Holo May KTE vs. Lampizator Atlantic 3 TRP vs. Mola Mola Tambaqui


I've had months of ear time with all 3 of these extraordinary DACs. Holo and Lampi I own, and Mola Mola was borrowed from a friend. My thoughts:

All 3 of these DACs amazed me in different ways, and are a serious step up from the Denafrips and Oppo DACs I previously had in my systems.

Mola Mola Tambaqui - This is the most detailed DAC of the 3. It has a way of being hyper-detailed without a trace of sibilance. It opened my eyes to how a DAC can drastically improve the 3D holographic nature of sound. Ultimately though, I did find long listening sessions fatiguing. This may have been a result of a the mediocre streaming setup I was running at the time (cheap Intel NUC running Roon).

Holo May KTE - I fell in love with this component within minutes of plugging it in. It was preowned and already broken in. I can crank the volume without being bothered by high frequencies. The weighty bottom end made it seem like I upgraded my amplifiers, my guess is this was a result of the overbuilt monster of an external power supply. Most importantly, the feel of the music and the natural tones got me so much closer to the music, in the same way vinyl does for me. This thing is a tank and has given me trouble free operation nearly all year, staying powered up 24/7. Immense value with this DAC, highly recommended.

Lampizator Atlantic 3 TRP - After unsuccessfully trying to buy this DAC on the used market, I turned to Lampizator NA to purchase new. It was a good experience and Rob ensured everything went smoothly and answered my technical questions. When I received the unit and got it running, the sound was atrocious, the worst component I've ever tested, cheese grater to the ear drums bad. I kept it powered up for weeks and it slowly got better. But still something was missing. I rolled the stock tubes with some Siemens F2As I purchased from a former Atlantic owner (he moved to Poseidon). Instantly the soundstage got huge and lush and I was hooked. This took it to a new level of analog-like sound. I often would forget I was listening to digital, I was just listening and enjoying. Later I tried Tesla EL51 tubes and added a Sophia Electric 274B Aqua II rectifier. These aren't quite as magic in the mids as the Siemens, but they improve bass impact and have beautiful sparkly highs. 

In conclusion, the Lampi wins overall due to it's realistic analog sound and holographic nature. The Holo May gets pretty close but in subtle ways reveals a small amount of digital etch, very subtle. The Lampi comes with a lot of trial and error however, finding the right tubes that work for you, with the correct adapters. The unit I ordered is balanced and has volume control. The volume control is okay, but has caused issues feeding an external preamp, which I'm still trying to sort out. If I could go back I would forgo the volume control, and would save money getting a single-ended unit instead of balanced. Single-ended uses 2 output tubes, balanced uses 4.

Getting a proper streamer (Innuos) has made drastic improvements to my system as well. I now believe a great streamer is just as important as a great DAC.

audio_bidder

@rikkipuu That's what folks do, set the Lampi DAC volume to 0 dB to effectively bypass the internal preamp. Indeed, that's what Rob told me to do. When doing this into PrimaLuna EVO400 preamp, the bass falls apart and sounds like a blown woofer, highs become shrill and unlistenable, everything in between loses its magic. I also attempted a Pass Labs integrated with the same result. But running DAC straight to amp everything is perfectly fine. I gave this feedback to Rob and sent a video of the issue. He checked with technical and they came back with "sounds like you're overdriving the external preamp" and nothing else. I'm stuck, because I'd like to run an external preamp.

@deep_333 Maybe, I don't know. What I strive for is emotional engagement with the music. Vinyl and digital with the Lampi get me there better than other things I've tried. So I don't notice or miss the "loss of detail" if any. I also prefer wood thin-walled speaker cabinets over ultra-damped exotic cabinets.

@designsfx now you're going to send me down another rabbit hole!!! Appreciate the tip and I'll definitely check out your thread.

@kairosman You've got that Baltic dialed in. Next year I'll go all out with cleaning up my network. Thanks for the tip on fiber optic. I'm in discussion with Lucas Domansky on a new server and he said he would give recommendations on associated network gear.

@audio_bidder 

You’re not the first to suffer preamp woes when first using a Lampizator. Every tube stage in your chain will have an effect on the others. I chose to go without volume control for this reason. 
I would suggest lowering the volume on the TRP’s volume control until you find a point at which your preamp is not overdriven and offers a comfortable range of volume control. Once you discover this you shouldn’t need touch it again unless you decide to go without a preamp.

Although I wouldn’t jump into this immediately you can roll the tubes in your preamp to fine tune the voicing and performance. I know of a couple TRP owners who did this immediately and for them it changed everything for the better. I’ve not done this myself as there has never been an issue with my ARC preamp.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

@designsfx hundreds of pages of posts on tube rolling... this has become one of my least favorite parts of being an audiophile. Could you pretty please give me the TL;DR summary of some of the top output tubes you've found for the Atlantic? As well as what you like about them? 

@audio_bidder That's what folks do, set the Lampi DAC volume to 0 dB to effectively bypass the internal preamp.

On my GG3 , setting the VC to 0dB is 0dB attenuation and maximum output or gain.  This is how I have mine set up and then I set the VC on my Allnic pre to start the lowest setting and turn it up to increase the volume.  I just tried setting the GG3 to the lowest level (-63dB) and then there is no output to send to the pre-amp.

My understanding of equipment design is nil but I would think that gain from a Lampi without a VC would be close to equivalent to a Lampi with a VC set to full output. 

I think Lampi's position is their DAC's sound best without a pre-amp.  I have yet to try my upgraded GG3 without a pre as is sounds so good with it.  My GG1 sounded different without my Allnic L8000 in the chain but both ways sounded good.

I would not keep gear that does not play well, I would move on from one or the other.

 

@rikkipuu I have the same assumption that a Lampi w/o VC should be equivalent Lampi w/ VC set to -0dB, but results indicate otherwise.

You make good points and I will likely reach out to Rob. I’m beginning to think the preamp section is defective.

I asked Rob if I could bypass the preamp and if I could run 2 simultaneous outputs (SE to headphone amp, balanced to speaker amps) and he unequivocally said yes and yes. Well I can’t do either without major sound issues. Trying to run both outputs simultaneously distorts the sound and actually lowers the gain at some points as I increase the volume (bizarre). Disconnecting one of the outputs alleviates the issue completely.

Boy I’d love to run an external preamp, but can’t right now!