Shocking Lampizator Service
I bought a Lampizator Horizon several months ago and have been delighted with it. A few weeks ago there was a pop and the left channel lowered in output so my imaging was off center. I tried different diagnostic combos until I realized it had to be the Horizon DAC/PREAMP. I emailed Lukasz and he said yes they needed to look at the DAC, and that they would take care of everything. A few days later I was emailed a prepaid label to ship it back to Poland. Rob, the US Distributor also weighed in via email to make sure everything was being handled. I dropped the flight case off on may 30th (they offer home pick up as well). I got two email updates one explaining that the problem was mechanical as it must have been dropped by the shipper on the initial shipment to me. That's an impressive drop given the Horizon is shipped in a flight case with at least 6 inches of foam around it. The thing is that I got it back to my house yesterday June 9th. That's 11 days round trip to Poland for a repair! My dCS Vivaldi Upsampler had a known issue that I addressed 2 years ago. It took over three weeks round trip to their Boston repair facility. I am not bagging on dCS as their turn around time is normal. It's the Lampizator service that I find SHOCKINGLY great. Frankly, I was concerned when I made the investment in the Horizon about service should I need it being based in Poland. Lukasz has built a business model that is truly global. I can highly recommend the Horizon as an outstanding DAC and pre-amp (the volume control reminds me of the ARC REF 10 if you know that unit, it is great!), and the service is second to none I have encountered this far in my audio journey.
Thanks documenting your experience. Good to hear.
Although, given the cost of the unit, I would expect to have a replacement unit at my doorstep the next day, while my unit was fixed. I know that if any of my ARC Reference stuff would ever have a problem (they cost less than half of your Horizon) my dealer would deliver a unit for me (and hook it up) to use in the mean time while he shipped mine off for repair.
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Glad to hear about your good experience. Lampi did a great job on your repair. It is not the norm in high-end audio to have someone bring a new component to your house and set it up the next day if something goes wrong. Horror stories with domestic and international products are not uncommon, including with Audio Research. ghdprentice has probably spent a ton of money with his dealer and gets the deluxe treatment for that reason. |
Sure, yes I have a great relationship with my dealer. But let’s pretend I bought a $50K car several months ago and it would not start in the morning. I would expect the vehicle to be picked up and repaired and given a loaner immediately. A single phone call… and go about my business. An individual audio component costing $50K should be white gloves, absolutely no effort to the purchaser. Heck, when my Sony 77” OLED failed… they delivered and installed a new one and took away the old one… sure it took a week… but it only cost $6K. |
I have a faulty Amber 4 which is less than a year old. The local Singapore Lampi distributor promptly came over, ran some tests and confirmed there was an issue with the USB board. He packed it in it's original packaging and took the unit from me on 24 April. Couple days later he messaged that he had shipped it to Poland. Couple of days ago I asked the distributor for an update. He said the factory couldn't give a definitve date for the repairs. Still wating after 1-1/2 months. Thank goodness the local distriutor loaned me another DAC (not a Lampi) so I have at least something to listen to. Amber 4 certainly not getting the same attention as the Horizon. |
@ghdprentice Dude you are clueless and uninformed so I will inform you. These are hand made one at a time! They are making only 500 worldwide over the next 4-5 years. Do you think they just pump Lampizator’s down the assembly line? It takes a month to make like 4 or 5 of them at a time! So now you are informed please use this as a learning opportunity! They fixed it! |
Actually gdhprentice is one of the most knowledgeable people on this forum. I'm pretty sure he knows they are hand made . Why did one Lampi owner have a solution over night and another waits 1 1/2 months? Either the distributor dropped the ball or they are waiting for parts. As for white glove treatment? I never expect it, but when I do it restores my faith in the mfg and strengthens brand loyalty. There are still global parts shortage in every sector so it's not a great time for repairs .... |
Baltic 4 owner here in Canada, I had a warranty issue as well, which was resolved eventually but it was not straightforward. I suspect Horizon and Baltic owners DO get different treatment, but then again there is only one distributor in NA and Lukasz has maybe 10-15 employees so small scale "cottage industry" size without huge cash flow or cheap credit, and thus he is beholden to the ’white glove’ folks for purchasing his higher margin DACs. Frankly it’s amazing what he’s done with such limited resources - the Baltic is hands down the best DAC sonically speaking I have owned so far. I own a small business with 25 employees and I am under pressure every day deciding where and when to allocate resources. |
Many years ago I bought used adcom gear and on day one by my negligence blew out the left channel of the gfp 555 amp. I called them up as I lived near their operation in East Brunswick NJ. They told me bring in the amp with a dozen doughnuts. While I waited they fixed the amp and while at it made some other improvements/updates. |
While their DACs sound fantastic, if you scan various forums I think you will notice that there is a very high rate of issues and warranty service with Lampizator. I have had three Lampi DAC’s pass through my hands and they all had issues requiring service - one prior to purchase, one while owning, and one after resell. And note the three additional examples above in this short thread alone. Build quality/QA is not there yet imho. Same goes for NA distributor - very responsive at times but they obviously mis-packed one of my DAC’s such that it got beat up during shipping. That said, the DACs sound great in the right setup (output noise can be high so proper preamp matching is critical). I am sure the Horizon sounds amazing. |
I realize they are custom made. When you develop world wide distribution network you work through potential scenarios. Depending on the business you make choices on service levels and how you will maintain your reputation. In this scenario, I would imagine you would have a demo unit in the country that could be used in case of a failure. I was not involved with the distribution planning… but that is what I would have done. Or, if caught by surprise, I would have bought a “seat on a plane” to deliver it. I have rented planes to get product to customers during emergencies. |
I have a Lampi Horizon as well. I traded in my Pacific DAC because Lampi gave me a full credit after 2 years towards the Horizon. I had the ARC Anniversary 40 preamp and when the ARC Ref 10 was released a year later I asked it I could get a full-credit exchange. ARC said - NO! I then experienced drop-outs in the right channel with my Anniversary 40. ARC didn't drop of a loaner preamp the following day. In fact, it didn't even offer to do that when they couldn't fix the problem. Fortunately, I had a great retailer who stepped in and gave me a 70% credit towards the ARC Ref.10. I then went to the Munich Hi-End Show a year later and heard what I wasn't with my Ref.10. I sold my Ref.10 and bought the Octave Jubilee Preamp, which is so much better across the board.
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I have had 2 Lampizator DAC’s over the years. One of the original Level 4’s and now a Big 7. Never an issue with the DAC, just a faulty remote. Fred, I guess he’s the US dealer, literally sent me his remote to use until Poland could replace mine. Always found the company and it’s representatives to be honest, fair and responsive. |
Seems service level varies from customer to customer. My experience in NA thus far has been disappointing ($12,500 DAC). I found Lampi NA's response to my issue almost dismissive and it was completely unhelpful. I'm definitely willing to give Fred another try, however. This time, I'll phone for help instead of email. I'm hoping for better results this time. I really don't get why we have only one dealer in the entire U.S. |
Yes, his name is Rob not Fred and he is the US Distributor/direct marketing dealer. His companies include the ones listed below. Being a former national sales manager I can tell you that working with an inventor/founder like Lukasz can be a challenge. Yes, you can ask either Rob or Lukasz questions via email and both will respond. Folks like many of us on this forum tend to ask technical questions, and I find it cool that the inventor/owner will respond. Destination Sound Group North American Distributor for Tobian Sound Systems Authorized Dealer for Westminster Labs Authorized Dealer for Critical Mass Systems |
@nolojunko refers to Fred Ainsley who is also represents the Destination Sound Group. I’ve found that all (Lukasz/Rob/Fred) go out of their way when it comes to supporting the product even when it comes down to simply answering questions. |
@wokeuptobose A cursory look at your moniker had me seeing "woke up tooobese". I can relate. But I did get it worked out. |
I can tell you if your warranty is up be prepared to write off the DAC, My Gen 4 Lev 5 the LCD screen apparently went out, I had a local tech take a look. He is quite qualified. Lukaz refuses to offer informational or any help at all................SAD because as mentioned above the DACs do sound good but apparently the $$$ reigns supreme if they are not making a mint, Tou just are not that important..............Color me an EX-Customer that will definitely advise anyone against the Lampizator product |
