Review! Lampizator Amber 3 DAC | M3 Sapphire Series

Innuos Zen AND Zenith Review | M3 Sapphire Series

0:00 Start
1:56 General Information
3:51 Listening Impression
8:10 Time Domain
9:19 Final Thoughts

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[lampizator]

I am the designer of this DAC, and as much as I liked the review (I REALLY did) I would like to comment on the opinion about the characteristics of the sound flavor. Here I want to share my own take - this DAC unlike 99, 5% of other DACS doesnt have any feedback and any opamps, and both feedback and opamps cause stripping the music off the harmonics and life. So I consider this DAC pure, squeeky clean and neutral, and ONLY on comparison with feedback / opamp DACS this one seems slightly colored and over the top rich. The reality is the opposite. We design this DAC to have almost ZERO content of 2nd and 3rd harmonics, it is clean like triple distilled water. The MUSIC is beautiful, colorful, full of all kinds of harmonics, overtones, reverbs and so on. The Amber in my book is a benchmark of neutrality, nothing is added, nothing processed or "tubified". When the music comes through untouched, it strikes you as way richer than the industry's average, on other DACs.

[alexvara]

As much as I love NRD, I think hardware reviews should be presented independently from speaker reviews. This feels more like an extended Sapphire M3 review. I want to know what the Amber 3 sounds like on something other than the M3, a speaker I don't particularly care for which has been given more than enough coverage on this channel. I think a review worth it's weight in salt that is fair to the manufacturer should test a component with a wide variety of speakers and sources, and should be given it's own spotlight

[kdomster]

Detail but super smooth, transient thats there without scraping your ear drums, balance and natural sound very very realistic and not digital .
All Lampizators I had a chance to hear have these treats... you can listen for hours with out any fatigue while surrounded by detail and super high resolution.
One day I may get one.

[desferous]

I am excited to see that you are working through all the components of this bundle! LTA & Sapphires! Yeah! I am excited. I do hope you get into how your Vinnie Rossie works with the Sapphires too. It will help me with a final decision...no pressure. Thank you for doing this set!

[riccitone]

DAC review aside (which was really cool btw) your crossover point explanation was phenomenal. Also applied considerable perspective to help what I already though I knew about it. Why so many can't appreciate that relationship to the musical performance aesthetic and how it translates to our brains, is beyond me. Thank you, or no thank you..as now I want expensive and well- made open-baffle speakers chancing it out in the middle of my tiny living room (and at the brink of peril) by our 8 yo and very large cat constantly racing through to the play room.

[mike-reneereeter]

I've had the Amber 3 for well over a year now. It is connected to a ModWright LS-100 Tube Preamp, into a ModWright KWA-100SE Amplifier. The Amber 3 presents a 3D, Holographic, Spacious and an extremely accurate Sound Stage. The A 3, driven by a $550.00 CDT rivals my Vinyl set-up, which is over three times the investment. I find myself purchasing as many CD's these days as I do Vinyl. The Amber 3 is a wonderful piece.

[nonameforgoogle]

I used to have a Tjoeb CD player which had a pair of 6DJ8 tubes. I sold it to go travelling. I listened to a cassette tape recording from that CD player and I was shocked how good it sounded. It's so good to see a lampizator review. I look forward to having a good tube dac someday.
I remenber when I sold the Tjoeb it took me 3 days before I packed it to send away. I was that sad to see it go. I had to pretend it was a present to myself.

[Sparta]

Thanks very much for the review Ron, I really appreciate the level of production quality.

I wasn't quite clear about your description of crossover of the M3. Running the tweeter so low will require a very steep slope (i.e. a complex crossover) to protect the tweeter. For the vast majority of crossover types, this will produce large phase shifts and mess up the transient response. This is unrelated to the crossover frequency. It must be said, there's considerable debate over how audible phase is.

The point of running the tweeter so low is to make the speaker a point source i.e. to have the sound appear to be coming from the same point in space. Tests have shown this to be important to our perception for various reasons. Still, 700Hz is incredibly low, and I would suspect this will be producing elevated distortion from the tweeter, even one as robust as the Corundum. I'd want to see a distortion plot to be convinced this isn't an issue.

Anyway I'll stop geeking out now, thanks again!

[imosolar]

Awesome video and I can say that my Lampizator Atlantic SE dac is so Organic sounding and neutral.

[yigalohana]

I own Amber 4 and I totally agree with that review I would use the words Magnificent and Majestic to describe the sound., I can't imagine what the most expensive Lampizator sound like...

[korbindallas]

Really liked the review. Of course, I don't know much about tubes so talk of tube this or tube that goes right over my head. :-) Not even sure what rectification is and if I need it. No bad puns please, I can do that myself. Ultimately it is all about the sound quality to the listener, and your insight is always welcome and appreciated. As always, a great review and looking forward to the next one.

[mctous]

I value attack, resonance, and decay more than soundstage. If a mono recording captures each note from start to finish then I am satisfied.

[OrganNLou]

Ron, I REALLY like the new look of your channel and review!

[dailyfrenchie]

I like this review series and how you teach as you go. After listening to you I would also say in addition to being an even-order distortion fan, I guess I'm a time domain fan as well. So now when someone asks me why I spend so much on this stuff I can say "it's because I'm addicted to even order distortion in the time domain..."... and then they'll lock me up :)

You should try and review the Audio Mirror Tubadour III DAC. I'd also love to see a comparison of NOS DACs vs. more modern upsampling DACs. Ron, I think you're the right guy to do that kind of review.

[jlo]

Great review 👍 I love the Lampizator’s ...hope to get one in my rig soon.

[johnsimmons]

Hi Ron, what would be great to hear is how it compares to some other common dac's like the bifrost. That way people have a basis for comparison.

[antoniopdcj]

One question... I know that the human ear is capable of hearing a range of frequencies that goes from 20 Hz to 20 KHz. I also know that these are four speakers (Tweeter, MidRange, MidBass and Subwoofer) that, “together”, are capable of reproducing the entire range of frequencies mentioned. But I ask... Each of the four speakers mentioned reproduces, individually, which range of frequencies? In other words, the Tweeter is responsible for reproducing, individually, which range of frequencies? What about MidRange? What about MidBass? And the subwoofer? I would just like to have a general idea of the frequency range that each speaker works individually. It's a generic question, as I deduce that there is no fixed rule for this. But I would just like to have a rough idea.

[arthurott]

I know they discourage tube rolling in this DAC but the SQ can be significantly improved by implementing some NOS tubes. The stock JJ ECC99 in particular is a POS tube.

[stevec]

I think I would prefer the PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube DAC over the Amber 3.

[aceofspades]

Have you also heard the Holo Audio Spring 2 KTE or Holo Audio May Dacs? Both are latter R2R NOS Dacs that receive glowing reviews. Many people always suggest shopping the Lampizator when looking at Holo Audio but none of the reviews every actually compare the two.