Lampizator Genya DAC

Description

In the year 1995 by a lucky chance I visited Lviv in Ukraine where by an impossible coincident I met an Ukrainian engineer Evgennyi Kreminski. He was an older gentleman who spend his whole life professionally designing tube circuits of varius applications. He had just recently quit his state job and moved to a private company to form a startup in the field of tube amplifiers. His speciality were push pull designs with 6C33C triodes. This company produced circa 40 pairs of amps and preamps and the growth was interrupted by Evgennyi sudden death from cancer. I withessed all stages of development and design of all amps and circuits and I learned everything from Evgennyi. He was an ultra petient master, teacher, guru and friend. When he died I then decided to start my own Lampizator business.

In the course of 16 years after, I took my tube circuits to a different place but with this GENYA DAC I want to make a small memory “monument” for Evgennyi and to freeze in time his last tube stage. He simply loved this circuit. So here it is.

In Russian language the abbreviation of Evgennyi is Genya (pronounced ZHENYA)

Key Characteristics:

R2R Variant GENYA

• R2R PCM conversion Multibit – 20 bit 192 kHz R2R dac AD1862 quad mono
• Balanced + SE in every DAC
• Concealed tubes – scheme is a tribute to Genya Kreminski the tube master.
• New chassis unique to this model
• No volume control
• No DSD compatibility
• No display
• Easily replaceable tubes 6N6P in SRPP
• Copper capacitors + silver wiring
• USB JL converter
• 15th anniversary design
• Finish: Only charcoal black
• Options: none

Horizon Lite Variant

• Horizon-1 engine – recycled and refurbished.
• Balanced + SE in every DAC
• Concealed tubes.
• New simple chassis unique to this model
• No volume control
• 512x DSD compatibility
• No display, no remote
• Easily available tubes 6N6P 5687 with ECC182 compatibility
• Copper capacitors + silver wiring
• Unique digital engine which 2 years ago was considered the best in the history of Lampizator
• USB JL converter
• 15th anniversary design
• Finish: Only charcoal black
• Options: none

Horizon Lite PLUS Variant

This is the same DAC but the tube PCB is designed especially for the best and rarest tube thats impossible to get and I leave it up to you. It is also stupid crazy expensive. Also known in USA as 7119. We made the ECC182 circuit and the stock DAC will have 5687 triodes installed (you need a quad – that makes it even more sick. Ecc182 is a drop in replacement for 5687. And if your budget is infinite – the 6900 is even better. The PCB is gold plated in this variant.

Enter THE GENYA DAC

Within our Lampizator team we had set a new challenge: to create an entirely new DAC not based on any model from the past but with no frills, no bells or whistles , no volume control, no remote control, no preamp – just a bare bone DAC with the best possible sound and at the lowest possible cost of everything thats not sound.

We have Horizon 99 digital engines available after the Horizon1 DAC is upgraded to H360 – we can recycle the famous, babulously complex and fabulously good sounding engine.

The target MSRP list price is also circa 1/3rd of the Horizon price.

The design criteria were among others:

1. To maintain the chassis size no larger than that of Pacific or Horizon
2. To offer single ended and balanced topology at the same time, without the need of choosing one
3. To offer NO volume control, no display and no remote control – no need of choosing and also simpler circuit = better sound
4. To maintain as much as possible of the Horizon sound quality.
5. To use easily available tubes, which is important in these VERY troubled times. This is important for us, manufacturers – today, and for you – users – tomorrow.
6. To maintain the Lampizator house character.

The resulting DAC is a masterpiece of good sound and yes the look is very spartan and industrial and boring. There are no controlls of any kind, everithing is automatic, it will read automatically in NATIVE FORM every existing file type up to DSD512x

This DAC absolutely MUST work with a preamp or with an integrated amp with a remote control. It can not be used straight to power amps with so called “digital volume control” for example in the ROON server. The DAc needs ANALOG volume control.

Key highlights

• Proprietary, firmware driven conversion process with 760kHz PCM and DSD512
• No silicon anywhere in signal path past the conversion stage
• Silver wiring inside
• Copper foil, true metal sheet capacitors in the signal path
• 6N6P conversion tubes with low impedance SRPP scheme
• All units are truly balanced and SE at the same time
• Zero feedback, neither local nor global
• Zero opamps
• Tube rectified power supply (6X5 USA)

Preliminary parameters

• Weight: 17 kg / 40 lbs net, 25 kg / 60 lbs gross
• Dimensions: 440 mm W x 550 mm D x 170 mm H
• Digital inputs: 1 x USB, 1 x S/PDIF RCA, 1 x AES/EBU, 1 x TOSLINK
• Output impedance: 400 Ohms per phase
• 1 x analog output pair RCA and 1 x XLR balanced output
• Output level: 0DB full level @3V peak sinus 1 kHz per phase, 6V p-p for balanced
• Mains 110-115 – 220 – 230 – 240 V AC / consumption 60 VA (0.25A)
• THD @ 2V output: 0.05% SE, 0.01 % Bal

Tube compliment

• 1 x 6X5 rectifier or equivalent, 6C5S
• 4 x 6N6P dual triode as input buffer or 6N30P or ECC88 or E88CC or PCC88 or 6DJ9 or 6922 or adapter fitted ECC99, ECC40, 6900, 12BH7, 5687, 12AU7 Ecc182, 7119

All circuit consists of 4 identical mono circuits and each of phases has one tube stage working simultaneously as input buffer, amplifier and output buffer.

The sound

The circuit of this DAC is so pure and simple, that the Horizon Engine 99 can really shine, making it instantly a superb DAC in a class of its own. The soundstage is like no other. It stretches so wide and so deep that it exceeds the room boundaries and develops in our imagination beyond the walls and ceiling. Within this huge, immersive soundscape we can hear better than before where things are happening – we hear the individual musicians, their instrument, their reverb, their interplay with the recording venue and the other musicians. They seem to be playing more like a whole (band) even if we hear them more clearly also as individuals. The bass, which “technically” goes down to half hertz, has no bottom limitations and within the low octaves has much more colors, character, detail. Instead of a typical boom-boom, we hear the bass nuances – strings, bodies, reverbs, intonation. All this became our famous quality from the Engine 11 and here in the Eleven-P we took it to new level.​

The sound character is very detailed, very resolute, but at the same time it is the opposite of the dry, flat, harsh digital sound, tiring after 10 minutes and having nothing in common with real live music. The sound has what we like about good vinyl playback, but with MUCH more user friendly digital features like streaming and wide frequency response.​

We sincerely believe, that at this price point and beyond, there is simply nothing that touches the sound quality of the GENYA, and music is what it is all about.