Now that sounds very interesting
Will that be retrofitable into existing Pacifics?
Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC
- Thread starter Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus
- Start date
Will that be retrofitable into existing Pacifics?
for my ears the addition of the Tak274B was truly an epiphany
No, the regular recties you used with your Pacific.
There are 4 pin rectifiers you can use for all the Lampi DACs but they will need adapters.
Like 80 (which is btw excellent choice)…it has UX4 socket and needs adapter as Chris stated…of course there are other examples as well
Ah, then you should try the rectifier tube on which the Tak 274B is based, the legendary Western Electric 274B. I got mine on eBay. Not cheap, but worth every penny. Made my Pacific come to life in a way it did not with other rectifiers, including the KR 5u4G.
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Listening to the absolutely haunting and beautiful voice of Ayub Ogada, a Kenyan singer whose ethereal music was featured in the John Le Carre’ based novel turned film “The Constant Gardner“ featuring the sensational actors Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weiss. If you haven’t heard Kothbiro, stream it now! Warning. You won’t be able to get his voice out of your head. It’s a song farmers sing to get their cattle back after a day of grazing. On the Pacific, every strand comes to life, even low level sounds I’d not heard before. I imagine the Horizon extracts even more detail.
realworldrecords.com
realworldrecords.com
Track of the Day: 'Kothbiro' by Ayub Ogada - Real World Records
One of the most popular songs in our catalogue, this song has been sampled by US rapper Kanye West.
En Mana Kuoyo - Real World Records
Kenyan singer-songwriter Ayub Ogada was a busker on London’s Northern Line when he came to Real World’s attention in the late 80s. And this 1993 set – his only record for the label – proved that it was a meeting of minds, with his disarmingly simple arrangements allowed to hang there unadorned...
This circuit is very insensitive to gm variations
I have tried to explain synergy to people, but some refuse to get it. Especially the part about the design which features blended pins of pentodes and triodes....SIGH.
Again this is my personal opinion, To get the best or " better " sound from horizon one has to spend 2000.00 avg on tubes . With a DAC at this price point a person should not have to spend another 2000.00 to make the DAC sound its best . Again personal opinion, but I feel a good option would be customer choice example 2000.00 discount no tubes included option . Or if you have a tube package available you could also offer at a fee " Starter Tubes " leave the choice to the customer. I don't know of one person that's is using the tubes that are included .
I know a few people that received the Horizon and was not impressed with the sound till they were talked into swapping the tubes . As for as cheap tubes , when you first started shipping Horizon the tube sets had a avg value of say 1500.00 now this new tube package 600.00 max . Just curious where this savings is going ? Is it being passed on to the customer?
Rau, in this broken supply chain world, I am sure that Lukasz is already absorbing increased component costs and mounting working capital investments that are NOT passed on in terms of an increased retail price. You have to look at things from all sides. The intial tube sets were clearly the early bird special to reward early adopters. I guess his team accumulated some pre-launch stock that are much more difficult and costly to get now. Not least because Lampi products tend to cause huge demand increases for limited stock. Those French tubes started out reasonable and as word got out, they skyrocketed in price (tiny supply). What is clear is that the current tubes are synergistically matched by Lampizator and will be approved as top SQ and acceptable availability.
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Not sure its viable for a manufacturer to spend time hunting rare tubes on Ebay...
On CHEAP TUBES AGAIN
I am surprised on many occasions about the tube discussions, how much misunderstanding of the subject is out there "in the field". First of all, in case somebody didnt notice, there was Covid that shut down China TILL THIS WEEK and a War that cuts us off the world's biggest tube factory (Electro harmonics, Sovtek, Mullard, Tung-Sol, Svetlana).
The price of tubes has zero , zero , zero corelation with "quality" it has to do with scarcity of tubes (NOS type) or manufacturer's policy and cost structure. Microscopic companies like Elrog or Takatsuki will have higher cost than mass producers like Shu Guang.
Having decided for KT88 pentode - I am left with Psvane, Russia (out) and JJ (Slovak). NOBODY ELSE MAKES PENODES, and KR Audio just quit making them. I have bought every existing quad from vendors who can assure me 100 pieces or more (400 in fact) of matcheq quad supply for sound testing in the Horizon. OBVIOUSLY that can not be NOS. After testing over 20 types I selected by far the best sounding brand JJ and announced it, to be criticised for that. The critics dont present ANY alternative solution (because there isn't any) and just throw gross accusations as if I am trying to "screw" the Horizon users, my MOST PRECIOUS social group .
Besides, there is no such thing as cheap tube: glass can not be cheap or not, vacuum price per kilo is quite uniform, tungsten wire is a tungsten wire, and nickel plates are nickel plates. Consequently I reject all claims of JJ pentodes being "uncomfortably cheap" as without any merit".
JJ pentodes IN THIS DAC and with blue balls 6SN7's sound fabulous ! There is magic there.
I am surprised on many occasions about the tube discussions, how much misunderstanding of the subject is out there "in the field". First of all, in case somebody didnt notice, there was Covid that shut down China TILL THIS WEEK and a War that cuts us off the world's biggest tube factory (Electro harmonics, Sovtek, Mullard, Tung-Sol, Svetlana).
The price of tubes has zero , zero , zero corelation with "quality" it has to do with scarcity of tubes (NOS type) or manufacturer's policy and cost structure. Microscopic companies like Elrog or Takatsuki will have higher cost than mass producers like Shu Guang.
Having decided for KT88 pentode - I am left with Psvane, Russia (out) and JJ (Slovak). NOBODY ELSE MAKES PENODES, and KR Audio just quit making them. I have bought every existing quad from vendors who can assure me 100 pieces or more (400 in fact) of matcheq quad supply for sound testing in the Horizon. OBVIOUSLY that can not be NOS. After testing over 20 types I selected by far the best sounding brand JJ and announced it, to be criticised for that. The critics dont present ANY alternative solution (because there isn't any) and just throw gross accusations as if I am trying to "screw" the Horizon users, my MOST PRECIOUS social group .
Besides, there is no such thing as cheap tube: glass can not be cheap or not, vacuum price per kilo is quite uniform, tungsten wire is a tungsten wire, and nickel plates are nickel plates. Consequently I reject all claims of JJ pentodes being "uncomfortably cheap" as without any merit".
JJ pentodes IN THIS DAC and with blue balls 6SN7's sound fabulous ! There is magic there.
FWIW, I truly believe that the Horizon tube rollers thread is well read by lurkers all over the world. Not all Horizon owners post here but rest assured most of them are reading the thread and members' favorites. IMO it is us and our discussions in this thread that has contributed to the rising prices of these rare tubes such that they quickly become unavailable. I have watched some tube quadruple in price over the past 4 mionths whereas others have become unobtanium
I don't think Horizon owners are moving the needle on tube prices. Yes, there are some limited supply tubes and people have gobbled up the known supply but some of the tubes being used in the Horizon, like the TS 6SN7, have seen prices increases for 2 decades. They are on a never-ending climb upwards. Horizon use has not affected it.
I will say that TRP owners did buy up a big portion of the EL51 stock. I am still trying to find another pair!
Exact reason i stopped sharing ideas publicly here but rather with a cyrcle of trust before common data points are aligned as otherwise i would have much smaller stash of tubes at home…much more people read vs how many people post their findings (unfortunately)
Just to be clear I'm not down talking Lampizator products , I'm very happy with Horizon , TRP , GM70 . I have been through a lot of gear and DAC's and get the most enjoyment I get is out of my Lampizator products .
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