If you read my posts regularly, this is the second of three reviews of the Innuos Statement Music Server with different DACs. The first review was with the incredible BoarderPatrol DAC SE at $1,425. The third one will be with the PS Audio DirectStream DAC at $6,000. In this post, I’ll share my impressions about the Innuos Statement music server with the LampizatOr Golden Atlantic TRP DAC, priced at $9,375 for the single-ended version.
A Personal Endeavor
Let me confess that comparing these products has been an endeavor for me both personally and as a reviewer. The personal part has to do with my vision. As I have mentioned before, my macular degeneration began to bother me about two years ago. For the last year, it has progressed to the point where I am now legally blind, and it continues to get worse. As much as I love LPs, I began to find picking them out, putting them on the platter, and lowering and raising the cartridge off of the LP to be very frustrating. Now, for me, the whole point of listening to music is to enjoy the music and not to be frustrated by equipment, not even great equipment.
In 2019, I spent a lot of time paying more attention to the digital systems at the shows I attended. At show after show, I continued to give awards to two rooms that were digital playback only. These were the Well Pleased Audio Vida room with the Innuos servers and the BoarderPatrol, Volti, and Triode Wire rooms. So, I reviewed and purchased an Innuos Mini III and a BoarderPatrol DAC. While I enjoyed this combination, I knew it was not the equivalent of my analog system. Spending so much time at home this year, I decided it was time to see if I could get a digital system that could bring me the musical and emotional experience I had gotten from LPs for years.
Reviewer’s Disclaimer
As a reviewer, I should start any review of a digital product with this disclaimer. I am an old analog guy who understands how tape recordings work, and I understand how records work. I even understand that digital recordings are made up of ones and zeros. I’ll admit though that I do not really understand how DSD and other hi rez formats work. So when I describe a digital product to you, the description is based on what the manufacturer has told me or has on their website.
Review System
This is my second review with the Innuos Statement. With the exception of the DAC, the review system was identical, so I’m not going to repeat myself. You can click here and read about the Statement and my review system. I simply took the BorderPatrol DAC out and replaced it with the LampizatOr.
I want to point out that it really was as easy as that. All I had to do was plug the power cord into the LampizatOr, plug in the ethernet cable, plug in the USB cable, and I was up and running. Well, there was also the matter of installing the tubes, but this was very simple and took less than five minutes.
About the LampizatOR Golden Atlantic TRP
The LampizatOr Golden Atlantic TRP is about as straight forward as it can be. The only thing out of the ordinary is that the switch on the front changes inputs and is not a power switch. If you are interested in more information, I suggest you click here to read about the LampizatOr Atlantic and then click here to read about how the Golden Atlantic TRP improves upon the Atlantic.
There is one more thing I should say when describing this beautiful piece of equipment. In most systems, the turntable is the eye-catching component. In most digital systems I have seen, there really isn’t an eye-catching piece of equipment other than maybe the speakers. This is certainly not the case when it comes to the LampizatOr Golden Atlantic TRP. With the big tubes, the beautiful copper top plate, and the equally handsome black faceplate, the design here is magnificent.
Break-In
Out of the box, the Golden Atlantic TRP sounded very incoherent, and bloated, and it was also somewhat soft and laid back. I let it play for about three hours, and then it sounded bright and strained. So I let it play for two or nearly three days. When I moved it back into the reference system, it began to sound like music. It was coherent, the bass had tightened up, and the frequency response was smooth and extended. It continued to improve slightly over the next week or so.
Listening
You will see the picture above often in my reviews as Duke and I really enjoy listening to music together. He hasn’t shared his opinion yet, however, he seems to enjoy listening.
In my review of the Statement with the BorderPatrol DAC SE, I said, “. . . until I heard the Statement I had no idea how much music was there to be heard in my home. If I had to pick one word, to sum up how my system sounded with the Statement in it, that word would be more.” This statement was even more true with the addition of the Lampizator Golden Atlantic TRP DAC. The first and most obvious way was that it played higher-rez files than the BoarderPatrol could handle. It also shined a bigger spotlight on the midrange and treble than I had heard from the BorderPatrol DAC.
Overall, in my system, the Golden Atlantic TRP produced an incredible soundstage with the detailed imaging, focus, space, and air. I have never heard such a realistic soundstage produced with such a scale. This is the kind of lifelike soundstage that draws me into the music instead of the so often heard soundstage that is just a distraction.
LampizatOr Magic Act
The tonal accuracy of the instruments was also quite lifelike with a complete absence of digital harshness. The Golden Atlantic TRP has a somewhat forgiving presentation if it is not pushed too hard in the upper midrange. While sounding bigger and richer than the BorderPatrol DAC, however, it cannot convey the wild almost out of control emotion of a voice or performance that I heard from the BorderPatrol DAC.
Like the BorderPatrol DAC, the Golden Atlantic TRP pulls off a magic act when playing files from old Redbook CDs. These files had significant gain in resolution and soundstaging and are much more enjoyable than they were with any CD player I had ever heard play them other than the Audio Note Level 4. This meant that to hear the biggest difference in the higher-rez recordings you had to move to DSD. For me, the DSD recordings were significantly more enjoyable. They produced an even more wonderful soundstage and imaging. This, combined with big, colorful tones made them a joy to listen to. I did however find the DSD recording to be ever so slightly lacking in big dynamics.
Conclusion
The LampizatOr Golden Atlantic TRP DAC is a stunning success with both PCM and DSD recordings. It sounds natural, sweet, open, and organic. It calls out to me to quit listening critically and enjoy the performance. Like Duke, I just want to enjoy the music!
Price: $9,375 for the single-ended version
