Pacific dac: Lampizator's new top of the line dac

[Argonaut]

Having resumed looking at, and mulling upon a Pacific, for my part i find it somewhat disappointing that the DAC casework is no longer offered in the original materials or finish, I am presuming manufacturing/material costs here.
In its original guise the Pacific imo exuded TOTL product, however given the current options available, merely standard case work and nothing out of the ordinary I’m sorry to say.

 

[Willgolf]

Having resumed looking at, and mulling upon a Pacific, for my part i find it somewhat disappointing that the DAC casework is no longer offered in the original materials or finish, I am presuming manufacturing/material costs here.
In its original guise the Pacific imo exuded TOTL product, however given the current options available, merely standard case work and nothing out of the ordinary I’m sorry to say.

Are you referring to the black case that it is shipped in?

 

[howiebrou]

Having resumed looking at, and mulling upon a Pacific, for my part i find it somewhat disappointing that the DAC casework is no longer offered in the original materials or finish, I am presuming manufacturing/material costs here.
In its original guise the Pacific imo exuded TOTL product, however given the current options available, merely standard case work and nothing out of the ordinary I’m sorry to say.

I presume you mean the gold finish? Yes, pity, it did stand out from the crowd. I'm sure it can still be done but may be at higher cost and wait time. I can tell you from experience that it was a fingerprint, dust and crud magnet though...

 

[Argonaut]

I presume you mean the gold finish? Yes, pity, it did stand out from the crowd. I'm sure it can still be done but may be at higher cost and wait time. I can tell you from experience that it was a fingerprint, dust and crud magnet though...

I do indeed....

 

[Tuckia]

One on Audiogon now. No affiliation.

 

[Addicted to hifi]

Looks stunning.

 

[christoph]

Having resumed looking at, and mulling upon a Pacific, for my part i find it somewhat disappointing that the DAC casework is no longer offered in the original materials or finish, I am presuming manufacturing/material costs here.
In its original guise the Pacific imo exuded TOTL product, however given the current options available, merely standard case work and nothing out of the ordinary I’m sorry to say.

I guess you can still get the gold finish but I would advise against it because it is real PITA to keep the golden Pacific spotless
The gold finish is a complete fingerprint magnet and you would be polishing the case permanently or the gold finish would look "less desirable"

There are different fancy options, though.
My "Duracell" (black case with copper top) became one of the standard options for the Pacific in the meantime. And then there is the "Iron Man" (red case with copper top) or like my friend Michael has his Pacific to match with the Aries Cerat amps and preamp he has, black case with matte stainless steel top.

If you search this forum (or even this thread) with "duracell" or "iron man", you should find pictures of all the different looks mentioned above.

The Pacific is a really extraordinary DAC and you should NOT turn it down because of the color. It would be YOUR loss

I'm pretty confident that you and Lampizator will find a color scheme that suits your taste

 

[christoph]

I presume you mean the gold finish? Yes, pity, it did stand out from the crowd. I'm sure it can still be done but may be at higher cost and wait time. I can tell you from experience that it was a fingerprint, dust and crud magnet though...

I guess you are happy to have changed from Gold to Duracell

 

[Argonaut]

I guess you can still get the gold finish but I would advise against it because it is real PITA to keep the golden Pacific spotless
The gold finish is a complete fingerprint magnet and you would be polishing the case permanently or the gold finish would look "less desirable"

Kid leather...silk lining

 

[dminches]

The RD27AS + Tak 274B combo in my Pacific is glorious. I wonder what other rectifier I should try.

 

[Argonaut]

A query if I may....Were one to set up ones Pacific to major on tonal density , weight and liquid texture, particularly close miked Crooner/ Diva vocal, late night Jazz, String solo/quartet and the like , think GG2 on steroids , what valve set would be your weapon of choice?

 

[bonzo75]

A query if I may....Were one to set up ones Pacific to major on tonal density , weight and liquid texture, particularly close miked Crooner/ Diva vocal, late night Jazz, String solo/quartet and the like , think GG2 on steroids , what valve set would be your weapon of choice?

This is to some extent downstream dependent. Instead of asking by sonic attributes and trying those valves, which might not work in your system, you should try to rotate as see what sounds best. Keep the Pac single ended and rotate PX25 (kr or RK), Lampi 45, KR 242 to start with. Then move from there you will get other valves to demo over time.

Ideally one would try different preamps while trying out the Lampi but such logistics are difficult for most to manage

 

[heihei]

A query if I may....Were one to set up ones Pacific to major on tonal density , weight and liquid texture, particularly close miked Crooner/ Diva vocal, late night Jazz, String solo/quartet and the like , think GG2 on steroids , what valve set would be your weapon of choice?

If you want your lampi to major on tonal density stick with the GG2. The Pacific will always be "lighter" than the GG2 with the same valves.

 

[Jazzhead]

If you want your lampi to major on tonal density stick with the GG2. The Pacific will always be "lighter" than the GG2 with the same valves.

I too was of a similar opinion, but having lived with the PAC for a while would beg to differ. The PAC is more critical of ancillary support as it's more revealing. Given an ideal match with a gain matching pre it easily moves ahead of the GG . GG1 in this case..... Similar to the GG2 I suppose?

 

[Argonaut]

Thank you for your considerations fellas

 

[heihei]

I too was of a similar opinion, but having lived with the PAC for a while would beg to differ. The PAC is more critical of ancillary support as it's more revealing. Given an ideal match with a gain matching pre it easily moves ahead of the GG . GG1 in this case..... Similar to the GG2 I suppose?

I think this is a case of what you get used to - I've had my PAC a month or so and would not describe it as "lighter" in isolation, but am pretty sure if I slotted a GG2 back into the system instead, the comparison would be that the GG2 has a denser sound.
I agree the ancillaries are important - the amps I now use have a pretty saturated sound and so work v well with the PAC. In my previous system, the amps were much "lighter", and so I preferred the GG2 in that set-up.

 

[Golum]

I think this is a case of what you get used to - I've had my PAC a month or so and would not describe it as "lighter" in isolation, but am pretty sure if I slotted a GG2 back into the system instead, the comparison would be that the GG2 has a denser sound.
I agree the ancillaries are important - the amps I now use have a pretty saturated sound and so work v well with the PAC. In my previous system, the amps were much "lighter", and so I preferred the GG2 in that set-up.

I would say I'm in your boat of thinking. To me they are not better/worse comparison. If I could have both i would. In very simplified terms GG2 i would call toobey sounding and Pac detail/faster sounding...of course upstream and downstream gear being the same while comparing.

 

[Argonaut]

Good posts @helhel and @Golum and pretty much the way I have been viewing the two models .
I wonder whether previous and current choice of capacitors and resistors have played a sum of parts in the voicing of GG > GG2 > PAC

 

[Addicted to hifi]

I do indeed....

View attachment 80222



View attachment 80224

Very nice.

 

[Golum]

Good posts @helhel and @Golum and pretty much the way I have been viewing the two models .
I wonder whether previous and current choice of capacitors and resistors have played a sum of parts in the voicing of GG > GG2 > PAC

Guess they did to certain extent but don't forget two major things - digital engine is not the same in PAC and GG2 and output DHT section is also different. Same DHTs in those two models differ in performance (not massively but they do)