FYI,
I am looking to sell my LampizatOr Amber DAC Plus, which is now five months old. This retails for roughly $2,300 in the U.S. I am looking to get $1,550 for the unit plus shipping.
Handmade, it includes the following features:
· ESS Sabre 9018 reference DAC chip
· DSD64, DSD128 and PCM playback
· Lampizator tube output stage
· Lampizator tubed power supply
According to its site, the Amber boasts “single ended triode with E88cc tubes, tube rectification, 192 kHz chip and a painted steel chassis.” Its dimensions are 5.24” H X 17 3/8” W X 13” D. More features, such as tube upgrades and additional inputs, can be ordered for an extra charge.
I opted to review the Amber Plus version with Jupiter copper cast wax capacitors, a 6X5 rectifier tube, an extra TOSLINK input (for use with TV and my Blu Ray player), and a boost in power (to offset the lack of gain in my passive preamp). This brings its cost up to roughly $2,300 through the U.S. distributor, LampizatOr North America (outside the U.S., they can be ordered directly from its factory in Warsaw).
The Lampizator Amber arrived double boxed and well padded, complete with a test report and an official Lampizator certificate reflecting its serial number and five year transferable warranty. It does not come with a power cord.
You can read my review at the following link:
http://ayllonmedia.com/1/post/2015/01/the-lampizator-amber-dac-plus-is-it-a-dac-lite-or-a-real-contender-in-home-audio.htmlThe LampizatOr Amber DAC Plus is now listed on Ebay:
https://app.audiogon.com/listings/da-converters-lampizator-amber-dac-plus-5-months-old-for-sale-2015-05-14-digital-60047-long-grove-ilI can’t say enough about my LampizatOr Amber DAC Plus. I auditioned it in December 2014 and, pitting it against a Hegel DSD HD12 DAC and the
Abbingdon Music Research DP-77 DAC/Preamp (which retails for $5,500), I
found that I liked the Lampi much better than both. And it wasn’t just
me: both my wife and stepdaughter picked it every time in blind A/B
comparisons. You can read more about my impressions in the review
section of my website, Ayllon Media (you can google the title, "The
Lampizator Amber DAC Plus -- Is it a 'DAC Lite' or a Real Contender in
Home Audio?").
I have auditioned the following DACs at my home: DCS Delius DAC,
Abbingdon Music Research AMR DP-777 Dac/preamplifier, Bel Canto 1.5 DAC,
Eximus April Music DAC, Eastern Electric Minimax Tube DAC Supreme,
Hegel DSD DAC-12, and the Mytek 192 DSD DAC. I gave them all good
listening time, yet none of them impressed me as much as this Amber DAC
Plus.
The thing with this Amber DAC Plus is that it provides me with the
most vivid, balanced and engaging presentation of all the DACs I have
auditioned. More specifically, it's a wondrous balance of detail and
visceral, full-bodied weightiness. When taking in a high resolution
Blue Coast Records DSD recording, a high quality CD, or simply listening
to "The Voice" on HD TV via Toslink, I find the "goose bump factor"
pretty amazing! Its presentation over my speakers call to mind the
magic I felt when I first heard a pair of Quad 57 speakers playing a
wondrous vinyl guitar recording.
Please understand, this is not the baseline Amber, but one with upgrades (i.e., Jupiter caps, the rectifier tube, and a boost in
gain), hence the "Plus" designation. See the details below.
With dimensions of 5.24” H X 17 3/8” W X 13” D, this Amber Plus
version comes loaded with Jupiter copper cast wax capacitors, a 6X5
rectifier tube, an extra optical TOSLINK input (good for use with TV and
other devices), and a boost in gain (therefore making it a perfect
match for a passive preamplifier, like the Schiit SYS passive preamp).
This brings its cost up to roughly $2,300 through the U.S. distributor,
LampizatOr North America. It is simply an amazing value!
It also comes with a transferable five year warranty.That said, when I attended this year’s Audio Expo North America (AXPONA), I was blown away by the much pricier LampizatOr Big 7 DAC and am hoping to purchase their stripped down version, the Lite 7 (which still sells at over twice the price of a brand new Amber DAC Plus at full retail price). However, in order for that to happen, I must sell this unit. So, my loss can be your gain!
There are a few light scratches on the top of the unit from the Schiit Sys Passive preamp slipping around on top of it a number of times, but other than that, it's pristine!
The DAC does not come with a manual (although a generic one is available online or I can email you the one I downloaded) or power cord (that's the way it is shipped from Lampizator). However, it does come with the certificate of ownership and factory testing results.
As the Amber DAC Plus was designed primarily as a USB DAC, it will not work unless it is connected via USB cable to a computer. The reason I share this is that I did not know this when I first received the Amber, hooked it up to my TV via Toslink/optical and heard no sound! Once I connected it to my laptop via USB, I was very pleasantly surprised with the sound!
If you want a great, engaging DAC, this won is a winner and, at this price, it is a veritable steal!Check it out!
Cheers,
Juan
