Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC
- Thread starter Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus
- Start date
Hi all - the UK distributor has asked me to do him a favour and deliver his demo Horizon to a hifi show in Epsom next week. This means I have one at home from today through to next Friday, and then again from the sunday evening for about a week.
If anyone is in the Surrey/Sussex/Kent area and would like to hear it played against a Golden Gate MK1 I would be happy to arrange a visit to my home.
My room is not terribly big, well, actually it's pretty small - 3.6m by 3.4m to teeny tiny and the very definition of 'near field' listening and there is just one seat where it sounds right but in that seat things sound pretty good. My system is relatively modest by the high standards here:
LDMS Mini server - Lampizator GG/Horizon - Concert Fidelity CF-080LSX v.3 - Silvercore 833c MK2 - Horns FP10s + a Shunyata Hydra/Sigma and decent cables.
Drop me a PM if you're interested.
If anyone is in the Surrey/Sussex/Kent area and would like to hear it played against a Golden Gate MK1 I would be happy to arrange a visit to my home.
My room is not terribly big, well, actually it's pretty small - 3.6m by 3.4m to teeny tiny and the very definition of 'near field' listening and there is just one seat where it sounds right but in that seat things sound pretty good. My system is relatively modest by the high standards here:
LDMS Mini server - Lampizator GG/Horizon - Concert Fidelity CF-080LSX v.3 - Silvercore 833c MK2 - Horns FP10s + a Shunyata Hydra/Sigma and decent cables.
Drop me a PM if you're interested.
Anyone try EL34s?
Have to admit I wasn’t wowed by the KT170s as much as I thought I would be based on all the praise here. I am not saying I dont like them either. They seem a bit warmer/more relaxed than the JJ KT88 that came with my Horizon. Maybe the Frankie isnt the perfect combo for them. I also notice a slightly bigger soundstange. Overall, though, not a huge uptick. So far the best switch for me was the Sylvania metal base 6SN7 which were indeed wow. Of course, I need more time. My tubes are all new and still getting used to them.
Have to admit I wasn’t wowed by the KT170s as much as I thought I would be based on all the praise here. I am not saying I dont like them either. They seem a bit warmer/more relaxed than the JJ KT88 that came with my Horizon. Maybe the Frankie isnt the perfect combo for them. I also notice a slightly bigger soundstange. Overall, though, not a huge uptick. So far the best switch for me was the Sylvania metal base 6SN7 which were indeed wow. Of course, I need more time. My tubes are all new and still getting used to them.
Marty tried El34.
KT170 needs decent break in time. Biggest SQ is achieved with swapping double triodes not really pentodes (as you rightly said) and then rectifier.
KT170 needs decent break in time. Biggest SQ is achieved with swapping double triodes not really pentodes (as you rightly said) and then rectifier.
Currently a KR Audio 5u4g rectifier and a pair of Psvane Acme 300Bs....but......today I am getting a pair of original Western Electric 300Bs, from the 1950s!
I just plugged the Horizon in and turned it on for the first time.
Why why why was a I so bloody stooopid! Five minutes in and I am already deeply regretting such a rash act of foolish hubris.
Why why why was a I so bloody stooopid! Five minutes in and I am already deeply regretting such a rash act of foolish hubris.
Sadly my GG won't take them. I can switch between 300b and 45; I am keen to hear the latter though as an alternartive to the kings of melifluousness.Oh wrong wrong wrong answer!
Answer was supposed to be KR242
After 2 listening sessions over the past 24 hours I can say that I prefer the balanced outputs over the unbalanced in my system. The music has more weight to it which could be a result of the lower noise floor.
I am not concluding that for the Horizon balanced > unbalanced since I am obviously using a different preamp input on my Doshi preamp and it could be that the balanced inputs in the Doshi sound better than the unbalanced. However, for those of you who do have the ability to listen via the balanced outputs I would encourage you to try them.
Time to buy a pair of Sablon XLRs.
I am not concluding that for the Horizon balanced > unbalanced since I am obviously using a different preamp input on my Doshi preamp and it could be that the balanced inputs in the Doshi sound better than the unbalanced. However, for those of you who do have the ability to listen via the balanced outputs I would encourage you to try them.
Time to buy a pair of Sablon XLRs.
I THINK you can put the KR 242 on the 45 setting
But that doesn't matter anyways because you will WANT the Horizon from now on
It's an outstanding piece of equipment and yes, I will only ever now want one.I THINK you can put the KR 242 on the 45 setting
But that doesn't matter anyways because you will WANT the Horizon from now on
That said, the original pair of WE 300Bs I just plugged in to my GG1 are also quite exceptional and move the GG on by quite a margin. The bass response is significantly improved, with more of the slam and control that the Horizon served up in spades.
Probably the wrong thread, but you asked. The Mullard EL34's are my preferred pentodes by far. (I have a set of KT170's for sale if you PM me.) The xF2 Mullard EL34 is one of the legendary tubes in audio. One listen to a piano is a compelling demonstration. I've rolled a ton of rectis and triodes, but the EL34 is a fixture and I don't anticipate changing it anytime soon. I have some Siemens RFT EL34's as well but have not tried them yet. Supposedly excellent as well.
I posted this on the other Horizon thread (Lampizator down stream electronics) but thought I would also post it here as people may be interested. I don't profess to have any particualrly gifted insight or knowledge realting to our hobby and I know the square root of nothing when it comes to the technical parameters, but I do love music and so my thoughts and feelings on the Horizon, as compared to the Golden Gate, are driven by what I hear.
The Horizon is quite outstanding! Superlative even. The most remarkable improvement I've ever heard one piece of the chain provide. I had thought that in the context of a relatively modest system (the Horizon's price is close to 50% of the total value of the system), its virtues would be hindered by the other components, and the investment would thus represent significant overkill to be given any serious consideration for actual purchase. But it doesn’t feel remotely like that; it feels like, funds permitting, its inclusion would be an easy decision. I’d even go as far as to say that its virtues are such that it benefits more modest systems, and certainly smaller rooms, more than perhaps it does higher end and bigger roomed installations. I base this on my experience in my small room/modest system, compared to the improvement it made to my friend HeiHei’s considerably larger and more costly system. But that could just be because I’m closer to my system than to his.
The most incredulous improvements come in two areas. First is bass response, which is extraordinary. For perspective, at the same time as having the DAC, I also have a pair of Concert Fidelity CF 120 solid state mono bloc amps on demo. These are £20k amps with 120 watts of class AB output, but heavily biassed towards Class A. Playing into my 95db Horns FP10s, they sound like they are operating in pure class A but compared to my 20w SETs, they clearly show their powerful underpinnings with a bass response that is not like anything I’ve heard from these speakers before. These amps give bass slam and drive.
That is exactly what the Horizon does, BUT, it does that through the 20w SET amps. It’s like someone just connected a kilowatt of solid state power to the bass units but this is coming from the DAC, not from the amps! It’s quite a remarkable thing to hear and provides fascinating insight into other ways you can achieve a wonderfully full sonic response from an otherwise low powered/highly efficient speaker combination. The FP10s are only rated down to 50Hz +/- 6bd, but in a small room, the room plays a part. Obviously I’m not talking bowel moving levels of bass here, but then these speakers are still just stand mounts (albeit fairly large ones with a 10” driver).
The second incredulous improvement is to the sound stage. The SETs (as compared with the solid state CFs) already do the ‘sound stage into the adjacent properties’ thing pretty well. But the Horizon takes the sound stage into the next bloody county; the walls of the room simply fall away and you’re enveloped in this vast, glorious and liquidly transcendent soundstage. It’s utterly incredible; both width and depth are exploded like a cosmically inflating bubble. Truly wondrous stuff.
Of course, the raft of improvements go beyond this - clarity, timbre and resolution are all improved by a significant margin. You hear this most notably in the way it resolves fast, complex musical passages. Where the GG struggles to separate the leading edge of notes played close to each other and in rapid succession, the Horizon resolves them and creates huge spaces between these notes whilst also maintaining perfect timing. It’s quite a paradox to hear notes played so fast and yet with so much separation that it feels like each notes hangs in its own temporal time warp. The best example of this is the lyrical moment in ‘A Night in Tunisia’ where Charlie Parker somehow managers to squeeze enough notes for a two hour opera into the space of less than a few seconds. It’s also redolent in ‘Holy Devil’, Sophie Solomon’s opening track on the brilliant album ‘Poison Sweet Maderia’.
It was listening to that album in particular that also highlighted the way music decays with this DAC is another key strength; the notes melt away like fine wine washing over your palette, or how the taste of a rich French roast coffee lingers after its coated the inside of your mouth with velvety goodness.
There are so many ways that this DAC brings goodness to a system that it’s hard to know where to place the biggest emphasis, although in my room and system, it really is the soundstage and the bass response that standout. One other variable to consider. The volume control on the DAC is good enough, when compared against my Concert Fidelity CF080 and also HeiHei’s Audionet Stern preamps (which retail for around £18k and £25k respectively), to easily make them redundant. If you’re building for the first time, or simply want to net off the cost of the DAC (which, let’s face it, is preposterous for most people), then the economic options start to look a little less otherworldly.
Truly remarkable.
The Horizon is quite outstanding! Superlative even. The most remarkable improvement I've ever heard one piece of the chain provide. I had thought that in the context of a relatively modest system (the Horizon's price is close to 50% of the total value of the system), its virtues would be hindered by the other components, and the investment would thus represent significant overkill to be given any serious consideration for actual purchase. But it doesn’t feel remotely like that; it feels like, funds permitting, its inclusion would be an easy decision. I’d even go as far as to say that its virtues are such that it benefits more modest systems, and certainly smaller rooms, more than perhaps it does higher end and bigger roomed installations. I base this on my experience in my small room/modest system, compared to the improvement it made to my friend HeiHei’s considerably larger and more costly system. But that could just be because I’m closer to my system than to his.
The most incredulous improvements come in two areas. First is bass response, which is extraordinary. For perspective, at the same time as having the DAC, I also have a pair of Concert Fidelity CF 120 solid state mono bloc amps on demo. These are £20k amps with 120 watts of class AB output, but heavily biassed towards Class A. Playing into my 95db Horns FP10s, they sound like they are operating in pure class A but compared to my 20w SETs, they clearly show their powerful underpinnings with a bass response that is not like anything I’ve heard from these speakers before. These amps give bass slam and drive.
That is exactly what the Horizon does, BUT, it does that through the 20w SET amps. It’s like someone just connected a kilowatt of solid state power to the bass units but this is coming from the DAC, not from the amps! It’s quite a remarkable thing to hear and provides fascinating insight into other ways you can achieve a wonderfully full sonic response from an otherwise low powered/highly efficient speaker combination. The FP10s are only rated down to 50Hz +/- 6bd, but in a small room, the room plays a part. Obviously I’m not talking bowel moving levels of bass here, but then these speakers are still just stand mounts (albeit fairly large ones with a 10” driver).
The second incredulous improvement is to the sound stage. The SETs (as compared with the solid state CFs) already do the ‘sound stage into the adjacent properties’ thing pretty well. But the Horizon takes the sound stage into the next bloody county; the walls of the room simply fall away and you’re enveloped in this vast, glorious and liquidly transcendent soundstage. It’s utterly incredible; both width and depth are exploded like a cosmically inflating bubble. Truly wondrous stuff.
Of course, the raft of improvements go beyond this - clarity, timbre and resolution are all improved by a significant margin. You hear this most notably in the way it resolves fast, complex musical passages. Where the GG struggles to separate the leading edge of notes played close to each other and in rapid succession, the Horizon resolves them and creates huge spaces between these notes whilst also maintaining perfect timing. It’s quite a paradox to hear notes played so fast and yet with so much separation that it feels like each notes hangs in its own temporal time warp. The best example of this is the lyrical moment in ‘A Night in Tunisia’ where Charlie Parker somehow managers to squeeze enough notes for a two hour opera into the space of less than a few seconds. It’s also redolent in ‘Holy Devil’, Sophie Solomon’s opening track on the brilliant album ‘Poison Sweet Maderia’.
It was listening to that album in particular that also highlighted the way music decays with this DAC is another key strength; the notes melt away like fine wine washing over your palette, or how the taste of a rich French roast coffee lingers after its coated the inside of your mouth with velvety goodness.
There are so many ways that this DAC brings goodness to a system that it’s hard to know where to place the biggest emphasis, although in my room and system, it really is the soundstage and the bass response that standout. One other variable to consider. The volume control on the DAC is good enough, when compared against my Concert Fidelity CF080 and also HeiHei’s Audionet Stern preamps (which retail for around £18k and £25k respectively), to easily make them redundant. If you’re building for the first time, or simply want to net off the cost of the DAC (which, let’s face it, is preposterous for most people), then the economic options start to look a little less otherworldly.
Truly remarkable.
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I THINK you can put the KR 242 on the 45 setting
But that doesn't matter anyways because you will WANT the Horizon from now on
You are correct Christoph. I was using them like that in the past in my GG 45 only, no probs.
Probably not. This is nothing more than a typical vanilla, chocolate, strawberry scenario. There are so many good choices. It's all about preferred flavors.
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