Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC
- Thread starter Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus
- Start date
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Congrats on safe arrival. And glorious pictures! Absolutely love its looks.
Given this unique opportunity forthcoming, is there a way to compare, side by side, the Pacific and the Horizon for those that will gather (tried to raise a few pages ago)?
And of course the CM footers are another layer unto themselves given settling time, user variability, etc. (would be a great later addition perhaps). Of course if both pacific and horizon settled on same footers, perfect.
Would be incredibly useful, as a Pacific owner, to have multiple ears on such a comp w minimized variables, particularly given the unfamiliar sound to most attending at the host venue. I mean it will be great to hear how amazing the Horizon sounds but it will be difficult to interpret without a side by side comparison to another DAC, or specifically, the Pacific. Except of course to Steve and those intimately familiar with the sound there. I am sure all this has been thought through.
Just 2 cents from the bleachers with a more than 2 cent deposit on the Horizon
Given this unique opportunity forthcoming, is there a way to compare, side by side, the Pacific and the Horizon for those that will gather (tried to raise a few pages ago)?
And of course the CM footers are another layer unto themselves given settling time, user variability, etc. (would be a great later addition perhaps). Of course if both pacific and horizon settled on same footers, perfect.
Would be incredibly useful, as a Pacific owner, to have multiple ears on such a comp w minimized variables, particularly given the unfamiliar sound to most attending at the host venue. I mean it will be great to hear how amazing the Horizon sounds but it will be difficult to interpret without a side by side comparison to another DAC, or specifically, the Pacific. Except of course to Steve and those intimately familiar with the sound there. I am sure all this has been thought through.
Just 2 cents from the bleachers with a more than 2 cent deposit on the Horizon
Last edited:
Don't be cruel Steve, say something about the sound
that's what we are all waiting for.
What kind of a doctor, is a doctor that gives me heart attack ?
Don't bother him - he's locked in his audio room in disbelief what he's hearing - no time to deal with us mortals and forum
Guys we need to wait a full 2 weeks for the footer burn in - have patience
@Steve Williams where are you going to put the Pacific so people can compare it and the Horizon next week?
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
First Impressions
I have to say in all honesty that yesterday's listening session proved to be longer than what I anticipated because frankly it is so different from the Pacific that I understand why Lukasz is keeping the Pacific in production as his top of the line DHT tube based DAC as well as the Horizon. The Pacific is magnificent DAC so frankly I wondered how the Horizon could be quantum leaps better
I was not prepared for what I was hearing and I didn't get out of my room for 7 hours. I missed dinner with my wife and in fact didn't see her until almost 1100 PM.
I am not going to use the proverbial verbiage we always hear as there is a long way for this DAC to go before it has burned in and I also have the DAC sitting on a brand new set of CS2M 1.5 footers and I know that these will take a week to settle and should be just right for the demo next weekend at my house. Lukasz arrives on Wednesday
Having sat without moving for 7 hours I totally lost alll sense of time as I just kept playing one song after another to get an overview of what I was hearing. There is absolutely no fatigue
The sound stage right out of the box is layered and 3 dimensional. The ambience and decay gives me a sense of being in the room with the performers. It is a difficult fact for me to grip but the reality was I played every demo song that I have used for over 20 years and I was hearing so much more detail that I had never heard before. Timbre, dynamics and tone was so far superior to the Pacific that I had to begin reassessing where I am now in digital as the Horizon raises the bar not by inches but by magnitudes I never thought existed
The volume control on this DAC is different than that on the Pacific where I used it at a level between -12db to -16 Db and my preamp to adjust the room gain
When I first powered it up of course I had not read the 32 page user manual because I set the Horizon VC at 12 and my preamp at the same gain and all I could hear was an almost inaudible faint sound. It wasn't until I checked the manual where it recommends that if yours a preamp you should set the Horizon VC all the max to 63 and then use your preamp gain control to adjust the room volume. Once I made that discovery I didn't budge for 7 hours
It is also strongly recommended that the DAC always remain on if for no other reason that the Horizon tube design is such that once one finds a tube set combination, the manual says that leaving the DAC on will not shorten tube life. Lukasz says that with this topology, no matter what tubes are used you can plan that they will carry you off "into the Horizon". To that extent as well Lukasz advised me to keep the VC at 63 and play music with the preamp and amp off during the night to help charge the large capacitors and that is what I did all night
Finally I will say again, that I am not a tube roller. I prefer to use different sets until I find the one combination that pleases my ears the most and then go with that set ad infinitum
In post 4 ion this thread Lukasz told us his favorite
6900 input
RK-KR KT88 output
RK-KR 5u 4g rectifier
What I received from Lukasz in the shipment was
MELZ Russian Metal Plate
RK-KR KT88
274 EML rectifier
I also found a mint quad matched set of Genalex Gold Lion KT77 that will at some point find it's way into the rotation and I also have a Shuguang gx480 rectifier that I had been using with the Pacific
I decided to start with Lukasz favorite tube set as stated in post 44 so I took the best set of 6900 tubes that measured 84/84 each tube along with the RK KT88 and my RK 5u4g. I decided that I would use this as my reference set as I have to go to school on Lukasz putt as he has tried literally every combination but in the end it will boil down to what sounds best in my system and I won't know that for many weeks to come. I am looking forward however to get members opinions next week at the open house so stay tuned for further updates
Last comment.....comparing this Horizon to the Pacific, I can say that the Horizon is a DAC that truly will carry me off into the Horizon. I find it difficult to think that Master Yoda can make another tube DAC that will be better than this Horizon.
I have to say in all honesty that yesterday's listening session proved to be longer than what I anticipated because frankly it is so different from the Pacific that I understand why Lukasz is keeping the Pacific in production as his top of the line DHT tube based DAC as well as the Horizon. The Pacific is magnificent DAC so frankly I wondered how the Horizon could be quantum leaps better
I was not prepared for what I was hearing and I didn't get out of my room for 7 hours. I missed dinner with my wife and in fact didn't see her until almost 1100 PM.
I am not going to use the proverbial verbiage we always hear as there is a long way for this DAC to go before it has burned in and I also have the DAC sitting on a brand new set of CS2M 1.5 footers and I know that these will take a week to settle and should be just right for the demo next weekend at my house. Lukasz arrives on Wednesday
Having sat without moving for 7 hours I totally lost alll sense of time as I just kept playing one song after another to get an overview of what I was hearing. There is absolutely no fatigue
The sound stage right out of the box is layered and 3 dimensional. The ambience and decay gives me a sense of being in the room with the performers. It is a difficult fact for me to grip but the reality was I played every demo song that I have used for over 20 years and I was hearing so much more detail that I had never heard before. Timbre, dynamics and tone was so far superior to the Pacific that I had to begin reassessing where I am now in digital as the Horizon raises the bar not by inches but by magnitudes I never thought existed
The volume control on this DAC is different than that on the Pacific where I used it at a level between -12db to -16 Db and my preamp to adjust the room gain
When I first powered it up of course I had not read the 32 page user manual because I set the Horizon VC at 12 and my preamp at the same gain and all I could hear was an almost inaudible faint sound. It wasn't until I checked the manual where it recommends that if yours a preamp you should set the Horizon VC all the max to 63 and then use your preamp gain control to adjust the room volume. Once I made that discovery I didn't budge for 7 hours
It is also strongly recommended that the DAC always remain on if for no other reason that the Horizon tube design is such that once one finds a tube set combination, the manual says that leaving the DAC on will not shorten tube life. Lukasz says that with this topology, no matter what tubes are used you can plan that they will carry you off "into the Horizon". To that extent as well Lukasz advised me to keep the VC at 63 and play music with the preamp and amp off during the night to help charge the large capacitors and that is what I did all night
Finally I will say again, that I am not a tube roller. I prefer to use different sets until I find the one combination that pleases my ears the most and then go with that set ad infinitum
In post 4 ion this thread Lukasz told us his favorite
6900 input
RK-KR KT88 output
RK-KR 5u 4g rectifier
What I received from Lukasz in the shipment was
MELZ Russian Metal Plate
RK-KR KT88
274 EML rectifier
I also found a mint quad matched set of Genalex Gold Lion KT77 that will at some point find it's way into the rotation and I also have a Shuguang gx480 rectifier that I had been using with the Pacific
I decided to start with Lukasz favorite tube set as stated in post 44 so I took the best set of 6900 tubes that measured 84/84 each tube along with the RK KT88 and my RK 5u4g. I decided that I would use this as my reference set as I have to go to school on Lukasz putt as he has tried literally every combination but in the end it will boil down to what sounds best in my system and I won't know that for many weeks to come. I am looking forward however to get members opinions next week at the open house so stay tuned for further updates
Last comment.....comparing this Horizon to the Pacific, I can say that the Horizon is a DAC that truly will carry me off into the Horizon. I find it difficult to think that Master Yoda can make another tube DAC that will be better than this Horizon.
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
the tubes Lukasz sent me have all had hours of use as the DAC was put through its evaluation and I am playing 24 x 7 so I think I will be fine. I also believe the CS2M footers will have settled by then24x9=216h…should be ok
I have a similar reaction - how could I have lived all my life WITHOUT that sound, that level of retrieval of nuances and glorious details? It is just ridiculous.
8 sets of tubes are measured, matched, selected, listened to and packed to go. We will have fun.
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Not sure that will happen as there is no room on my racks for both. The Pacific is presently sitting on the floor in my room. I think the weekend will be all about the Horizon and tube sets in my room but if people want to hear it could only happen by removing the Horizon which Im not sure I want to do once it settles
That’s a bummer since people who own a Pacific would love to hear the 2 units compared. I get that space is an issue and you definitely don’t want to move the Horizon.
I guess the only option would be to put something in front of the rack temporarily. Not ideal either.
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