage tubes

 

[Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus]

I just woke up and this is a very good news to wake up to!

 

[Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus]

Open kimono time with some photo peeping

 

[Steve Williams]

Well Im awake here since 0530 and the system is warming up

a few more words about using your own preamp.....I believe now that without the gain control and using my own preamp I am further up on the gain control. Previously I had little control of the sound using my Lamm preamp. as I always fed full signal (63) into my preamp and the gain always resided around the 5-6 detente position There are 24 detente positions on my preamp and last night I found that I was now at 12-13 and I could easily do this without my eardrums bleeding and without any distortion. It was beautiful music and there was so much headroom to spare

Reflecting on the sound which seems so holographic what stood out for me was the slight top end sharpness I heard before with the H360 and my preamp at 5-6 was now completely cone. This does not suggest a softer sound but rather to my ears a somewhat smoother and far more realitic sound . The palette of sound if there could be an analogy was simply so much fuller. The amount of audible information I have now far exceeds what I heard before yet in no way am I denigrating the H360 which to me is a magnificent DAC. The Aphrodite however is just so rock solid in every way. There is no glare and there is absolutely no distortion at the higher levels on my preamp

This is now my 5th Lampi DAC and I have always used the same Lamm preamp I have had for years. I left my room late last night with the feeling that finally I could appreciate the virtues and goodness of my preamp in a manner in which Ihave previously not

And still on my mind is Lukasz dare wherein he defied we users to find better tubes

Comments have been made here about the new Chinese tubes and how they sound terrible . Lukas has picked 2 versions of KT88 (PSVane and KR) and has even recommended which row each version should be placed for the best sound......the PSVane in the rear row and the KR in the front row. As stated I run my system SE and the sound is amazing, so I cannot imagine how running balanced could sound even better but I await the comments of other users

This is a big DAC in every way. To my eyes and ears it not only demands but so also deserves big tubes. Looking at the my beloved tiny E55L and EF802 in my 360 makes me wonder and brings me back to a comment that Lukasz made to me about tube rolling. He told me that what I used in the H360 can be used in the Aphrodite BUT the sound just might not be as good. So also with the 5 volt rectifier which has always been standard I have pause now to wonder if a 4 volt rectifier with adapter could sound better.


For now, with the listening I did last night my 5th Lampi DAC seems to have brought me full circle as to TRP. I remain curious but from what Im hearing and with the lack of any audible distortion for now, I just can't see this any other way.

By the end of my event coming up I will have decided if my cache of UBER expensive NOS. vintage tubes and adapters will be looking for new homes.

 

[rau]

Well Im awake here since 0530 and the system is warming up

a few more words about using your own preamp.....I believe now that without the gain control and using my own preamp I am further up on the gain control. Previously I had little control of the sound using my Lamm preamp. as I always fed full signal (63) into my preamp and the gain always resided around the 5-6 detente position There are 24 detente positions on my preamp and last night I found that I was now at 12-13 and I could easily do this without my eardrums bleeding and without any distortion. It was beautiful music and there was so much headroom to spare

Reflecting on the sound which seems so holographic what stood out for me was the slight top end sharpness I heard before with the H360 and my preamp at 5-6 was now completely cone. This does not suggest a softer sound but rather to my ears a somewhat smoother and far more realitic sound . The palette of sound if there could be an analogy was simply so much fuller. The amount of audible information I have now far exceeds what I heard before yet in no way am I denigrating the H360 which to me is a magnificent DAC. The Aphrodite however is just so rock solid in every way. There is no glare and there is absolutely no distortion at the higher levels on my preamp

This is now my 5th Lampi DAC and I have always used the same Lamm preamp I have had for years. I left my room late last night with the feeling that finally I could appreciate the virtues and goodness of my preamp in a manner in which Ihave previously not

And still on my mind is Lukasz dare wherein he defied we users to find better tubes

Comments have been made here about the new Chinese tubes and how they sound terrible . Lukas has picked 2 versions of KT88 (PSVane and KR) and has even recommended which row each version should be placed for the best sound......the PSVane in the rear row and the KR in the front row. As stated I run my system SE and the sound is amazing, so I cannot imagine how running balanced could sound even better but I await the comments of other users

This is a big DAC in every way. To my eyes and ears it not only demands but so also deserves big tubes. Looking at the my beloved tiny E55L and EF802 in my 360 makes me wonder and brings me back to a comment that Lukasz made to me about tube rolling. He told me that what I used in the H360 can be used in the Aphrodite BUT the sound just might not be as good. So also with the 5 volt rectifier which has always been standard I have pause now to wonder if a 4 volt rectifier with adapter could sound better.


For now, with the listening I did last night my 5th Lampi DAC seems to have brought me full circle as to TRP. I remain curious but from what Im hearing and with the lack of any audible distortion for now, I just can't see this any other way.

By the end of my event coming up I will have decided if my cache of UBER expensive NOS. vintage tubes and adapters will be looking for new homes.

Did you ever consider trying balanced ? It would be very simple . Pick up some transformers to properly convert bal to se . I use these for my MSB when using se tube amps

 

[Steve Williams]

Did you ever consider trying balanced ? It would be very simple . Pick up some transformers to properly convert bal to se . I use these for my MSB when using se tube amps

Not even remotely interested

 

[Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus]

By the way, talking about the tubes. Chinese manufacturers made a huge, simply gigantic progress in the tube quality and also they make high priced luxury models like the one I chose - the legendary ACME series. It is the porsche of tubes. And I heard all new tubes in existence.
Also their reliability is now number one in the market. Still some NOS will sound sweeter.
BUT
BY making two rows of tubes I managed to make a circuit that cancels out the tube individual character ( also perceived as musical quality) and the tubes provide more of a straight wire with gain. Very neutral and pure. This allows the music to sound like the master tape without the tube being in your way.

 

[Steve Williams]

So by using 2 different manufacturers of the same tube and each placed in a different row achieves this?

OR did you find that if you reversed the rows in which the tubes are placed the sound is different.