Ah, the perils of modern audio. Makes you long for the good old days when all you needed was to hook up components with RCA or balanced cables….in this modern streaming age, all bets are off if two components don’t sync together digitally. Much the same happens in the home theater world. HDMI handshaking is a hit or miss proposition.
Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC
- Thread starter Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus
- Start date
My lucky day has come. My new Horizon.arrived today. It’s just amazing right out of the box.
My friend and I received quite a workout wrestling it down the stairs. But believe me it was a labor of love. Hearing Horizon in my system today made up for all the patient waiting.
So if you’re still waiting for your Horizon to arrive just know right out of the box you’ll be in for a thrill.
From the moment you pick it up you can feel the craftsmanship in the chassis. It’s unlike anything I’ve owned before such as DCS, Audio Research, and many others. Before you think I’m throwing stones, those pieces were some of the nicest I’ve ever owned. But the Horizon is just better.
The little Nixie tubes look amazing like bright little candles in the wind.
Controlling the Horizon with its rugged and smooth remote control while putting the Horizon through its paces is a pleasure.
My great friend (known as Mr. Peabody on the forum) gives Horizon two thumbs up and is hogging (just teasing) the best chair in the house while plotting how to obtain a Baltic 3 for his system.
More adventures to write up are just over the Horizon as I fathom the influence of Fuse World, Footer City, Interconnect Island, Cape Power Cord, and of course inevitably………The Tube Strait!
Am I happy, excited, and ecstatic? I’ll let you be the judge.
A big thanks to Lukasz and Fred who have encouraged, aided, and abetted my quest for the absolute sound. You’re the best.
My friend and I received quite a workout wrestling it down the stairs. But believe me it was a labor of love. Hearing Horizon in my system today made up for all the patient waiting.
So if you’re still waiting for your Horizon to arrive just know right out of the box you’ll be in for a thrill.
From the moment you pick it up you can feel the craftsmanship in the chassis. It’s unlike anything I’ve owned before such as DCS, Audio Research, and many others. Before you think I’m throwing stones, those pieces were some of the nicest I’ve ever owned. But the Horizon is just better.
The little Nixie tubes look amazing like bright little candles in the wind.
Controlling the Horizon with its rugged and smooth remote control while putting the Horizon through its paces is a pleasure.
My great friend (known as Mr. Peabody on the forum) gives Horizon two thumbs up and is hogging (just teasing) the best chair in the house while plotting how to obtain a Baltic 3 for his system.
More adventures to write up are just over the Horizon as I fathom the influence of Fuse World, Footer City, Interconnect Island, Cape Power Cord, and of course inevitably………The Tube Strait!
Am I happy, excited, and ecstatic? I’ll let you be the judge.
A big thanks to Lukasz and Fred who have encouraged, aided, and abetted my quest for the absolute sound. You’re the best.
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Congratulations Steve !, and welcome in the club
Such a pleasure to read another story of joy. Please show us some pictures of the dac with your system, I would like share the snap and your wonderful feedback with our customers and friends in the UK as well. Thank You & Enjoy your long Winter Sessions ahead 
I consider your room Steve my World Top 3 room, so an addition of the Horizon DAC is EXTREMELY exciting. and I know I heard it 25 improvements ago.
Hi,
Down with a bad cold now. I will try tomorrow. I just have H playing 24 hours a day nonstop. So hopefully it will break in soon.
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Thanks. I have really worked hard to get that room and equipment sounding even better. It’s a work of love. I I can’t wait until Horizon breaks in to hear it in all its glory. But it’s very interesting listening to it grow and mature.. I’ve heard it at a couple of shows now and I know it will be a very special upgrade. It’s a truly magical DAC. One thing I’ve noticed is the power it has across the audio spectrum. No music I’ve thrown at it has challenged it yet. I didn’t think you could surpass the Pacific. But with lots of hard work you and your team did it.
Many businesses blame Covid for anything that goes wrong. Without those couple years with little distraction I’m not sure Horizon would have become so amazing.
This is the first time I’ve been grateful for Covid!
Steve I hope you feel better. I'm on the same pace as you. Give the machine some time. The tubes alone need time. Play something like Jacqui Naylor, or Marta Gomez. Some pieces will show themselves better. This is the indicator of what the Horizon will do. BTW I'm 30 hours of listening you will hear incremental nuances as the machine settles in.
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I have been trying different rectifiers and think I can conclude that the one I like the best in my Horizon is the Psvane Acme 274B. I compared it to the Tak 274B and a WE 422A and the sound is more enjoyable for me with the Acme.
I am also now trying a pair of Chelmer CV181s. @marty will be happy about this.
I am also now trying a pair of Chelmer CV181s. @marty will be happy about this.
Wow. Thant is cool. Have to try that Psvanne Acme. What power tubes are you using?
Nice. Those are on my list as well!
I will look out for an Acme 274 as well. My drivers are ECC31 so need converters. The 32s are probably a step up without. Horizon is paradise for tube lovers!!!The Horizon is quite a statement piece both physically and sonically.
What I noticed after the Pacific was removed from the shelf and the Horizon hooked up the exact same way, and right out of the crate, the Horizon provided more focus, control, dynamics and transparency. The Pacific was great so hearing something going beyond that was something. Focus, the images were well defined with no smear or harshness. Control and dynamics, things like percussion had no lag, good impact. The Horizon didn't seem to add any colorations, warmth, lushness etc. it was able to be honest to the recording while engaging the listener.
What I noticed after the Pacific was removed from the shelf and the Horizon hooked up the exact same way, and right out of the crate, the Horizon provided more focus, control, dynamics and transparency. The Pacific was great so hearing something going beyond that was something. Focus, the images were well defined with no smear or harshness. Control and dynamics, things like percussion had no lag, good impact. The Horizon didn't seem to add any colorations, warmth, lushness etc. it was able to be honest to the recording while engaging the listener.
Looks like I need to give my not so much loved ACME 274b another whirl after I wrote it off in my Pacific
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Again not my first choice but maybe the combo ACME 274 and the EL51 is magical??
I will try them, again
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Looks like I need give my not so much loved ACME 274b anther whirl after I wrote it off in my Pacific
You could end up concluding the same thing. It's all about system synergy. For some reason this tube seems to work well in mine.
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
David, that IMHO is the key to the entire issue of selecting tubes. It all boils down to one's ears, room and system synergy
Thanks so much! Which one of our rooms did you hear it in? We actually had it on exhibit in three separate spaces at CAF.one system with GT Audio speakers and Westminster Labs amplification, one system with VSA and VAC and finally in our Daedalus Audio room with LTA amplification.
FredA.
I agree fully, Steve. I often have owners ask which tubes are "the best" for our DACs, which is a loaded question.
I prefer to discuss the associated equipment with them, what they are hearing and what they'd like to hear more (or less) of.
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