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

howiebrou · Oct 16, 2019

bonzo75 said:
Which is why I never recommend balanced. I don't know a single guy with a balanced dac who succeeded in optimizing his Lampi by trying different tubes. He stuck to what he has. Audioquattr ls an exception who religiously bought many for his balanced dac.

I know theoretically you might think keep everything balanced, but I also think a well done single ended Lampi is more nuanced without losing anything else including in a balanced system. Provided you have RCA inputs to pre, of course.

Jazzhead is running a single ended in a balanced system. It sounds so good he won't change to balanced. He has both the Koda 15 and the trinity pre, only the Koda allows single ended, and he had trinity dac, aqua formula, the top Stahltek dac and transport, neodio origine, and TAD CD player. He sold off everything and uses TAD as the transport to his GG 1 with KR 242 tubes.

I don't need balanced. It just happens to be the model that is being sold here...your analogy with analog rigs is a good one though.

howiebrou · Oct 16, 2019

wisnon said:
Yup...waste of time to use 101d as the assessment tube for a Pac. Just not a contender for anybody I know.

Oh dear. That means i still don't know what it sounds like!

howiebrou · Oct 16, 2019

christoph said:
Maybe the Pac wasn't supposed to sound it's best in this compare?

moby2004 · Oct 16, 2019

Before starting my speakers journey ( cf my thread in the speakers section) , I was actually looking for a DAC to replace my Chord Dave /Mscaler combo ( had dCS Vivaldi 3stack before). On my short list I had Totaldac,ChP,Msb ref, Esoteric D1x, Emm Labs and the Pacific.
All those DACs are sounding good,some really great but long story short I have the Pac ! ( the fact that I could test it at home greatly contributed ) This is the SE version with PX25 tube without VC but with a low gain/high gain switch. ( I have also some Emm 300b XLS tubes that I did not try yet). I am extremely pleased with it. I have the density that I was looking for without sacrificing anything in terms of dynamics,resolution or clarity.
I tried the Pacific with different set of speakers ( the Avantgarde Zero and the YG Sonja) and different preamp/power amp ( Accuphase,Soulution) and the pleasure was there with every combo.

PS: Now I did not test the other contenders at home so maybe (maybe not...)I would have reached the same level of enjoyment with some of the other DACs.

howiebrou · Oct 16, 2019

moby2004 said:
Before starting my speakers journey ( cf my thread in the speakers section) , I was actually looking for a DAC to replace my Chord Dave /Mscaler combo ( had dCS Vivaldi 3stack before). On my short list I had Totaldac,ChP,Msb ref, Esoteric D1x, Emm Labs and the Pacific.
All those DACs are sounding good,some really great but long story short I have the Pac ! ( the fact that I could test it at home greatly contributed ) This is the SE version with PX25 tube without VC but with a low gain/high gain switch. ( I have also some Emm 300b XLS tubes that I did not try yet). I am extremely pleased with it. I have the density that I was looking for without sacrificing anything in terms of dynamics,resolution or clarity.
I tried the Pacific with different set of speakers ( the Avantgarde Zero and the YG Sonja) and different preamp/power amp ( Accuphase,Soulution) and the pleasure was there with every combo.

PS: Now I did not test the other contenders at home so maybe (maybe not...)I would have reached the same level of enjoyment with some of the other DACs.

Thanks for the journey summary. May i ask what rectifier you are using? Also i didn't know there was a low gain/high gain option??

moby2004 · Oct 16, 2019

howiebrou said:
Thanks for the journey summary. May i ask what rectifier you are using? Also i didn't know there was a low gain/high gain option??

I am using the 54ug RK edition. I did not compare with any other rectifier but based on my reading this was a very safe (and wise) choice.
Regarding this switch, this is an option that I chose after discussion with the very nice and helpful people from Lampizator : giving you more flexibility ( whatever your tube choice or downstream gears) without having a VC . I can also confirm this was a gd choice: using low gain with my headphones rig ( and Avantgarde speakers ) , high gain with the Sonja speakers .

Golum · Oct 16, 2019

moby2004 said:
I am using the 54ug RK edition. I did not compare with any other rectifier but based on my reading this was a very safe (and wise) choice.
Regarding this switch, this is an option that I chose after discussion with the very nice and helpful people from Lampizator : giving you more flexibility ( whatever your tube choice or downstream gears) without having a VC . I can also confirm this was a gd choice: using low gain with my headphones rig ( and Avantgarde speakers ) , high gain with the Sonja speakers .

Thanks for the tip Moby regarding high/low gain switch!

moby2004 · Oct 17, 2019

Well

Golum said:
Thanks for the

Thanks for the tip Moby regarding high/low gain switch!

Well, I should be the one thanking the Lampi WBF community for all the tips I read and the people who helped me having the opportunity to demo the Pac!

howiebrou · Oct 17, 2019

moby2004 said:
I am using the 54ug RK edition. I did not compare with any other rectifier but based on my reading this was a very safe (and wise) choice.
Regarding this switch, this is an option that I chose after discussion with the very nice and helpful people from Lampizator : giving you more flexibility ( whatever your tube choice or downstream gears) without having a VC . I can also confirm this was a gd choice: using low gain with my headphones rig ( and Avantgarde speakers ) , high gain with the Sonja speakers .

Thanks. Do you know the voltage for each gain setting?

moby2004 · Oct 17, 2019

2V and 6V ( with PX25 tube). It can be customised .

Golum · Oct 17, 2019

Just checked - now each Pac unit w/o VC has this low/high gain switch which is cool to have.

moby2004 · Oct 17, 2019

Good to know! Maybe I was among the first units with this option.

bonzo75 · Oct 17, 2019

moby2004 said:
2V and 6V ( with PX25 tube). It can be customised .

That's fantastic

christoph · Oct 17, 2019

moby2004 said:
I am using the 5u4g RK edition. I did not compare with any other rectifier but based on my reading this was a very safe (and wise) choice.

I would also recommend the RK edition 5u4g rectifier and the new RK edition PX25 output tubes with the Pacific. This combo sounds extremely good in the Pacific in quite a wide array of systems I heard so far and is therefore an optimal starting (and probably end) point.
I have many different output tubes myself (and apart from the very expensive Takatsuki holy trinity), the RK 5u4g with RK PX25 combo is an extremely good sounding match in the Pacific. In my ex-Golden Gate 1.9, I preferred the KR 242 output tubes over the PX25 but not anymore in the Pacific.

dminches · Oct 17, 2019

Golum said:
Just checked - now each Pac unit w/o VC has this low/high gain switch which is cool to have.

So does my Big 7 MKII. This was added with the upgrade.

marslo · Oct 17, 2019

moby2004 said:
2V and 6V ( with PX25 tube). It can be customised .

Oh dear, again an update

BTW, PAC with KR PX 25 and Italian smooth rectifier from late 50s here, SE with no VC.

LampiNA · Oct 17, 2019

For our friends who will be attending Capital Audiofest, please stop in and hear the Pacific DAC in room 312 where we will also have the World Debut of the LampizatOr KT-150 amplifier and Audionec Evo 2 loudspeakers.

wisnon · Oct 17, 2019

marslo said:
Oh dear, again an update
BTW, PAC with KR PX 25 and Italian smooth rectifier from late 50s here, SE with no VC.

What is the model of recti you show there? 5r4gy single mica Fivre?

LampiNA · Oct 17, 2019

marslo said:
Oh dear, again an update
BTW, PAC with KR PX 25 and Italian smooth rectifier from late 50s here, SE with no VC.

Can you provide a link to this rectifier, please? I am not familiar.

marslo · Oct 18, 2019

LampiNA said:
Can you provide a link to this rectifier, please? I am not familiar.

I bought it with Valerio from Italian site audioantiquary.com , the tube was recommended by Trab, a fellow audiophile.
I bought 2 of them as I like their sound, I am affraid they are no longer available. Norman is right, this is Fivre 5r4gy from late 50’s, only 39 euro plus expensive shipment - 69 euro , still a bargain. I like it in my setup more than KR 5u4g RK which I still keep as a replacement. My PAC has an optional improved power supply to Amanero board, I recommend this upgrade very much to all of you who use usb as a main connection, together with FTA Callisto is a very good match.
My favourite Apricity usb cable does not work properly with PAC, during the test of LDMS it proved its quality though, the windows based music server works well with Apricity.

https://www.audioantiquary.com/en-us/categorie/valvole-rettificatrici/

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

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