The New Lampizator Horizon DAC
On Saturday, I was lucky enough to be invited to the unofficial launch of the all-new Lampizator Horizon DAC in Los Angeles. I have a Pacific and love it but I was intrigued to experience whether the Horizon was that much better. So, My wife and I drove the 6 hours from Arizona to attend.
The event had about 18 people in attendance and featured Lukasz Fikus, the owner and brains behind Lampizator. We had a 5-hour listening session which included direct A/B comparisons between the Pacific and the Horizon, operating the Horizon without a preamp, and finally tube rolling.
My impressions were the Lampizator created a DAC that could change people's minds on comparing digital to vinyl, The amount of detail, smoothness, clarity, speed was incredible. For those interested in tube rolling the options are almost endless and I heard firsthand many different tube combinations which changed the SQ of the music. Finally, at the end of the session, we ran the Horizon without a preamp. The preamp used in the system was Lamm and the whole system was well over $700k. So we are talking about a very high-end component grouping. IMO, the Horizon DAC delivered about 95% of the sound without a Preamp. It was super hard to discern any differences in SQ.
This DAC was so good that I ended up ordering one. For anyone going to the Tampa Audio show, Lukasz Fikus will be there to officially launch the Horizon to the world this weekend. It is definitely worth a listen.
Re read my post The comment “ Your value analysis wasn’t asked for” was posted by @ghasley This was my own comment directed at @ghasley actually in your defence ! ” Neither was your critique of what he said! But you went ahead anyway.” I hope this clarifies my post.
tsushima1881 posts ” Your value analysis wasn’t asked for”
Neither was your critique of what he said! But you went ahead anyway. |
To begin, the private showing of the Horizon DAC was hardly an "advertisement" by or for an anointed few. The new owner extended an open invitation to all several hundred members of the "What’s Best Forum" and about 20 accepted his gracious hospitality to gather and hear a piece of gear in a collegial and private setting. Even you would have been invited had you known about it. It was hardly a secret. It was, in fact, a remarkable gesture of grace extended to audio and music lovers without prejudice (of which I doubt you are capable) for the type of gear they owned, the type of music they love, or their social or financial status. Indeed, your remark that "the best DACs were made in the late 1990’s" justifies my last comment regarding your obvious bias. As long as you are free to post your unnecessarily hostile comments, may I suggest that sometimes, it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. |
Well that is a kinda interesting observation in the context of the life journey Mr Fikus and many many millions of others have experienced in what may be becoming a distant memory. For the one person who doesn’t remember, Poland was a communist state until about 1989-ish. |
