for those who upgraded to the horizon I am looking for a pair of Kron RK242 anniversary tubes for my Pacific
Pm me if you have a pair to sell
Pm me if you have a pair to sell
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Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC
- Thread starter Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus
- Start date
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Already Have one.I fiqured get a little more exposure here from members that don.t look at the classifieds
Thanks Tom
It’s not everyday you get home from a long day at the hospital and your six year old son runs up and says “Papa your DAC is finally here! You’re going to be so happy!”
Where he learnt what a DAC is I have no idea. But he was right.
Huge thanks to Fred @LampiNA and to @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus for getting this to me before the year is out in my remote corner of Maine. DHL did better than promised and delivered it a day early which is always a crapshoot where I live.
Flight case came well protected with padding at the corners. Getting it up to the listening room was definitely a two person job which I enlisted my wife for.
As expected the internals were immaculately packed;; I was used to the Pacific flight case but the Horizon seems to be better sized and padded, if that’s possible.
Picking the Horizon up out of the case was definitely doable by myself though it was very clearly more weighty than the Pacific. That was quite clear when it bottomed out my floating shelf which floated the Pacific perfectly!
First impression on fit and finish were extremely good; as many have stated, it’s again another step above the Pacific which is itself quite wonderfully engineered.
For perspective this is my 5th Lampizator DAC. I started on this amazing journey with Fred @LampiNA and @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus in 2013 with the Big 7, to the Golden Gate, GG2, Pacific and now the Horizon.
It’s certainly amazing to look back and see the evolution and heritage through this line, but there’s always to my ears and preferences a shared sense of ease, flow and emotional connection with every one of the Lampi DACs I’ve owned, all thanks to Fred and Lukasz.
More impressions to come after it’s settled in! Ecstatic to have a Lampi back in place after the departure of the Pacific, which has been sorely missed.
Where he learnt what a DAC is I have no idea. But he was right.
Huge thanks to Fred @LampiNA and to @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus for getting this to me before the year is out in my remote corner of Maine. DHL did better than promised and delivered it a day early which is always a crapshoot where I live.
Flight case came well protected with padding at the corners. Getting it up to the listening room was definitely a two person job which I enlisted my wife for.
As expected the internals were immaculately packed;; I was used to the Pacific flight case but the Horizon seems to be better sized and padded, if that’s possible.
Picking the Horizon up out of the case was definitely doable by myself though it was very clearly more weighty than the Pacific. That was quite clear when it bottomed out my floating shelf which floated the Pacific perfectly!
First impression on fit and finish were extremely good; as many have stated, it’s again another step above the Pacific which is itself quite wonderfully engineered.
For perspective this is my 5th Lampizator DAC. I started on this amazing journey with Fred @LampiNA and @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus in 2013 with the Big 7, to the Golden Gate, GG2, Pacific and now the Horizon.
It’s certainly amazing to look back and see the evolution and heritage through this line, but there’s always to my ears and preferences a shared sense of ease, flow and emotional connection with every one of the Lampi DACs I’ve owned, all thanks to Fred and Lukasz.
More impressions to come after it’s settled in! Ecstatic to have a Lampi back in place after the departure of the Pacific, which has been sorely missed.
Attachments
Congrats to a loyal Lampi owner. What are you running the H with?
Your six-year-old may not know dacs, but he knows his dad.
This logic is extremely appealing to my mindset.
I have heard great things about Lampizator DAC’s. They seem to particularly appeal to those who, like me, have moved away from the mScaled Dave side of the road and I want to check out the Horizon in the New Year.
Do Horizon users tend to go straight into power amps or via a preamp? The presence of analogue volume control suggests that straight to power amp could be better which is not what I have found with DAC’s using a digital volume control where resolution and clarity always seem to suffer.
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Hi @Willgolf ! My setup is pretty pared down/simple. I try to minimize the number of components in the signal path.
Right now it's Taiko Extreme -> (FTA Sinope USB) -> Horizon -> Hornshoppe buffered "Truth" volume control -> Pass XA30.8 -> Tannoy Westminster GR/ 2x REL G2.
Working on sonically treating my room, about 1/4 of the way there!
Indeed he does. My music room doubles as their movie room, so probably as many hours of Disney are played up there (through the Pacific/Horizon) as I am listening to musicYour six-year-old may not know dacs, but he knows his dad.
I have the REL G2s as well, although I don’t use them much with my Klipsch La Scalas. The La Scalas are a pure horn design, so don’t have not much in the way of low bass under 40 Hz, but their distortion is so low and their efficiency so high that I fear my REL G2s will simply add a layer of high distortion bass sludge to the sound. I need to try them again to see if they can be mated with the La Scalas. I use a variety of SET amplifier. I tried Pass’ First Watt J2, but it doesn’t compare sonically with any of my SETs. I’m still sticking with my Pacific, preferring a single ended triode signal path to pentode config of the Horizon.
I do listen to a lot of vinyl, which I can’t seem to give up entirely. Although the Pacific is a lovely DAC, each time I play vinyl with my ARC Ref Phono 3SE preamp, the gulf between analog and digital seems vast. Listening right now to a lovely album with two jazz greats on vinyl. The remastered 24-bit 96 kHZ album on Qobuz is nice indeed, but at least on my setup, not in the same league as pure vinyl replay. It’s like watching a classic film in a theater vs a high quality remastered 4K Blu ray at home. The film is noisier, but the rendition is so superior to 4K Blu ray. Vinyl is noisier, but in my very biased view, somehow gets the gestalt better than the Pacific rendered reproduction. Yes, the Horizon might indeed change my mind, so I’ve been told!
Here’s the album, if you haven’t heard it. A jazz desert island album.
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You ain't going to best a good vinyl setup , but the Horizon is about as close as you will get . It won't disappoint
Attachments
Initial Listening Impressions
After setting up the Horizon, I started the burn in process with the stock tubes. For various reasons, my Pacific had gone to Poland for roughly 3 months before the Horizon arrived, and to keep a level playing field I took pains to keep my listening environment and audio setup as unchanged as possible.
For instance, I avoided upgrading to XDMS, staying on TAS as this formed the baseline of my impressions with the Pacific before it left. All cables and network configuration were kept unchanged.
I also attempted to maintain a similar level of humidity in my listening room compared to summer/fall when I had last heard the Pacific – not sure if everyone does this, but I notice that low humidity really removes fullness and contributes to a thin, brighter presentation. Hence a large room humidifier is de rigueur in winter.
Obviously all listening impressions below are relevant to my system and my room. I also have zero interest and exposure to vinyl, so I will not be one that can compare the Horizon to a SOTA analog setup; I do however frequently listen to live music and performances, which I feel is a more important benchmark for comparison. I prefer opera, classical, jazz, blues, Latin, house and trance. I consider myself a very amateur commentator compared to most everyone else on this forum. Having 6 and 8 year old kids and too-frequent late hospital shifts and overnight call takes away from the time needed to be truly meticulous about equipment criticism, so take the following with those caveats.
Day 1-2:
I had not expected much on the first couple of days, as I had memories of a long break in with the Pacific. The main impression that struck me was how well defined the soundstage and instruments were. I have never placed high priority on soundstaging in optimization of my system; my emphasis has been on tonality, PRaT, transient response and most importantly emotional connection. Detail was there too, in spades, but in this very early stage of break in, it all seemed a bit disjointed and a “audiophile checklist” rather than a unified whole. Emotional connection was lacking at this stage. None of this was surprising given what I had experienced with the Pacific and GG/GG2 with break in.
Day 3-5:
Improved melding of disparate ingredients, presenting as much more of an integrated whole. At least the equal of the Pacific at this point given aural memory. The Horizon’s spatial prowess continues to surprise and delight within seconds of starting a track. Handling of fast microdynamic transients was also noticeably and markedly a leap forward. Although somewhat of an audiophile cliché, small details kept surprising me on almost every track played, to the point where I was wondering if there was some new noise source. Of course when I replayed the tracks, the new “noises” recurred at exactly the same time point. The Horizon was digging up so much low level detail compared to the Pacific here that I was wondering if my speakers were subtly broken on these tracks that I’d heard hundreds, if not thousands of times before. To be clear, these new details were not intrusive or disruptive of the musical experience as some artificially exaggerated facets of sound can be with other components I’ve had. With the Horizon, they just add to suspension of disbelief. The sound of the felt on piano hammers subtly rubbing on the upstroke; the low level clicks of singers’ pharyngeal mucous membranes separating between phrases; the harmonic reverberation when a clarinet key closes – these are examples of details that had never come to the forefront of consciousness on tracks I’ve heard numerous times before.
Day 6-10:
Wow. I’m floored here. Some major milestone was reached in the burn-in process. The Horizon now exceeds the Pacific in every way that my aural memory can compare. The wall behind my Tannoy Westminsters has disintegrated, with a realistic, palpable soundstage extending at least 30’ beyond into the Maine forest. Watch out, deer – don’t trample the double bass!
To use an analogy from quantum mechanics – the spatial probability cloud wave function of each singer, performer, instrument, voice has been collapsed. What were once slightly vague sonic phantoms have now coalesced into stable, solid and palpable images throughout the soundscape.
Overall tonality is similar in nature to the Pacific as one would expect given familial DNA but emotional engagement is at an all-time high. Low level hall/club/locale ambience is remarkable. Is this due to decreased background noise? Improved microdynamic transient handling? Who knows – but a clear sign of Lukasz’s genius @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus.
Petrucciani-NHØP
I discovered Michel Petrucciani when I discovered jazz in college and have been listening to his unique sound for almost 30 years now. One of my favorite tracks from his amazing live session with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Stella by Starlight, showcases his keyboard dexterity and percussive, propulsive playing. Compared to Pacific, GG2 and other DACs I’ve heard it on, the Horizon is a clear league ahead when it comes to portraying the dynamic impact of the Steinway’s hammers – again probably due to the amazing handling of fast transients. End result is even more emotional engagement here – I was almost jumping out of my seat stamping my foot along with Petrucciani & NHØP.
Mahler 8 - Solti
I own about 12 – 14 Mahler 8th recordings at a rough estimate. This is the one I keep coming back to. In terms of a test of orchestral complexity it’s hard to find a larger number of musicians, solo voices with 3 choirs and organ. With the Horizon it was immediately clear that the prior DHT based DACs, although massively capable with tonality, rhythm and emotion, had been shortchanging this classic gem of a recording. The hall ambience of the Sofiensaal was dense and enveloping, which had never been a prominent feature of the Pacific or GG2’s rendering of this recording before. Solti’s explosive dynamics threatened to launch me out of my listening room, without any hint of fatigue, hardening or shrillness at realistic concert sound levels.
Die Meistersinger - Janowski
I’ve been a big fan of almost all of Marek Janowski’s Wagner anniversary recordings (save for Gotterdammerung). Marvellous Pentatone DSD sound coupled with inspired to adequate performances overall, but this Meistersinger always does it for me. I wish I could have had Michael Volle as Hans Sachs instead of Albert Dohmen (having heard Volle 3x at the Met in the same role), but otherwise a very satisfying choice. The latter half of Act II, with just Sachs and Beckmesser initially to the massive street riot and its denouement has been one of my go to choices for judging the capabilities of a system. Once again, the Horizon blows away any other DAC in my system for spatial realism. Together with its remarkable portrayal of hall ambience and microdynamic transients, the Horizon (in combination with the Taiko Extreme and TAS) has taken my system a major leap forward in “you are there”-ness.
Conclusion:
At this point there is probably still more burn-in change to come. And remember, these are with stock tubes only – I have a set of KT-170s, Thomson 5687 and Tung-Sol VT231s waiting that I have not even tried yet. I also plan to try XLR/balanced direct into my Pass XA30.8 which I suspect will provide another step forward. This is also “only” with TAS and not XDMS on the Extreme, to try and maintain an even field of comparison!
I’ve had several PMs asking how the Horizon compares to the Pacific. I adore the Pacific and have loved it for the years I’ve owned in through both Amanero and JLSounds USB iterations. However, at this point I can confidently say – there is no comparison. Completely different league of performance in essentially every aspect of sound reproduction. Is it worth it the price differential? This is always subjective, but to me there is no question – a resounding YES!
Kudos to a monumental achievement by @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus , Andrzej, Antoni, Monika and team at Lampizator. And as always thanks to Fred Ainsley @LampiNA for facilitating this acquisition!
As tested: Taiko Extreme (TAS) - FTA Sinope USB - Lampizator Horizon (stock tubes) - Hornshoppe buffered volume control - Pass XA30.8 - Tannoy Westminster GR/ 2x REL G2. IC/Speaker cables - Duelund DCA 16GA, Power cables - Sablon Prince/King. Room treatments: GIK Soffits and Monster traps, RPG BAD Arc, Realtraps.
After setting up the Horizon, I started the burn in process with the stock tubes. For various reasons, my Pacific had gone to Poland for roughly 3 months before the Horizon arrived, and to keep a level playing field I took pains to keep my listening environment and audio setup as unchanged as possible.
For instance, I avoided upgrading to XDMS, staying on TAS as this formed the baseline of my impressions with the Pacific before it left. All cables and network configuration were kept unchanged.
I also attempted to maintain a similar level of humidity in my listening room compared to summer/fall when I had last heard the Pacific – not sure if everyone does this, but I notice that low humidity really removes fullness and contributes to a thin, brighter presentation. Hence a large room humidifier is de rigueur in winter.
Obviously all listening impressions below are relevant to my system and my room. I also have zero interest and exposure to vinyl, so I will not be one that can compare the Horizon to a SOTA analog setup; I do however frequently listen to live music and performances, which I feel is a more important benchmark for comparison. I prefer opera, classical, jazz, blues, Latin, house and trance. I consider myself a very amateur commentator compared to most everyone else on this forum. Having 6 and 8 year old kids and too-frequent late hospital shifts and overnight call takes away from the time needed to be truly meticulous about equipment criticism, so take the following with those caveats.
Day 1-2:
I had not expected much on the first couple of days, as I had memories of a long break in with the Pacific. The main impression that struck me was how well defined the soundstage and instruments were. I have never placed high priority on soundstaging in optimization of my system; my emphasis has been on tonality, PRaT, transient response and most importantly emotional connection. Detail was there too, in spades, but in this very early stage of break in, it all seemed a bit disjointed and a “audiophile checklist” rather than a unified whole. Emotional connection was lacking at this stage. None of this was surprising given what I had experienced with the Pacific and GG/GG2 with break in.
Day 3-5:
Improved melding of disparate ingredients, presenting as much more of an integrated whole. At least the equal of the Pacific at this point given aural memory. The Horizon’s spatial prowess continues to surprise and delight within seconds of starting a track. Handling of fast microdynamic transients was also noticeably and markedly a leap forward. Although somewhat of an audiophile cliché, small details kept surprising me on almost every track played, to the point where I was wondering if there was some new noise source. Of course when I replayed the tracks, the new “noises” recurred at exactly the same time point. The Horizon was digging up so much low level detail compared to the Pacific here that I was wondering if my speakers were subtly broken on these tracks that I’d heard hundreds, if not thousands of times before. To be clear, these new details were not intrusive or disruptive of the musical experience as some artificially exaggerated facets of sound can be with other components I’ve had. With the Horizon, they just add to suspension of disbelief. The sound of the felt on piano hammers subtly rubbing on the upstroke; the low level clicks of singers’ pharyngeal mucous membranes separating between phrases; the harmonic reverberation when a clarinet key closes – these are examples of details that had never come to the forefront of consciousness on tracks I’ve heard numerous times before.
Day 6-10:
Wow. I’m floored here. Some major milestone was reached in the burn-in process. The Horizon now exceeds the Pacific in every way that my aural memory can compare. The wall behind my Tannoy Westminsters has disintegrated, with a realistic, palpable soundstage extending at least 30’ beyond into the Maine forest. Watch out, deer – don’t trample the double bass!
To use an analogy from quantum mechanics – the spatial probability cloud wave function of each singer, performer, instrument, voice has been collapsed. What were once slightly vague sonic phantoms have now coalesced into stable, solid and palpable images throughout the soundscape.
Overall tonality is similar in nature to the Pacific as one would expect given familial DNA but emotional engagement is at an all-time high. Low level hall/club/locale ambience is remarkable. Is this due to decreased background noise? Improved microdynamic transient handling? Who knows – but a clear sign of Lukasz’s genius @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus.
Petrucciani-NHØP
I discovered Michel Petrucciani when I discovered jazz in college and have been listening to his unique sound for almost 30 years now. One of my favorite tracks from his amazing live session with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Stella by Starlight, showcases his keyboard dexterity and percussive, propulsive playing. Compared to Pacific, GG2 and other DACs I’ve heard it on, the Horizon is a clear league ahead when it comes to portraying the dynamic impact of the Steinway’s hammers – again probably due to the amazing handling of fast transients. End result is even more emotional engagement here – I was almost jumping out of my seat stamping my foot along with Petrucciani & NHØP.
Mahler 8 - Solti
I own about 12 – 14 Mahler 8th recordings at a rough estimate. This is the one I keep coming back to. In terms of a test of orchestral complexity it’s hard to find a larger number of musicians, solo voices with 3 choirs and organ. With the Horizon it was immediately clear that the prior DHT based DACs, although massively capable with tonality, rhythm and emotion, had been shortchanging this classic gem of a recording. The hall ambience of the Sofiensaal was dense and enveloping, which had never been a prominent feature of the Pacific or GG2’s rendering of this recording before. Solti’s explosive dynamics threatened to launch me out of my listening room, without any hint of fatigue, hardening or shrillness at realistic concert sound levels.
Die Meistersinger - Janowski
I’ve been a big fan of almost all of Marek Janowski’s Wagner anniversary recordings (save for Gotterdammerung). Marvellous Pentatone DSD sound coupled with inspired to adequate performances overall, but this Meistersinger always does it for me. I wish I could have had Michael Volle as Hans Sachs instead of Albert Dohmen (having heard Volle 3x at the Met in the same role), but otherwise a very satisfying choice. The latter half of Act II, with just Sachs and Beckmesser initially to the massive street riot and its denouement has been one of my go to choices for judging the capabilities of a system. Once again, the Horizon blows away any other DAC in my system for spatial realism. Together with its remarkable portrayal of hall ambience and microdynamic transients, the Horizon (in combination with the Taiko Extreme and TAS) has taken my system a major leap forward in “you are there”-ness.
Conclusion:
At this point there is probably still more burn-in change to come. And remember, these are with stock tubes only – I have a set of KT-170s, Thomson 5687 and Tung-Sol VT231s waiting that I have not even tried yet. I also plan to try XLR/balanced direct into my Pass XA30.8 which I suspect will provide another step forward. This is also “only” with TAS and not XDMS on the Extreme, to try and maintain an even field of comparison!
I’ve had several PMs asking how the Horizon compares to the Pacific. I adore the Pacific and have loved it for the years I’ve owned in through both Amanero and JLSounds USB iterations. However, at this point I can confidently say – there is no comparison. Completely different league of performance in essentially every aspect of sound reproduction. Is it worth it the price differential? This is always subjective, but to me there is no question – a resounding YES!
Kudos to a monumental achievement by @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus , Andrzej, Antoni, Monika and team at Lampizator. And as always thanks to Fred Ainsley @LampiNA for facilitating this acquisition!
As tested: Taiko Extreme (TAS) - FTA Sinope USB - Lampizator Horizon (stock tubes) - Hornshoppe buffered volume control - Pass XA30.8 - Tannoy Westminster GR/ 2x REL G2. IC/Speaker cables - Duelund DCA 16GA, Power cables - Sablon Prince/King. Room treatments: GIK Soffits and Monster traps, RPG BAD Arc, Realtraps.
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I had a tough time blending my SVS with my La Scala's. Conversely it was a cinch when I had my Cornwall's.
Ready to give up, my dealer suggested I try DSP on the sub. So I ordered one of these and blending with the LS's was much easier and I am very pleased with the results. I think it was only like $350 if memory serve me correct.
I also found using REW helped me set the phase of the sub with the speakers more accurately.
Not sure if it will help you, but I was not able to live with the LS's without a sub for the days I turn on my vocal trance music and relive the Rave days. LOL
Wanted to come on and wish everyone a happy year of the Rabbit! May it bring us all many, many hours of joyful listening. For my part, I have been offline for a while because I moved house. I now have my first ever dedicated listening room built from ground up. I am still dialing it in. Just ordered some bass traps to go with the rest of the treatments. horizon is happily singing away in its new home. Exciting times!!!!
Has anyone played with the volume setting on the Horizon and tried listening at a volume setting under 63 to see how much of a sound quality degradation there is, if any? I am going to do some of this now since the output level via balanced is really high and it causes me to have to turn my line stage to a pretty low level.
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
That’s why you should use SE
I did that experiment and thought going straight through to my preamp sounded best. I also know way back at the beginning of this thread several members were doing the same experiment but IIRC they also were SE and not balanced
That’s why you should use SE
I did that experiment and thought going straight through to my preamp sounded best. I also know way back at the beginning of this thread several members were doing the same experiment but IIRC they also were SE and not balanced
I can listen to either. I have both balanced and SE interconnects going from the Horizon to my line stage. The balanced sounds a little better. The difference is only about 4-5 dB.
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Why don’t you go balanced direct to amp as you might prefer it
I can’t. I have 2 other inputs (LP and tape) that I use more than digital. It is just not a practical solution.
Plus, didn’t you say that playing at 63 (max) produced the best sound?
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
To my ears and in my system 63 was the best as it is passing the entire signal to my preamp which is then used to control the gain. when Lukasz was here in Feb we did the experiment of going direct to amp and I can tell you that using the volume control on the Horizon produced fabulous sound. Several members here in fact are going direct and can attest, I’m sure of this
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