Lampizator question

I think it speaks to their pretty-greedy business model.

I am not speaking out of school here either but rather speaking what is obvious for everyone to see.

I am surprised I have not heard more criticism from the loyal Lampi owners.

This approach is successful and that is what a business is supposed to do but high-End audio is supposed to be different.

Why is it supposed to be different well partly because their products cost more than some automobiles and because we all talk and converse on forums like this to keep them honest. That is exactly what I am trying to do here but to be fair many other Hi-End companies get this and are much much more cognitive of this and are way more supportive and loyal to their owner base than this, what appears to be a pretty greedy European company.

Sorry but that's what they are !!!!

I am more interested in looking out for the currant owner's of Lampi's and fellow Agon member's and speaking about this and raising the level of awareness of this lets make as much as we can marketing approach to the potential buyer of their "NEW" products and for the consumer to think about this when they give Lampi their hard earned money.

Now this is to the potential of buyer of "NEW" ones. Not my fellow Agoners or owners who want to buy/sell used ones from another member that's no different than all of the products.

Rather than adding consistent upgrades and improving and supporting their current DAC models and offering reasonably priced increases in performance they chose to "always" come out with a new model DAC and this hurts the value of the older models for sure and hurts the people that invested a ton of money in their products and their company. The model life cycle for a what a Lampi cost is "WAY" to short and the reason I chose a different company to invest in and purchase from was partly due to their actually caring about their owners and they don't just dump on them just make more money.

I just bought a new Bricasti M1 DAC that has had constant and cheap or free upgrades for years. A life cycle that actually takes their owners that investing in their company and products into consideration and take pride in their owner base and is always evolving the product and making it better.

A perfect example is the newer Bricasti M1 Linear Power Supply for the digital domain they came out with that was a huge upgrade in SQ. This was a significant Hardware upgrade that really impacted the SQ substantially and some say changed the DAC. Do you know what they charged for this huge upgrade? $150.00! Do you think Bricasti made any money on that? No but they certainly support their owners and that impressed the heck out of me.

Look - no one in their right mind is going to criticize the Sound Quality or build quality of the Lampi products. Their products are amazing and sound incredible and they offer all kinds of ways to customize and improve current models and upgrade them and do all kinds of things and they are some of the best sounding digital in the world that is not in contention here but make no mistake they are greedy as heck IMO and once you a buy a new model from them you count on them constantly working on the next one so your model prematurely drops in value. That is part of the package with Lampi but they sound and are built incredible. If you have all kinds of extra money and don;t care if the life cycle is super short and the value vs the retail and sound quality drops much to quick then have a blast you may get the best sounding digital money can buy. For me I chose Bricasti not only because of the support but on top of it I liked a lot better than the Big7.

Big7 $13000 DAC and now can buy in high 6's... If it you got the money then why not..

Ricred1 I sent him that email before I even got my Bricasti. I was actually interested in the Big7 before the Bricasti as I noted in my statement above that my criticism is of the new products and their very short life cycle because they drop so much from new. Heck they are GREAT deals used and incredible sounding DACs which supports my point that they drop and prematurely because the company is always coming out with new ones because that is what they do. I had a deal in principal on a loaded up / low hour one box Big7 for $6200 in CT. It had the build sheet that Lampi provides that had almost everything but an extra digital input that could have been added I think but wasn't going by memory. The dealer told me it was a $13k retail DAC with all the extra's as they offer a lot of options. He told me it was only a few months old. Well I lost out on that deal my fault I should have pulled the trigger quicker and that dealer told me he had a Bricasti and they were way better and this and that. I was trading my DAC and made a deal with another dealer and was kind of bummed I didn't get the Big7 because it was so low compared to a new one retail and thought they were good values used and before I heard the Bricasti I still wanted the Big7. I got the Bricasti and love it. Couldn't be happier. This thread was asking why so many Lampi's out there? I think because the company is greedy and could care less about the people that just bought new ones when they have super short cycles and they come out with another new top model and the people that just bought the last model oh well. This is just my opinion. I have heard many Lampi DACs over years and I have always thought their sound and build are top notch some of the very best. Great products but I think they are greedy and I recommend to anyone looking for a Lampi DAC to buy a used or demo one and save a ton god knows theres a ton to choose from because buying new from these guys is gonna leave a mark on depreciation but hey some people keep them a long time or don't care and I appreciate that.

Wanted to reply to this above statement made by Mrmb but couldn't. I mean no disrespect just too hard to follow and it made my brain ache...

On another note I did read up a bit on the Lampi US Distributor and can say they seem like a real first class operation and my criticism of the manufacture was in no way intended toward them. I root for folks like that...

Wisnon... You are so wrong… I said it was my fault I didn't get the DAC. That dealer is a great dealer I have no problem with them or any dealer. God knows how hard business has been and is on them. I support the dealer. He is a US dealer and has my support as do they all. Don't go twisting stuff and making stuff up. That helps nobody or anything.
My shots were directed directly at the Eastern European Company that in my opinion too quickly releases new top flight DACS and that makes for a shorter life cycle that in turn hurts the agoner’s pocket books that purchased them new. It’s pretty obvious what my ulterior motive is. That is to call them out for this and it is my opinion not slander. That said in all fairness I did know that the use of the word Greedy would garner more attention but that was the point.
My support is to my fellow agoner’s not to some well to do eastern European company that in all fairness deserves some criticism here in my opinion for this approach. Greedy may have been a little over the top but it’s not that bad either…We are a transparent, liberal western society (well we like to think we are) that pays attention to these types of things. No earth shattering concepts here…
I said how great their DACS are and how great they are made and how great they sound. I said they may be the best digital in world and that I wanted to buy one myself. I said how great of a deal they are used as well and recommended them as best buy used or demo.
I have every right to question this company’s short life cycle of their top DAC's? They are not above reproach. Greedy is not that bad of a word... The problem is that a lot of what I say rings true…
This is a forum for members to give their opinions. The member asked why there are so many out there? Fair question and I am sure it can be answered many ways. Because so popular people want to upgrade, because the newer model is hot? Because tubes are awesome, because this or that. I was giving my opinion that doesn’t mean it’s the right answer it’s just what I think.
If enough people read this and it gets to the owner of this company (highly doubtful) and its gets him to think about this (even more doubtful) a little then great maybe it helps an owner in the future. I am out for the owners, the members, my comrades, and the people paying for them new and taking the deprecation hits. That's my motive or even better if an agoner thinking about buying a new one thinks wow he has a point then even better. This is not just Lampi I think companies need to take their owners and people that invested in their products into consideration when they are real quick to come out with a new or drop their prices way below what they were just to sell me. I understand they need to make money but there needs to be line where the customers that recently bought the equipment enters into the conversation and IMO Lampi deserves criticism here and even though I was little brash my motives are anything but unclear…

Fred I had a response I sent a while ago and it was before you write this... It still hung up by the mods before your response. I will let you read that first...

Fred there was no personal assault on you!!
Ya you are kind of collateral damage here I guess but it wasn't pointed at you at all. I was thinking of you as not in this being the dealer but your the US Distributor so I guess although it wasn't meant toward you i guess you end up with some unintended shrapnel wounds out of this.

Sorry bro my point was to call out the former soviet union eastern block partner that just keeps popping out these top of the line dacs. I love us dealers and by seeing how many of these DACs are out there you must be doing ok so not sure you qualify as a struggling hi-fi dealer that I love to root for and support but you are known for great service and you are good guys and I didn't mean for you to catch the collateral damage but being the US distributor for Lampi im sure your gonna be ok but please know and my wording shows this that the shot was intended at Poland not NJ.

It's a hi fi audio forum for audiophiles to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions and he must have known at some point someone was gonna say something. You are right he is lucky to have such a good partner in the US doing all the heavy lifting or there probably would have been a lot more of this.