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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's avatar
rikkipuu
271 posts
 

@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.

 

audio_bidder OP
24 posts
 

@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!

rikkipuu's avatar
rikkipuu
271 posts
 

@audio_bidder 

I did not think it was possible to bypass the pre-amp of the Lampi as it sits between the input selector and the VC.

I was unaware that all the outputs are live maybe the impedance drops when both outputs are connected.  This is from a Lampi owners manual.

"The load presented by the preamp or amp or simply the next analog component that the DAC sees, should be as high as possible. It is measured in kilo-Ohms and 100Kilo Ohms is a perfect ballpark value. More is VERY rarely seen. 47 K is next common value, and it is great too. 20 K is kind of on a low side, but we can handle that. Lower than 20k is bad news. We must configure the DAC with additional cathode follower buffer stage. The DAC will not be damaged in any way, but at around 10K of load the dynamics of the dac will start to fade away"

I concerns me that you had problems with the Prima Luna pre-amp and a Pass Labs pre-amp inserted between the Lampi and your amp.  It makes me think there is an issue with the DAC's output stage.  When I had issues with my DAC Rob consulted with technicians in Poland.   After a lot of back and forth we figured out I had a bad remote and after the upgrade they moved the power button to the bottom of the unit out of my sight.

Was your headphone amp connected at the time you tested the Pass Labs pre-amp? It seems to me you have two problems one you have a problem with using a pre-amp between the DAC and amp and also a problem with both outputs simultaneously.  Have you tried using the pre-amp section of the Pass between the DAC and speakers without the headphone amp hooked up?

 

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