The Lampizator Transport

The legendary Lukasz Fikus just launched the new Lampizator Transport, full details on his website soon.

From what we know so far is that it is a transport based on the Logitech Squeezebox Duet and will be housed in the same chassis as the Lampizator DAC.  Lukasz built a new dedicated power supply and replaced stock capacitors with highest quality Oscons.  New MR superclock mk2 with its own transformer is installed. The key element that sets it apart from any other transport (well..except the stratospherically expensive Audio Note CDT Five, whose output stage is actually based on his design) is the Digilampizator buffered tube output stage, not for analog outputs since it does not have any, but for the digital S/PDIF output signal (Digital+Lampize+ator - get it?) 

The concept of Digilampization is quite refreshing.  We all know that a clean square wave signal with perfect timing is what needed from a transport. We spent time and money tweaking cables, re-clockers, isolation devices etc. to get closer to that.  Is there a better way?

From Lukasz' writing:

"....I analysed over 25 schematics and I reached the conclusion that all these player's digital trace and all schematics of outputs look bad. Some of them better than others, some - so-so, and some just plain bad.

What particularly annoyed me is that the signal trace is so sensitive to small changes of the load - resistance, capacitance and inductance. That's why digital cables sound different from one another - because the transmitter is not optimized. It is weak. Its output impedance is 10 times too high or even more.
if all the problems which distort the signal on the way to the DAC are arising from too weak generator, why not make what an engineer should and add a buffer. The chip will be happy working into virtually no load at all, just the grid. The square will be perfect as hell. Then the tube will have infinitely better output impedance (single hundreds of Ohms) and it will send the signal nice, pure, sharp , stiff and indifferent to cable and plugs. The quality means sending a proper signal not deploying voo-doo and mythology.

I took the tube which is good for high frequencies - the Russian 6N14P, which has a frequency response good till 200 MHz. Our signal needs circa 20 MHz bandwidth so the tube is ten times "too good" for the job. Any other radio tube is good, The parameters like amplification etc. do not matter because it is a cathode follower. The audio tubes are no good because the frequency range is too low.

Tapping of signal to output tube buffer  Credit:Lukasz Fikus

The resulting square wave is PERFECT. It beats the stock signal without sweat. The difference on the scope is night and day. There is no ringing, no roll off, all is just excellent. I have yet to see the output trace as clean as this one! The MR super clock also helps reducing jitter - data timing problems, as well as it eliminates the high frequency modulations of signals, power supplies and earth in the player...."

Before Digilampization  Credit: Lukasz Fikus

After Digilampization  Credit Lukasz Fikus

The LZ Transport's output tube also has a dedicated tube rectifier power supply. There is also provision for an i2s output in a proprietary arrangement (3 RCA outputs: clock, LRCK, and data). Music can be streamed via Wifi/LAN from any computer running Squeezecenter server software. There is also a memory buffer a-la Genesis Digital Lens, so that's even better.  The included Squeezebox Duet's remote has a screen which is highly usable from listening position.

All sounds very tempting.  Projected price is around EUR2,000.  Discussions about the new Lampizator transport over at Lampizator forum here.