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

[Zero000]

Hi all, there is new pacific 2 dac with new engine eleven-p. Has anyone heard it ? Seems like new horizon engine paired with triode output might be a killer ? I am not a fan of horizon, sorry. Still prefer big triodes

Pentodes are OK but triodes are more fun and more variable in subjective results.

Triodes are less complicated and all the better or worse for it, depending on which angle or way you are looking at it. For sonics I rate triodes best. After decades of experience with tubes/valves or whatever you want to call them.

 

[Anyoldears]

Sorry guys for a complete newbie, and just for dreaming purposes only (its gonna take a while to upgrade from my MScaler/Dave), how much are the valves/rectifier bits for these and whats their lifespan? Thx

 

[wisnon]

You get supplied with standard tubes with the Pac. It only costs if you want more exotic tubes and you can get those new or second hand. Rectis are used at full burn so I guess 3-4 years typically with hard use. DHT are used at 5% of rated capacity in a preamp setting so I guess 5-10 years?

 

[christoph]

Sorry guys for a complete newbie, and just for dreaming purposes only (its gonna take a while to upgrade from my MScaler/Dave), how much are the valves/rectifier bits for these and whats their lifespan? Thx

According to Lukasz Fikus, the tubes will outlive you unless you drop them on the hardwood floor from 1 meter or higher.

@wisnon I also thought the recti is always full throttle but according to Lukasz the recti will outlive us alongside with the output tubes.

What I forgot to ask is the lifespan of the small 6N6P in the Pacific.
Does anyone know about that?

 

[Tuckia]

According to Lukasz Fikus, the tubes will outlive you unless you drop them on the hardwood floor from 1 meter or higher.

@wisnon I also thought the recti is always full throttle but according to Lukasz the recti will outlive us alongside with the output tubes.

What I forgot to ask is the lifespan of the small 6N6P in the Pacific.
Does anyone know about that?

I recall the 6N6P go a year or two as they run wide open. I changed a few, but just for general up-keep, not perceived performance, as they are cheap. The cost of run time per hour is quite low.

Don't think the rectifiers are lifetime devices. But as someone once postulated - "who's lifetime?", lol.

 

[christoph]

I recall the 6N6P go a year or two as they run wide open. I changed a few, but just for general up-keep, not perceived performance, as they are cheap. The cost of run time per hour is quite low.

Did you try different brands and vintages of the 6N6P?
If yes, which ones sounded best?

 

[DasguteOhr]

Reflector 6n6p gold grid from 80ties my opion if you want to know

 

[adamaley]

Did you try different brands and vintages of the 6N6P?
If yes, which ones sounded best?

I've tried a couple of 5687s using a 6N6P --> 5687 adapter, and my favorite is a Tung Sol Flat Plate 5687. The benefits this particular tube brought made me realize that the driver tube is much more influential to the sonics than we believed.

Another member on here, who's tried the TS Flat Plate and has the holy grail Bendix 6900 really likes what the Flat Plates bring to his system.

This has motivated me to get a 6SN7 --> 6N6P adapter with resistors which drop voltage down to 6.3V (Lampizator has given their blessing on this but with the voltage caveat) to test out the ECC32 and other 6SN7s in the DAC. This'll potentially open up a new world of tubes such as 6F8Gs, 7N7s, and, with the new Pacific 2 development, there'll be a lot of life left before the Horizon dawns.

 

[wisnon]

According to Lukasz Fikus, the tubes will outlive you unless you drop them on the hardwood floor from 1 meter or higher.

@wisnon I also thought the recti is always full throttle but according to Lukasz the recti will outlive us alongside with the output tubes.

What I forgot to ask is the lifespan of the small 6N6P in the Pacific.
Does anyone know about that?

most likely for the rectis due to soft startup process and the fact that rectis are hardy suckers. i really only had a very few tube deaths and all were old and weak to start with. rectis can be very cheap, so no issues to have lots of them plus, i even have a SS recti for burning in new output tubes.

 

[wisnon]

I recall the 6N6P go a year or two as they run wide open. I changed a few, but just for general up-keep, not perceived performance, as they are cheap. The cost of run time per hour is quite low.

Don't think the rectifiers are lifetime devices. But as someone once postulated - "who's lifetime?", lol.

i have not changed mine in 6 years!

 

[wisnon]

Did you try different brands and vintages of the 6N6P?
If yes, which ones sounded best?

they are just anode off-load tubes, so not really in signal path and not a quality issue, really.

 

[wisnon]

I've tried a couple of 5687s using a 6N6P --> 5687 adapter, and my favorite is a Tung Sol Flat Plate 5687. The benefits this particular tube brought made me realize that the driver tube is much more influential to the sonics than we believed.

Another member on here, who's tried the TS Flat Plate and has the holy grail Bendix 6900 really likes what the Flat Plates bring to his system.

This has motivated me to get a 6SN7 --> 6N6P adapter with resistors which drop voltage down to 6.3V (Lampizator has given their blessing on this but with the voltage caveat) to test out the ECC32 and other 6SN7s in the DAC. This'll potentially open up a new world of tubes such as 6F8Gs, 7N7s, and, with the new Pacific 2 development, there'll be a lot of life left before the Horizon dawns.

interesting...

 

[adamaley]

Loading.....

 

[2ndLiner]

interesting...

I’m the member @adamaley mentioned. Initially, I went with the Lampi provided tube (6n6p or 6h6p) but over time became curious about the Bendix 6900 after reading postings here at WBF. Got my hands on one but found it made the sound too hot and edgey with the tube compliment I was using at the time (KR242’s and KR5u4g). Went back to the provided tube and was content. Also, have tried different rectifiers and output tubes, my preferred so far being the Psvane Acme 274b and Takatsuki 300b’s. My sound is a great blend of tonal density, transparency, and dynamics, or so I thought. About a week ago adamaley shared his experience with the Tungsol 5687 Flat Plates and I bought a pair. It’s like my Pacific had been slouching and suddenly sat up straight and alert. This little tube in a position that apparently shouldn’t affect SQ created a startling step forward (or is it up?) in ”realistic” sound. Everything, instruments and vocals, are more believable. I’m not sure why some hear a benefit and others not but in my system the difference was not subtle…

 

[godofwealth]

In the beginning, when I got my Pacific, I had a string of tube failures (45s, 242s, etc.), but over the past year and a half, it’s been remarkably stable. I have rotated through several sets of tubes, and never had any issues. I assume I just had some bad luck in the beginning. Thanks to Goran, I discovered rather cheap but very good sounding tubes, such as the UX-301. I also have the unobtainium KR 242 tubes, but I don’t use those at all now as they are hard to replace. I also have the KR 300B, and a whole stash of 45s (Emission Lab, and NOS). I agree that the main reason to own a Pacific is the wealth of DHTs you can tube roll. For rectifiers, I have tried the ultra premium Western Elecitric 274B (the best sounding one I have tried), the KR 5U4, and some Sophia Electric 274Bs. I recently got the ultra rare Western Electric 422a rectifiers for a pair of Triode Lab 45s I use, but I haven’t tried those on the Pacific yet.

 

[adamaley]

What do we call a fully adapted Pacific?

 

[Golum]

What do we call a fully adapted Pacific?

Arctic Sea

 

[Golum]

View attachment 111871

What do we call a fully adapted Pacific?

BTW is that a Puritan power cord?

 

[adamaley]

BTW is that a Puritan power cord?

Yes, it is. Powers the PSM156.

 

[Golum]

Yes, it is. Powers the PSM156.

Get someone to change those plugs on it as the stock ones are utter s..t on both ends - cable as such deserves much better ones and they do improve the performance of the cable. Just my two cents