Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC

[christoph]

Content deleted. Personal attacks are against the TOS of this forum.

Isn't it too early to be drinking and typing, Justin?

What is it with your personal vendetta/witch hunt towards Lukasz?
Why all these personal attacks?
This is definitely against ANY nettiquette rules there are

 

[John T]

There are many things I wish I could control, but I can't. The Horizon comes with the stock tubes that Lukasz has determined will demonstrate Horizons potential and sonic attributes. Am I happy about dropping over a couple of grand this week on tubes? Not really. (Horizon is not here yet) Do I wish it came with a Takatsuki 274B? Yes I do. Try to look at this from a realistic vantage point, not from our chairs. Where do you draw the line? Availability, consistency has to be taken into account. This hobby/obsession of ours comes with the unfortunate commitment aspect. I wish it didn't, but it does, its part of the deal...John Afterthought: Someday we will all die. Attempt to devour life to the best of your ability....

 

[steve williams]

There are many things I wish I could control, but I can't. The Horizon comes with the stock tubes that Lukasz has determined will demonstrate Horizons potential and sonic attributes. Am I happy about dropping over a couple of grand this week on tubes? Not really. (Horizon is not here yet) Do I wish it came with a Takatsuki 274B? Yes I do. Try to look at this from a realistic vantage point, not from our chairs. Where do you draw the line? Availability, consistency has to be taken into account. This hobby/obsession of ours comes with the unfortunate commitment aspect. I wish it didn't, but it does, its part of the deal...John Afterthought: Someday we will all die. Attempt to devour life to the best of your ability....

well stated

 

[steve williams]

Content deleted. Personal attacks are against the TOS of this forum.

I just woke up and this was the first post I happened to read. All I can say Justin is that post of yours is in violation of several of our Terms of Service but fortunately I don't moderate. I find your post truly objectionable but I also read Lukasz reply along with several of the members here who also have posted a direct reply to your post. The availability as well as the cost of tubes in the world as we know it now is vastly different. I would bet it would be almost impossible for Lukasz to source large stock of tubes for the Horizon. Prices fluctuate daily and unfortunately they fluctuate upwards and not downwards so under the circumstances I have to compliment Lukasz on his ability to acquire sufficient tubes for the next 6 months. We also know that many of the desired tubes are Russian manufactured and this has affected Lukasz immensely as he won't buy Russian tubes due to the situation in his his corner of the world

Finally, I concur with what John T has posted above. Since the Horizon has been released there is now a thread on tube rolling in the Horizon. If one reads that thread, it becomes obvious that there are an infinite combination of tubes which can be used and to quote Lukasz at the very beginning of this thread , "there are no bad tubes to use as they all sound good". I am not a tube roller but based on my hearing preferences I used a total of 4 different tube types in my Horizon before I decided which set I was going to live with. To that extent it is also my sense that every Horizon user to date seems to have done some degree of tube rolling beyond the stock set of tubes supplied with their Horizon.

So to Justin I would say once again, "your comments are way out of line"

 

[spiritofmusic]

Guys, Justin was weirdly stream of consciousness on my system thread, talking about banana republics etc, so something is not right with him.

 

[steve williams]

Questions for all the wise ones on this forum: given a choice, is it better to upgrade my current server to Taiko Extreme and keep my Pacific, or upgrade my Pacific to the Horizon, and keep the current server? Yes, I know it’s great to do both

I did both and coming from someone who was 95% analogue I can tell you that the Horizon/Extreme combination for me is a match made in heaven. They have changed the way in which I listen to music because the uptick from each is simply amazing and the two together have resulted in my listening now to 95% digital. I agree that the change from the Pacific to the Horizon was ginormous but so also was the uptick from the Extreme. Further there is so much going on now with Taiko that the pending release of XDMS, a network card, a switch and a power supply IMO will be icing on the cake. I can also say with some degree of certainty that the Horizon gets one as close to analog sound as I have ever heard and together with the Taiko Extreme I have never been happier

One last thought.....do you think there is a reason that when Taiko was showing at Munich they were using a Lampi Horizon for the DAC. Emile knows what he is doing and as they say, it is good to go to school on the expert's putt

 

[godofwealth]

My guess is that streamers will be quite a bit better in 5 years from now, I doubt if DACs will take the same leap after Horizon. Besides, as you can turn in your old DAC for the full price you get a better value then selling the server for half and get a new one. As for better servers than my Innuos Zenith Mk3, I can wait and play with tubes whenever audiophilia nervosa strikes...

Here’s some free advice from someone who’s been buying high end audio for a long time (I bought my first high end turntable — the Mapleknoll air bearing turntable with air bearing arm in 1986 as a poor grad student, of course stuff like this was much cheaper than). I bought my first DAC in 1990 from Theta Digital. I’ve lost count of how many turntables and DACs I’ve owned in the past 30 years. If I’d put that money in the stock market, I’d be a rich(er) person today (but infinitely poorer spiritually, as through times of joy and sorrow, music has been a source of inspiration and comfort to me, as I’m sure everyone here appreciates).

In short, there’s no end game DAC or speaker or server, just like there’s no perfect camera. The search is the point of the whole exercise.

So, can Lukasz improve the Horizon? Of course, he can. Will he? That’s for Lukasz to decide. I’m sure he has his hands full keeping his business going, with the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and now the economic downturn.

Ok, if I was Lukasz (ha!), how might I go about improving on the Horizon? There’s a relatively simple way, used by many high end manufacturers. First, add an external tube regulated power supply to the Horizon (and the Pacific). Many DAC manufacturers have gone down this road (MSB, Naim, Linn, Esoteric etc.). Sean Jacobs who designed the LPS for Naim’s products and the Innous Statement has an ARC6 external supply for the Chord Dave. It’s not cheap at $7500. The Dave enthusiasts on head-fi rave about the ARC6 in terms of how it transforms the sound of the Dave (which in stock form uses a switching power supply). The top of the line Naim streamer, the CD 555 allows you to use two external power supplies.

Ok, direction two to improve the Horizon: use mono DACs, one for each channel (same Horizon box, but two of them). Again, plenty of manufacturers have gone down this road, such as Esoteric and MSB.

Now, such a fully tricked out DAC from Lukasz, let’s called it “The Metaverse“ (which of course lies beyond the Horizon) will be expensive, I’m guessing around 100 grand, with two mono DACs and two external power supplies. What’s the market for such a beast? Well, I’m sure there are folks who’ll buy it, the same as those who buy the MSB II DAC, which costs 100 grand and is designed in my neck of the woods in the San Francisco Bay Area. Should Lukasz do this? It’s really up to him. He might think his time is better spent on doing something else.

Hey, Lukasz, if you do decide to release a MetaVerse DAC, I want a commission (just kidding ).

 

[Golum]

Agree with you with one addition - I believe masters of this game are my neighbors from CH Precison having their ultimate digital rig with I believe 6 boxes - DAC L, R channel, Time Reference clock, DAC controller and external power supplies. So maybe total number is even above 6 separate boxes if you go one PS per box. Seen and heard this stack few years back in Seoul with 1.0 series while now its 1.2 series. No idea about the price but i guess maybe even above MSB S2 and Wadax...but OK much more boxes involved

 

[John T]

@Alrainbow:My plan is to run with the stock tubes for a few months. With a reference in place I will then be able to gauge things a little easier...John

 

[christoph]

@Alrainbow:My plan is to run with the stock tubes for a few months. With a reference in place I will then be able to gauge things a little easier...John

That's the way I always do it as well.
And only one position of tubes per change to keep the variables to a minimum.

 

[christoph]

Agree with you with one addition - I believe masters of this game are my neighbors from CH Precison having their ultimate digital rig with I believe 6 boxes - DAC L, R channel, Time Reference clock, DAC controller and external power supplies. So maybe total number is even above 6 separate boxes if you go one PS per box. Seen and heard this stack few years back in Seoul with 1.0 series while now its 1.2 series. No idea about the price but i guess maybe even above MSB S2 and Wadax...but OK much more boxes involved

207k iIrc

 

[Alrainbow]

I guess some dont recall lampi was two boxes first moved away for his reasons. Just saying he did this. He felt in added him and noise

 

[steve williams]

That's the way I always do it as well.
And only one position of tubes per change to keep the variables to a minimum.

Moi aussi

 

[christoph]

Moi aussi

First get an idea for each position and then start combining the favorites with each other.

 

[steve williams]

I have found that every tube will impart a slightly different sonic presentation and TBH many (if not most) tubes to my ears sounded only slightly different until I found the set with which I can sail off into the horizon. My set was fixed until about 10 days ago when dminches convinced me to try a different tube and it was indeed a game changer

 

[John T]

@Steve Williams: Did you try the Tung-Sol KT 170's?

 

[Golum]

@Steve Williams: Did you try the Tung-Sol KT 170's?

Using them afaik

 

[John T]

I thought Steve did mention that he wanted to...

 

[steve williams]

@Steve Williams: Did you try the Tung-Sol KT 170's?

Yes i did and they have become permanent in my system

 

[steve williams]

I have been using the KT170 for 3-4 months

Here is my present and hopefully final tube set
Power: TS KT 170
Signal: TS JAN VT231 6SN7 GT Round plate
Rectifier: Takatsuki 274B