MHDT Orchid or Lampizator Amber 3?

I totally disagree with Teejay, having a tube rectifier without question gives you a bigger soundstage and depth, plus tube rolling can give you a much better still performance with 6x5,6ax5 rectifier choices,as well as 12au7 tubes. The ecc99 super tube gives it much more dynamics on demand .each of 5he 3 tubes has a specified duty, much better dynamics much bigger seperate power supplies.my friend has the 
Orchid with the WE tubes , we used the same very good Triode 
Audio Labs Digital American power cords
just go to enjoy the music .com under current reviews 
5 stars across the board for sonics , No other dac under $5 k 
is more musical.i sold m6 $6k PS Audio dac  for this dac sounds 
so more like a real life audio performance .
i do want to mention, I have used many usb cables .the            Final touch Audio usb cable beat my Wireworld Platinum 
and friends AQ Diamond .the best usb cable under $1500
we have found for sonic - Analog naturalness. It is $750 but worth every penny. The Orchid was also tested with this cable and sounded Excellent . The Orchid is the best under $2k dac I have heard. If you upgrade the big coupling capacitors and put a good fuse in it your can truthfully get another 10% musicality out of it 
the excellent Milflexcopper  foil paper poly oil caps fantastic in the orchid, and a very good power cord a must .if in the New England area email me and come over to hear the system and judge for your self. Everyone Have a nice Christmas 🎄🎄

I find SS rectification provides for more powerful and controlled bass. When I build tube preamps and amps I always compare SS to tube rectification and the bass has always been better with SS. This is one area the Orchid did not take a back seat to the Lampi Golden Atlantic in my comparison.

I will also share upgrading the resistors on my Orchid provided as much if not more improvement than the output cap upgrade.

Miflex output caps are good, but I still find the Jupiter copper foils provide more inner detail and overall dimension. You won’t fit the stock 2uf value in the Orchid with the Miflex. They are just too big. You can fit the 2.2uf Jantzen Superior Z, Audience XO and new Vcap Odam caps in the same position as the original caps.

I used a custom made set of 2.2uf flat stacked Jupiter copper foils in mine that are too costly and time consuming for Jupiter to market.

The cap upgrade is important. The entire signal passes through it right to the RCA output. It really influences the sound. This cap is there for two reasons.

- block DC and Pass AC for signal
- high pass filter blocking frequencies below a certain point

The value in there of 2uf is really somewhat arbitrary as MHDT used 2uf assuring it could be used with all manner of preamps with varying input impedance specs. If the preamp’s input impedance load is small such as 10k ohms a larger cap value is needed to assure no bass rolloff! That is the only reason for the 2 uf value.

Let’s say your preamp as a moderate input impedance of 60k. Running the math shows the ideal sized capacitor is 1.0-1.3 uf. No roll off and the best sound! Larger value caps don’t sound as good as the same brand smaller value in this position. Best to always go with the smallest cap value best suited for your system...preamp. Customized vs universal solution.

Many preamps have an input impedance of 50k and above. Tube preamps usually have 100k plus! So a 1-1.3uf cap is fine or perfect for many preamps.  Anyone considering the cap upgrade should first look up your preamp’s input impedance.

I put 2.2uf Jupiter copper foils in mine that are huge. They are flat stacked and made special. I had to mount these in the back over the digital inputs. Just barely fit!

Many good caps would fit if you decide on the 1-1.3 uf range including Vcap, Jupiter as well as perhaps Miflex. Caps such as the new Vcap Odam, Jantzen Superior Z and Audience XO Will fit with their 2-2.2uf value in the same location as the originals.

Hope this helps.

Bill

I was about to ask a similar question. I was told that I should use the Amber 3 with volume controls as a dac for my CD player and also as a preamp. I’m curious as to how the Amber 3 would perform as a preamp. I currently use the Audible Illusions M3b. Any thoughts or recommendations?

@sidog1460  I did a little more reading on the Lampizator website and saw that volume control does add input switching (but not balance control).  It adds $1000 to the cost.