Lampizator dac thread, Amber / Baltic / Atlantic / Golden / Pacific / Horizon

[dB_Cooper]

The Lampizator Level 4, Gen 5 DAC is Lampi’s hidden gem DAC.

So a few days ago, entirely on impulse and since I’d just sold my Yggy to fund the purchase of my VC… What do I do? I buy a Lampizator Level 4, Gen 5 DAC. It was listed for very low (fair?) price IMO and the guy was certainly a Lampi fan. I just bought it because I figured it would make a good pairing for a bedroom listening station, the BHC & HD600. So good price, it’s a Lampi, and I have an actual place to use it.

Not knowing anything about it and also knowing it’s a 6 year old design now my expectations were tempered.

Then I read this from the Lampizator site: DAC Level 4 is our long term best-seller. We sold over 500 Level4 DACs alone.

• Separate DSD engine, manually switchable
• Tube power supply, 4 music triodes and one rectifier, choke filter in PSU 
• Full quad-mono balanced circuit.
• One RCA S/PDIF input and one USB input 
• AESEBU
• Second BNC input

So as the DAC is built it was loaded with every option which is really nice from a connectivity standpoint.

How does it sound? Well, I can’t give it a listen in my 2-CH because it’s not set up yet, but in my desktop with my soon to be upgraded Burson Conductor 3XR, it sounds much more organic and with added body in the vocals. The stage is considerably broader. I saw broader because there’s a much greater sense of space left/front/center. It’s also a bit more intimate at the same time, which s hard to describe. How it managed to show me a greater sense of stage but also feel more intimate. The only drawback is that it takes hours of warm up before it comes into its own. Otherwise it feels a little thin at the bottom.

So there you have it, a great buy for taking a risk and given the fact that the guy I bought it from had multiple offers for the full asking price the day he posted it, I think it was a safe place to hold the money should I decide to sell it at some point.

[M0N]

Lampizator horizon just announced

More info

Copied from WBF
Horizon
The DAC of the future

Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC

Just when I thought that our TOTL Pacific DAC would be the end of the road for us, we decided to change the tactics concerning the improvements. Instead of making small incremental improvements of the flagship Pacific, we decided to freeze it and instead - start a new project. Little did we know about the coming future - about Covid, lockdowns and the AKM factory fire. Starting from a blank sheet we tried to reinvent everything about the DAC that we know, while learning what we don’t.

In 2019 we heard for the first time the prototype, and frankly - we were shocked how different it was from what we are used to. Thanks to a revolutionary chip technology, like nothing we have seen before - it was possible to create a real monster. It took almost a year to write software that controls the DAC process, especially for DSD512. By using our own custom firmware we made a DAC that nobody else has and nobody else will.

Summarising, the DAC turned out to be incredibly good. Hence the name THE HORIZON. It is something we look at while on the ocean. It is where we are aiming. From our competitors perspective - the Horizon is where they see us. It is also something endless, undefined, and desired. That’s where we want to be.

The resulting DAC is a true flagship. It has everything it can have, and we know for a fact that nobody else can use solutions that we use. I can say with full confidence that you are getting a unique masterpiece of craftsmanship that will deliver top of the game sound for many years to come. Who knows, chances are it will never be surpassed.

Key highlights include:

• Proprietary, firmware driven conversion process with 760kHz PCM and DSD512.
• No silicon anywhere in the signal path.
• Silver wiring inside.
• Copper sheet, true metal capacitors in the signal path.
• CNC milled chassis.
• 6SN7 conversion tubes.
• EL34 output driver tubes.
• Volume control of the highest possible caliber in every unit, featuring a full bypass function.
• All units are true balanced and SE at the same time.
• Zero feedback, either local or global.
• Zero opamps.
• Tube rectified power supply.
• Thousands of tube rolling permutations.
• Unit weight 72lbs.

Gentlemen, I am truly thrilled to be a part of this launch, by far the greatest effort in my life to create something THIS EXTRAORDINARY. While the looks can not give the full story, everything important happens inside. and Man, there is a lot happening.
I am one of three persons who listened to this DAC almost every day for the last 2 years, so I know what is going to happen next.
The launch, as often happens at NASA, was postponed many times due to enormous turbulence in the industry. Getting things done the way we want is a real challenge but we opted for rather waiting patiently than risking this launch.
Most questions that I anticipate will be around comparison of the Horizon to the Pacific and Golden Gate DACs. It is very hard to give a short answer. Basically we intended to give you what you like about the Pacific but a bit more. We ended up giving a LOT MORE while eliminating any weakness it had (mostly cosmetically). To me, subjectively - considering my taste in music and in the listening per se - it is a huge jump in everything I can name in the audiophile reviewer’s terms. In one word it is a bliss.
Continuing our good tradition, we will offer together with our dealers an attractive trade-in program. People who own our DACs will have priority to get the Horizon. The Pacific or Golden Gate at hand will be like a golden ticket.

---

Price TBD, but it’s going to be higher than the Pacific. So new statement piece.

Personally I don’t like the look but that doesn’t really matter, I’m just a bit skeptical about moving from the big dht to el34s, not sure how that will work out. Although apparently entirely proprietary dac inside, so who knows

I will likely be getting one in the next year or so, but I’m going to wait for some early feedback, since I don’t want to trade in my Pacific right away and risk getting something I’m less satisfied with

Also I wonder if this means there may be lampi special designed tubes for it coming from KR down the line too

[Polygonhell]

@M0N

Also I wonder if this means there may be lampi special designed tubes for it coming from KR down the line too

It’s interesting it’s pictured with PSVane tubes (outside the Elrog rectifier).
I don’t think KT currently does a 6SN7, or El34 but they do so KT88’s which would probably work.

[M0N]

@Polygonhell

It’s interesting it’s pictured with PSVane tubes (outside the Elrog rectifier).

Some of their other dacs ship with psvane as well so it’s not all that unusual

@Polygonhell

I don’t think KT currently does a 6SN7, or El34 but they do so KT88’s which would probably work.

I know you likely could do kt88, but I have a feeling if he only advertises with 34, I wouldn’t expect it to be as good (honestly like him picking a tube and sticking with it, I personally don’t like to sacrifice a design for more tube flexibility, I’d rather they design the circuit around one tube rather than many types)

[Souldriver]

@M0N

Lampizator horizon just announced

What! But I just! I…

@M0N

Price TBD, but it’s going to be higher than the Pacific. So new statement piece.

Oof almost had me

[M0N]

I honestly thought it was going to be a lower end model given tube choices at first glance, then I looked closer into the specs and the case, considered the name, and was like ohhhhhhhh

[Souldriver]

I didnt read the description yet but the look of it and tubes made it look like a Baltic +. I dont dislike the look but the all metal copper topped boxes seemed to be a little bit more luxury looking. But also the pics are a little blurred so not sure.bit looks a little like those “leather” boxes that are vinyl wrapping cardboard.

[dB_Cooper]

@M0N

Lampizator horizon just announced

The display looks like it’s got nixie tubes in it?

[M0N]

Looks like it, you could get nixies as a display as an option on other lampi products as well if you wanted too (personally wanted a pacific with nixie as the display, but couldn’t find one like that so oh well)

[dB_Cooper]

That’s fucking cool right there! lol

I mean yeah it sounds awesome and all but… nixie tubes!

[Polygonhell]

@dB_Cooper

I mean yeah it sounds awesome and all but… nixie tubes!

It was an option on the pacific with the original all gold chassis, but I don’t think you could get it with the volume control.

[dB_Cooper]

Yeah I see some of the phono pre amps still have it avail

[M0N]

I personally think AC gear implements them better at least looks wise

[Polygonhell]

I have to wonder if nixies are a good idea in an audio device, I assume they don’t multiplex them since you have to do that at very audible frequencies and that’s a lot of noise switching a 100-200V supply on and off at 100-300Hz.
I guess if they use separate drivers for each tube, it ought to be relatively quiet, certainly no more noise than any tube filament.

[dB_Cooper]

Had the same thought but given the high end nature, I figured it’s an engineering hurdle that was overcome pretty quickly, maybe with something as simple as a well shielded display area?

[hifiDJ]

@dB_Cooper

nixie tubes

Are those the blue colored tubes from the pics? Is that some special kind of tube or something?

[Polygonhell]

@hifiDJ

Are those the blue colored tubes from the pics? Is that some special kind of tube or something?

It’s the display

Nixie tube

[dB_Cooper]

Every cold war movie about nuclear Armageddon features a nixie tube countdown. You know what they are you just didn’t know what they were called.

[Andy77]

Oh, that’s what those are! I thought they were just putting additional tubes into the body of the DAC.

I can’t say anything learned the engineering, but it is a very clever display. Definitely very Cold War. Also sort of a Steam Punk vibe, almost like the tech in Terry Gilliam’s Brasil or Twelve Monkeys.

[NickMimi]

Meh…DAC’s don’t matter, all I need is the output from my laptop.
Fucking Lampizator just going for broke.