Lampizator Horizon v. dCS Vivaldi Apex Listening Comparison

pk_LA

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I am in the process of auditioning the Lampi Horizon and the Vivaldi Apex stack. Full system is as follows.
dacs: Lampi Horizon connected via USB to Roon Nuc + dCS Vivaldi Apex (clock/upsampler/dac) connected via ethernet cable
Pre: Boulder 3010
Power: Boulder 3060
Speakers: Wilson Alexx V
Cables: Transparent Opus Gen 6

I have been listening to tracks back-to-back since yesterday. My impressions thus far are below.

dCS/
- incredible precision and resolve.
- controlled and linear!
- very balanced top to bottom
- fuller sound than prior dCS
- less dry and more musical than prior dCS

Lampi/
- soundstage and presence are incredible - holographic
- musical like no dac I have ever heard
- mid-range is better than I have ever heard
- did I say silky smooth!
- very full and great cohesion across instruments and range

So far which do i prefer? With the exception of electronica/edm, the musicality of the Lampi is just beyond anything I have heard! And, it's not that the Vivaldi is bad - it is not, it's awesome. The dCS does ha ndle complex pieces with incredible accuracy and cohesion. But, by comparison to the Lampi it is just slightly thin and less musical. The one exception is electronic music - on such tracks the dCS has the edge over the Lampi. I find myself listening to the first half of a track on the dCS and then switching to the Lampi with the intention of listening to the same fraction and then I get pulled in and listen to the entire track. I really want to like the dCS more! It doesn't have the burden of tubes, it looks great and I know how overbuilt it is. But, alas, so far the Lampi is just...more enjoyable.

IMG_4235.jpg
 

bonzo75

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I am in the process of auditioning the Lampi Horizon and the Vivaldi Apex stack. Full system is as follows.
dacs: Lampi Horizon connected via USB to Roon Nuc + dCS Vivaldi Apex (clock/upsampler/dac) connected via ethernet cable
Pre: Boulder 3010
Power: Boulder 3060
Speakers: Wilson Alexx V
Cables: Transparent Opus Gen 6

I have been listening to tracks back-to-back since yesterday. My impressions thus far are below.

dCS/
- incredible precision and resolve.
- controlled and linear!
- very balanced top to bottom
- fuller sound than prior dCS
- less dry and more musical than prior dCS

Lampi/
- soundstage and presence are incredible - holographic
- musical like no dac I have ever heard
- mid-range is better than I have ever heard
- did I say silky smooth!
- very full and great cohesion across instruments and range

So far which do i prefer? With the exception of electronica/edm, the musicality of the Lampi is just beyond anything I have heard! And, it's not that the Vivaldi is bad - it is not, it's awesome. The dCS does ha ndle complex pieces with incredible accuracy and cohesion. But, by comparison to the Lampi it is just slightly thin and less musical. The one exception is electronic music - on such tracks the dCS has the edge over the Lampi. I find myself listening to the first half of a track on the dCS and then switching to the Lampi with the intention of listening to the same fraction and then I get pulled in and listen to the entire track. I really want to like the dCS more! It doesn't have the burden of tubes, it looks great and I know how overbuilt it is. But, alas, so far the Lampi is just...more enjoyable.

View attachment 93169

i have no experience with the horizon or the Apex, but with Pacific, Golden gate, and with some tube amps you need to try different valves to get different character. You might find a set of valves suited for electronic/EDM.

The Golden gate was much superior to the vivaldi on classical so no reason why it or Pacific itself should not be preferred to the Apex. All reports of horizon are better than Pac so far.
 
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Mike Lavigne

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PK, sounds like a fun process. and honestly there is no bad outcome, both products are top level. just heard both at Axpona. it's going to come down to matter of taste. and maybe whether you are in the mood to deal with tubes.

depending on how deep you want to look at this, my only recommendations would be that the Roon Nuc as your server source is not the top level of server, and you are comparing the USB cable and the Ethernet cables and how each interface interacts with the server, too; both of which are variables. are you using only streaming? any files? are you using MQA? hirez with Quboz? planning on a Taiko Extreme server? how objective do you want to get?

the other thing to consider is whether the Horizon has any tube artifacts that impart a sameness over the music. i did not hear that when i listened to the Horizon at Axpona, but 5 years ago, when i compared the Lampi GG 1.5 and the Aqua Formula dac directly in my system i found the Formula was more synergistic with my system, and allowed my system to be more truthful about the music. the tubes obscured information in some spots. i was reminded i was listening to tubes with the GG 1.5.

you are playing at the highest level of electronics, speakers, cables and rooms; so your system deserves the very best.
 

Al M.

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Sep 10, 2013
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I am in the process of auditioning the Lampi Horizon and the Vivaldi Apex stack. Full system is as follows.
dacs: Lampi Horizon connected via USB to Roon Nuc + dCS Vivaldi Apex (clock/upsampler/dac) connected via ethernet cable
Pre: Boulder 3010
Power: Boulder 3060
Speakers: Wilson Alexx V
Cables: Transparent Opus Gen 6

I have been listening to tracks back-to-back since yesterday. My impressions thus far are below.

dCS/
- incredible precision and resolve.
- controlled and linear!
- very balanced top to bottom
- fuller sound than prior dCS
- less dry and more musical than prior dCS

Lampi/
- soundstage and presence are incredible - holographic
- musical like no dac I have ever heard
- mid-range is better than I have ever heard
- did I say silky smooth!
- very full and great cohesion across instruments and range

So far which do i prefer? With the exception of electronica/edm, the musicality of the Lampi is just beyond anything I have heard! And, it's not that the Vivaldi is bad - it is not, it's awesome. The dCS does ha ndle complex pieces with incredible accuracy and cohesion. But, by comparison to the Lampi it is just slightly thin and less musical. The one exception is electronic music - on such tracks the dCS has the edge over the Lampi. I find myself listening to the first half of a track on the dCS and then switching to the Lampi with the intention of listening to the same fraction and then I get pulled in and listen to the entire track. I really want to like the dCS more! It doesn't have the burden of tubes, it looks great and I know how overbuilt it is. But, alas, so far the Lampi is just...more enjoyable.

View attachment 93169

Thank you for your impressions. Obviously it will depend on the particular system context and personal perception as well as listening priorities which DAC will be preferred.

Also I am not sure what you mean when using the term "musical". It is too general for me, which is why I never use it in my descriptions. Could you please be more specific?
 
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Al M.

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PK, sounds like a fun process. and honestly there is no bad outcome, both products are top level. just heard both at Axpona. it's going to come down to matter of taste. and maybe whether you are in the mood to deal with tubes.

depending on how deep you want to look at this, my only recommendations would be that the Roon Nuc as your server source is not the top level of server, and you are comparing the USB cable and the Ethernet cables and how each interact with the server, too; both of which are variables. are you using only streaming? any files? are you using MQA? hirez with Quboz? planning on a Taiko Extreme server? how objective do you want to get?

the other thing to consider is whether the Horizon has any tube artifacts that impart a sameness over the music. i did not hear that when i listened to the Horizon at Axpona, but 5 years ago, when i compared the Lampi GG 1.5 and the Aqua Formula dac directly in my system i found the Formula was more synergistic with my system, and allowed my system to be more truthful about the music. i was reminded i was listening to tubes with the GG 1.5.

you are playing at the highest level of electronics, speakers, cables and rooms; so your system deserves the very best.

All good points, Mike.
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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I had the pleasure last night of hearing pk_LA's new system for the very first time! This was my first opportunity to see and hear the Wilson Audio Alexx V loudspeaker, and the dCS Vivaldi Apex digital stack.

pk_LA began by playing a vocal track I had never heard before. He did not alert me as to which DAC we were listening. We listened to the track all of the way through. Then he played it again, on the other DAC. Within 60 seconds I said I believed that we now were listening to the Horizon. He told me I was correct.

pk_LA made many track selections over the course of the evening. I selected:

"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac

"Witness" by Sarah MacLachlan on Surfacing

"Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley on Grace

"Hotel California" by The Eagles (live version)

"Walk on the Wild Side" by Suzanne Vega on An Evening of New York Songs and Stories

"I've Got the Music In Me" by Thelma Houston on I've Got the Music In Me

My initial impressions of the Horizon versus the Apex:

1) I heard a harmonic richness and instrumental decay on the Horizon which was truncated on the Apex.

2) I heard on the Apex a traditional digital dryness and sterile menthol sonic quality which has always been my personal tell-tale sign of digital that I do not care for.

3) I feel the perceived frequency response of the Apex is centered in the upper midrange to treble, whereas I feel the perceived frequency response of the Horizon is centered in the mid-range (like how I perceive good analog playback).

4) I heard greater depth and dimensionality from the Horizon. The Apex sounded "flatter" in comparison.

5) On each track that I selected and with which I am very familiar the Horizon presented the music in a way that reminded me of vinyl. The music sounded "right"; it sounded the way I am accustomed to these very familiar tracks sounding.

The Apex presented the music in a way that reminded me of the kind of conspicuously digital sound I just don't care for. The Horizon sounded significantly more "musical" to me.

The first time I ever really relaxed listening to digital was on audioquattr's system in the Netherlands with the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme feeding a Lampizator Pacific. I enjoyed listening to the Horizon at Steve's during the Horizon debut. I enjoyed listening to the Horizon at pk_LA's last night. I conclude that if I have to listen to digital the Lampizator DACs simply work for me.

The dCS components are, to my personal aesthetic, beautiful and contemporary, and they look like they are machined out of blocks of aluminum. The Horizon is the best-looking Lampizator thus far, but, with its neon tube numerical display, it still looks reminiscent of Russian laboratory equipment from the 1950s.

Thanks very much to pk_LA for the opportunity to hear his amazing new system!
 
Last edited:

bonzo75

Member Sponsor
Feb 26, 2014
22,438
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London
I had the pleasure last night of hearing pk_LA's new system for the very first time! This was my first opportunity to see and hear the Alexx V loudspeaker, among several component "firsts" for me.

pk_LA began by playing a vocal track I had never heard before. He did not alert me as to which DAC we were listening. We listened to the track all of the way through. Then he played it again, on the other DAC. Within 60 seconds I said I believed that we now were listening to the Horizon. He told me I was correct.

pk_LA made many track selections over the course of the evening. I selected:

"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac

"Witness" by Sarah MacLachlan on Surfacing

"Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley on Grace

"Hotel California" by The Eagles (live version)

"Walk on the Wild Side" by Suzanne Vega on An Evening of New York Songs and Stories

"I've Got the Music In Me" by Thelma Houston on I've Got the Music In Me

My initial impressions of the Horizon versus the Apex:

1) I heard a harmonic richness and instrumental decay on the Horizon which was truncated on the Apex.

2) I heard on the Apex a traditional digital dryness and sterile menthol sonic quality which has always been my personal tell-tale sign of digital that I do not care for.

3) I feel the perceived frequency response of the Apex is centered in the upper midrange to treble, whereas I feel the perceived frequency response of the Horizon is centered in the mid-range.

4) I heard greater depth and dimensionality from the Horizon. The Apex sounded "flatter" in comparison.

5) On each track that I selected and with which I am very familiar the Horizon presented the music in a way that reminded me of vinyl. The music sounded "right"; it sounded the way I am accustomed to these very familiar tracks sounding.

The Apex presented the music in a way that reminded me of the kind of conspicuously digital sound I just don't care for. The Horizon sounded significantly more "musical" to me.

The first time I ever really relaxed listening to digital was on audioquattr's system in the Netherlands with the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme feeding a Lampizator Pacific. I enjoyed listening to the Horizon at Steve's during the Horizon debut. I enjoyed listening to the Horizon at pk_LA's last night. I conclude that if I have to listen to digital the Lampizator DACs simply work for me.

Thanks very much to pk_LA for the opportunity to hear his amazing new system!

Your 1, 2, 4, and 5 points are true on compares with GG and most SS dacs especially from the dCS family. The midrangey in point 3 can be made more linear by tube swaps like 242. Not sure what the tube is for horizon but others can comment
 

Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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. . . with Pacific, Golden gate, and with some tube amps you need to try different valves to get different character. You might find a set of valves suited for electronic/EDM.

pk_LA does not presently want to think about tube rolling. Please don't make him (or me) nervous about tubes.

In Lucasz' tube selections we trust.
 
Last edited:

pk_LA

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Oct 21, 2021
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Thank you for your impressions. Obviously it will depend on the particular system context and personal perception as well as listening priorities which DAC will be preferred.

Also I am not sure what you mean when using the term "musical". It is too general for me, which is why I never use it in my descriptions. Could you please be more specific?
Apologies for vagueness of terms like, "...musical." Allow me to attempt to better articulate.

By 'musical' I mean,
- the timbre and what I call bloom of various instruments feels very organic. Not overly controlled/
- the decay feels very natural and not particularly controlled per the digital signal just as a horn might linger and roll off in real life
- the 'air' and 'space' around instruments feels like they are in the room
 

pk_LA

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Oct 21, 2021
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PK, sounds like a fun process. and honestly there is no bad outcome, both products are top level. just heard both at Axpona. it's going to come down to matter of taste. and maybe whether you are in the mood to deal with tubes.

depending on how deep you want to look at this, my only recommendations would be that the Roon Nuc as your server source is not the top level of server, and you are comparing the USB cable and the Ethernet cables and how each interface interacts with the server, too; both of which are variables. are you using only streaming? any files? are you using MQA? hirez with Quboz? planning on a Taiko Extreme server? how objective do you want to get?

the other thing to consider is whether the Horizon has any tube artifacts that impart a sameness over the music. i did not hear that when i listened to the Horizon at Axpona, but 5 years ago, when i compared the Lampi GG 1.5 and the Aqua Formula dac directly in my system i found the Formula was more synergistic with my system, and allowed my system to be more truthful about the music. the tubes obscured information in some spots. i was reminded i was listening to tubes with the GG 1.5.

you are playing at the highest level of electronics, speakers, cables and rooms; so your system deserves the very best.
As I think you know, Mike, I am a noob. Tubes feel very advanced to me. Hence my strong desire to like the dCS. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine letting go of the Lampi at this stage. Who knows though...maybe over the next couple days I'll change my perception!
 

Audiocrack

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Aug 10, 2012
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Very interesting comparison, thank you for that. And although I have not heard the Vivaldi Apex (but I listened to the Vivaldi four stack in my set up many moons ago) nor the Horizon I think that I fully understand where pk-LA and Ron are coming from.

After listening to the Vivaldi stack I replaced my DCS Scarlatti four stack (‘tweaked’ or ‘optimized’ with cables and Shun Mook devices to make it sound more ‘musical’ (sorry Al M)) by the Lampi GG. However, tubes are intrinsic noisy and although I love them in my amplification (I employ (nos) tubes in my preamp as well as power amps) I ‘found out’ that using (high quality) tubes in a source component is somewhat ‘tricky’ due to their intrinsic noise and - as a consequence - their ‘masking’ of (digital) information. I learned this ‘the hard way’ by extensive listening to my (extremely) revealing - or if you wish ‘silent’ - Tidal LA loudspeakers in combination with the (very) low noisefloor I have been able to achieve over the years with various Tripoint (grounding) devices. This is the reason why I replaced the Lampi GG dac a few years back with the Tidal Camira dac (the latter is still a great and beautiful sounding dac) while I recently opted for the Wadax reference dac. The latter has of its own a very low noisefloor (likely partly due to the two massive cq overly built PSU’s of the reference dac) and is therefore a very transparent sounding device while at the same time it is capable of a serene and fluid musical presentation with no (digital) artifacts (at least so far I have not discovered any of these artifacts while I am playing /burning in the Wadax reference dac).

That said, I am sure Lukasz created something very special with the Horizon dac and possibly he has ‘overcome’ (a lot of?) the ‘noise issues’ of his various earlier dacs. And undoubtedly the Horizon dac is capable of providing a lot of musical pleasure. Have a lot of fun with it.
 
Last edited:

Mike Lavigne

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As I think you know, Mike, I am a noob. Tubes feel very advanced to me. Hence my strong desire to like the dCS. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine letting go of the Lampi at this stage. Who knows though...maybe over the next couple days I'll change my perception!
good luck on your decision. notice i did not add any suggestions to your list of dacs. you may be a noob, but you are playing at a very high level. and so keep in mind that your source has lots of potential to be fulfilled.
 
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Al M.

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Apologies for vagueness of terms like, "...musical." Allow me to attempt to better articulate.

By 'musical' I mean,
- the timbre and what I call bloom of various instruments feels very organic. Not overly controlled/
- the decay feels very natural and not particularly controlled per the digital signal just as a horn might linger and roll off in real life
- the 'air' and 'space' around instruments feels like they are in the room

Thank you, this is now very clear to me.

While keeping the same (solid state) DAC and other core components that I have had for several years, I have experienced great and unexpected progress in this area by changes in system setup and advances in power delivery (in-wall line, power cords, 6-way power distributor) for the whole system, not just the digital components; for details, see my signature.

Just yesterday, while listening to a Schubert piano sonata (A minor D 784, Brendel, on Decca), I was marveling at the harmonic richness, 'bloom' and decay of the piano tone, making it more physically believable and palpable. I did not have this level of reproduction a year ago.
 
Last edited:

morricab

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Apr 25, 2014
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PK, sounds like a fun process. and honestly there is no bad outcome, both products are top level. just heard both at Axpona. it's going to come down to matter of taste. and maybe whether you are in the mood to deal with tubes.

depending on how deep you want to look at this, my only recommendations would be that the Roon Nuc as your server source is not the top level of server, and you are comparing the USB cable and the Ethernet cables and how each interface interacts with the server, too; both of which are variables. are you using only streaming? any files? are you using MQA? hirez with Quboz? planning on a Taiko Extreme server? how objective do you want to get?

the other thing to consider is whether the Horizon has any tube artifacts that impart a sameness over the music. i did not hear that when i listened to the Horizon at Axpona, but 5 years ago, when i compared the Lampi GG 1.5 and the Aqua Formula dac directly in my system i found the Formula was more synergistic with my system, and allowed my system to be more truthful about the music. the tubes obscured information in some spots. i was reminded i was listening to tubes with the GG 1.5.

you are playing at the highest level of electronics, speakers, cables and rooms; so your system deserves the very best.
Well, if one makes it easy to stop mid song and the other you go “whoops! Where did the time go?” I think it should be a rather easy choice from a sound perspective…if you are visually or advertising biased…
 

morricab

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Apr 25, 2014
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I had the pleasure last night of hearing pk_LA's new system for the very first time! This was my first opportunity to see and hear the Wilson Audio Alexx V loudspeaker, and the dCS Vivaldi Apex digital stack.

pk_LA began by playing a vocal track I had never heard before. He did not alert me as to which DAC we were listening. We listened to the track all of the way through. Then he played it again, on the other DAC. Within 60 seconds I said I believed that we now were listening to the Horizon. He told me I was correct.

pk_LA made many track selections over the course of the evening. I selected:

"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac

"Witness" by Sarah MacLachlan on Surfacing

"Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley on Grace

"Hotel California" by The Eagles (live version)

"Walk on the Wild Side" by Suzanne Vega on An Evening of New York Songs and Stories

"I've Got the Music In Me" by Thelma Houston on I've Got the Music In Me

My initial impressions of the Horizon versus the Apex:

1) I heard a harmonic richness and instrumental decay on the Horizon which was truncated on the Apex.

2) I heard on the Apex a traditional digital dryness and sterile menthol sonic quality which has always been my personal tell-tale sign of digital that I do not care for.

3) I feel the perceived frequency response of the Apex is centered in the upper midrange to treble, whereas I feel the perceived frequency response of the Horizon is centered in the mid-range.

4) I heard greater depth and dimensionality from the Horizon. The Apex sounded "flatter" in comparison.

5) On each track that I selected and with which I am very familiar the Horizon presented the music in a way that reminded me of vinyl. The music sounded "right"; it sounded the way I am accustomed to these very familiar tracks sounding.

The Apex presented the music in a way that reminded me of the kind of conspicuously digital sound I just don't care for. The Horizon sounded significantly more "musical" to me.

The first time I ever really relaxed listening to digital was on audioquattr's system in the Netherlands with the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme feeding a Lampizator Pacific. I enjoyed listening to the Horizon at Steve's during the Horizon debut. I enjoyed listening to the Horizon at pk_LA's last night. I conclude that if I have to listen to digital the Lampizator DACs simply work for me.

The dCS components are, to my personal aesthetic, beautiful and contemporary, and they look like they are machined out of blocks of aluminum. The Horizon is the best-looking Lampizator thus far, but, with its neon tube numerical display, it still looks reminiscent of Russian laboratory equipment from the 1950s.

Thanks very much to pk_LA for the opportunity to hear his amazing new system!
So much for convergence at the top of the digital food chain. Those differences sound pretty fundamental to me.
 

Alrainbow

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Dec 11, 2013
3,189
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there is a saying stick a tube somewhere and then theres music . too many use tube amps and totally underpower there speakers , while telling you this is marvelous . as for dacs dcs is a hard sound to me if the chain allows showing you this . boulder i can say no more then the few shows i heard them .
i think neutrality is a start but the end must be musical . given blouilder i think seemed close to neutral , and the wilsons i think are true to the chain . analog is music and digital is where it may go to , the H dac seems to be shoulder to shoulder with analog . a tough olace to achieve . you can hear many facets to get you close to a purchase , musicality is not just a facet but in digital its the core the facets orbit around . i have SS dacs and tube dacs , i fight with myself as sometimes ss seems to be more detailed , jump , lower noise floor . but analog tape or vinyl is inherently noisey yet its the holy grail mountain top all the rest looks up to . in the one show i heard the H dac it was in a room with great vinyl and tape , the H dac to me had it over the analog big time . rooms who have digital and analog makes me scatch in why do this ? the H dac did not it made me feel yea where right there now
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Hi pk_LA

Fantastic electronics! Boulder 3000 series...the stuff of some serious legend! In fact, did you ever consider the Boulder DAC? Based on your comments, I imagine they could well fall closer to Apex than Horizon but that is purely conjecture.

Have you considered Wadax given the price of the Apex full stack? I believe both Mike L and clearly Audiocrack have both owned Lampi, MSB and DCS collectively...and have declared 'organic' 'dynamic' 'natural' in spades with the Wadax.
 

morricab

Well-Known Member
Apr 25, 2014
9,391
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978
Switzerland
there is a saying stick a tube somewhere and then theres music . too many use tube amps and totally underpower there speakers , while telling you this is marvelous . as for dacs dcs is a hard sound to me if the chain allows showing you this . boulder i can say no more then the few shows i heard them .
i think neutrality is a start but the end must be musical . given blouilder i think seemed close to neutral , and the wilsons i think are true to the chain . analog is music and digital is where it may go to , the H dac seems to be shoulder to shoulder with analog . a tough olace to achieve . you can hear many facets to get you close to a purchase , musicality is not just a facet but in digital its the core the facets orbit around . i have SS dacs and tube dacs , i fight with myself as sometimes ss seems to be more detailed , jump , lower noise floor . but analog tape or vinyl is inherently noisey yet its the holy grail mountain top all the rest looks up to . in the one show i heard the H dac it was in a room with great vinyl and tape , the H dac to me had it over the analog big time . rooms who have digital and analog makes me scatch in why do this ? the H dac did not it made me feel yea where right there now
There was a room with big Kronos TT and big WADAX. The Kronos sounded MUCH better…
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
So much for convergence at the top of the digital food chain. Those differences sound pretty fundamental to me.
Reality can be an eye opener
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
he other thing to consider is whether the Horizon has any tube artifacts that impart a sameness over the music
simply put, this does not occur. The beauty of the Horizon is that with different tube combinations it is almost like changing cartridges on a tonearm to create a different sound. I am not a tube roller and have settled on my tube kit that I use and I love it. There is no sameness. It is music at its very best

Ive been talking to Patrick for the past week and he is hearing these profound differences and his tubes are yet to be be even close to being burned in.


I have said here many times that once heard the Horizon cannot be unheard

I have also talked to Patrick about his server /player as being the weak link . He understands and is receptive to suggestion but I find it refreshing the differences he is hearing is with a very inexpensive streamer

Yesterday was a big uptick for Patrick as the tubes settle in but let's quickly dispel the notion of tubes creating a music sameness. It just doesn't happen. There are reports all over the threads about different tube sets and the sound they impart. Some changes can be subtle whereas others more obvious.

Patrick has some incoming tubes that will be big game changers for him IMO

I see this as a huge learning experience for Patrick as he dips his toes into tube technology. More than anything else one also has to take into account that Ron has been openly anti digital in all of the years I have known him. When he and Patrick attended the open house I held in February for the soft launch at the end of the weekend, Ron stated that this was the first digital music experience he has ever enjoyed . Patrick yesterday continued to compare the two DACs and said to me that the DCS is very good but analytic when compared to the Horizon when he continued to say that he really wants to like the DCS but his ears kept taking him back to the Horizon. It truly is "a bell that cannot be unrung"
 

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