Ultimately yes, of course, and I likewise mainly listen in almost darkness as your hearing changes when your eyes do less work..
But a missed opportunity to match the aesthetics with the expected sonics, IMO of course..
Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC
- Thread starter Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus
- Start date
Ultimately yes, of course, and I likewise mainly listen in almost darkness as your hearing changes when your eyes do less work..
But a missed opportunity to match the aesthetics with the expected sonics, IMO of course..
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
we will have to agree to disagree on this. I 'never' consider the looks of any piece of equipment when considering a purchase. This hobby involves our ears, not our eyes
Even speakers??? Granted, I care what speakers look like much more than a DAC. I agree with you in general but I'd be kidding myself if I didn't recognize aesthetics play a role in this hobby...to some it's significant and to other it's negligible. I believe 100% of designers/manufacturers also contemplate aesthetic in their offerings. Does sound quality trump aesthetics...most definitely!
sorry - not intending to go off topic here.
On the Horizon tube rolling: this is going to be exciting. The 7 tubes work in a new way, never seen before in any DAC. The pentodes provide power supply regulation, active anode loading and cathode buffering - all at the same time - thanks to their 3 grids. The dual triodes provide voltage amplification and current conversion in the DAC process - so their influence is huge. We offer the circuitry for octal base and 6SN7 tube type, but we also recommend:
6sn7GT, CV181, 6H8C, 6N8S, MELZ Metalbase,
With octal adaptors: VT99, 6F8G
With noval adapters: 6N1P, 6N6P, 6H30P, 6922, 6DJ8, ECC88, E88CC, ECC182, 7119, Ecc82, ECC81, ECC99, 6900, 12BH7,
and for the power tubes: EL34, 6V6, 6L6, KT66, KT88, KT90, KT120, KT150, KT170, 5881, 6550C,
For the rectifier: 274B, 5U4G, GZ34, GZ37, 5R4WGT, Potato Mashers, U52, 5C3S, 5C4S, 5Y3, 5u4C, GZ480
We will be prepared to add desired adapters to the package.
My personal favorite is: input 6900 with adapter, Power KR-KT88, Rectifier Riccardo Kron 5U4G followed by the more accessible 6N1P-EB as input.
6sn7GT, CV181, 6H8C, 6N8S, MELZ Metalbase,
With octal adaptors: VT99, 6F8G
With noval adapters: 6N1P, 6N6P, 6H30P, 6922, 6DJ8, ECC88, E88CC, ECC182, 7119, Ecc82, ECC81, ECC99, 6900, 12BH7,
and for the power tubes: EL34, 6V6, 6L6, KT66, KT88, KT90, KT120, KT150, KT170, 5881, 6550C,
For the rectifier: 274B, 5U4G, GZ34, GZ37, 5R4WGT, Potato Mashers, U52, 5C3S, 5C4S, 5Y3, 5u4C, GZ480
We will be prepared to add desired adapters to the package.
My personal favorite is: input 6900 with adapter, Power KR-KT88, Rectifier Riccardo Kron 5U4G followed by the more accessible 6N1P-EB as input.
Well, if you want more aesthetics, there's always the Wadax Ref, enough aesthetics for a whole lifetime.
Don't get me wrong, I don't place much if any value on the aesthetics of a DAC, nor do I feel there is anything wrong looking about the newest Lampi. I just wasn't onboard with Steve's blanket statement that aesthetics never matter in audio to any degree whatsoever. I don't intend to push this minutia of a comment I made any further, just was making a comment.
Concerning the Aesthetics: the fit and finish of this DAC is of aerospace level. All parts of thew chassis are milled from slabs of 1 inch aluminium, routed, drilled, polished and powdercoated. The housing look and feel is to me simply scary. it is like Lenin's tumb. The weight of 70 lbs is the maximum allowed in commercial shipments by air. And we wanted to avoid the palette.
We made our preliminary pre-production pictures with the generic black powder to play down the aesathetics and focus on the internal merit.
After the commercial release we will have the following free choice options:
Black Hole - black mat
Stardust Silver
Teflon Sahara Night (charcoal)
Duracell (with copper top)
BRG (British Racing Green)
Translucent Soul Red
And as paid options - 7000 of RAL colors
The tube ventillation plate on the top will come: in real Copper, Titanium, Carbon, Alu and Inox.
Compared to our previous DACS this one makes a jaw dropping first impression.
We made our preliminary pre-production pictures with the generic black powder to play down the aesathetics and focus on the internal merit.
After the commercial release we will have the following free choice options:
Black Hole - black mat
Stardust Silver
Teflon Sahara Night (charcoal)
Duracell (with copper top)
BRG (British Racing Green)
Translucent Soul Red
And as paid options - 7000 of RAL colors
The tube ventillation plate on the top will come: in real Copper, Titanium, Carbon, Alu and Inox.
Compared to our previous DACS this one makes a jaw dropping first impression.
Maybe I am naïve but it still surprises me when people have no issue insulting someone's work. I am sure Lukasz and his team have put in thousands of hours in designing something but I guess that doesn't matter. Would you walk up to Lukasz and say this to his face?
A kinder approach would just be to say nothing.
Thank you for the defence, but I would rather hear it honestly before the wedding, and definitely before we have a baby. Polite silence leaves me deaf and blind.
I am not afraid about the aesthetics complaints, because I can not please everybody, and one mans ugly is another mans drooling desire. I am sure - the sound will make even the critics drool. No worries.
Ok, this really is not meant to insult, I have no reason to do that, but in a frank discussion I would say that yes absolutely, Lukasz is a professional, plus I have worked in this area for 30+ years and as Lukasz says honesty is far more useful than hiding one's real thoughts. I have no doubt though that it will sound spectacular based on the DAC's that I have heard here and elsewhere from Lukasz.
Ok. That's fair. Lukasz does seem to want the unfiltered opinions.
Personally, I like the looks. Brings to mind the leather-clad Absolare without the leather.
Can't wait until someone here compares the Horizon to the Baltic 3 sound-wise!
Can't wait until someone here compares the Horizon to the Baltic 3 sound-wise!
Congrats to Lukasz and team. Am sure it will sound truly stellar.
On the looks department, I think it has real potential if the Nixie tube display was replaced with a cool looking dot matrix or perhaps a modern screen.
Best.
On the looks department, I think it has real potential if the Nixie tube display was replaced with a cool looking dot matrix or perhaps a modern screen.
Best.
I would assume that we would continue to benefit from the DTC business model on the pricing issue. As far as aesthetics, well as implied in an earlier post, it does not come close to taking the ugly prize away from wadax.
I repeat that I can't wait to hear it, and hereby volunteer to be an early adopter and trade in my loaded Pacific
I repeat that I can't wait to hear it, and hereby volunteer to be an early adopter and trade in my loaded Pacific
I am so excited to the new Flagship and I believe Lukasz did a fantastic job on it, definitely going to hear it in the next Florida’s show.
and yey to we can still use 6900 on Horizon!
but I think it would be kind of nice if we can have no or just one button on the front plate… can we choose to hind these buttons like how its been done with PAC?
and yey to we can still use 6900 on Horizon!
but I think it would be kind of nice if we can have no or just one button on the front plate… can we choose to hind these buttons like how its been done with PAC?
Nail on the head.
It looks bloody dreadful!
No, really. It just does. And cheap.Also in need of some super esoteric unobtanium tubes to justify the cost.
Just being honest. I think Duracell PACs look great.
I am here for you!I repeat that I can't wait to hear it, and hereby volunteer to be an early adopter and trade in my loaded Pacific
We are hammering out the details of an introductory trade in promotion now which will reward our existing flagship owners.
I am glad to hear there is going to be a generous trade-in policy for the Horizon. My Pacific is less than a year old and I love it. Two of my audiophile friends also purchased the Pacific after hearing about mine.
Black matte for me. Oh my, so many tubes to consider. I would have no idea what to order. I guess I would go with Lukasz's recommendations. I am ready to order and am chomping at the bit. I will wait for the pricing and trade-in value. Even though I could afford it, it is still a luxury purchase and it has to make financial sense. After all, the PACIFIC is damn good in its own sense. So, am I going to get 5, 10, 20k of improved sound?
What are some of the sound improvements that we might hear on the Horizon from the Pacific?
Black matte for me. Oh my, so many tubes to consider. I would have no idea what to order. I guess I would go with Lukasz's recommendations. I am ready to order and am chomping at the bit. I will wait for the pricing and trade-in value. Even though I could afford it, it is still a luxury purchase and it has to make financial sense. After all, the PACIFIC is damn good in its own sense. So, am I going to get 5, 10, 20k of improved sound?
What are some of the sound improvements that we might hear on the Horizon from the Pacific?
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