I walked past the room at RMAF without noticing the sign, stopped dead in my tracks, and did a 180-degree turn. I peered through the partially-opened door into the darkness beyond, and noticed all the people jammed inside with their eyes closed swaying to music like strange priests involved in some taboo ritual. I stepped in, and looked over some shoulders to better understand what dark arts were being worshipped. Then I saw it: the idol these former Ascetics had become entranced by.
It was huge, it was shiny, it glowed brightly with a mesmerizing light, and it sounded amazing. “What is it?” I asked… in a hushed tone a man next to me whispered “It’s the brand-new Lampizat0r Pacific DAC.”
According to LampizatOr that while the Pacific flagship DAC (Price TBD) has deep design roots in previous models, every single part of it is completely new. From transformers, chokes, capacitors and tubes, to the power supply, through the DAC section, and control/management/attentuator to the tube output – it’s all been re-thought. Not to be outdone, the team decided on a fresh chassis approach with mirror-polished brass to compliment the new, and expanded space the larger internals required.
It’s definitely a big component, and seemed to outmuscle , size-wise, the newly-revised Generation Six 211 balanced power amplifiers ($12,995 USD/pair) that were on hand providing the juice to the Salk Song3 Encore loudspeakers ($5, 895 USD/pair). Pre-amplification was (I believe, as these 211 amps are true-balanced, and don’t necessarily need a pre-amp according to LampizatOr nomenclature) LampizatOr’s own, which was mounted behind the DAC.
This room had outstanding timbre, and tone, and deep, organic bass lines, and midrange that didn’t suffer an iota from the air, and extension the top end displayed. “Addictive Musicality” is what I scrawled in my RMAF brochure book next to the room name. Sound-staging actively changed from recording to recording (as it should be because sound stage is derived from the recording, not the equipment), which to me is always a hallmark of a truly transparent, and properly-engineered set-up.
Technical highlights:
- Unique tube conversion output with Single Ended Triode, Directly Heated Triode, Active Dynamic Tube Anode Loading & Zero Feedback
- New digital “engine” board with a conversion process unique to Lampizator with DSD512 auto-sensing
- New USB & LAN computer interface that is with preinstalled ROON bridge
- New transformers, power supplies, new heater power circuits and new chassis
- New Taras 2017 VC-04 Volume Management System
- Size: [W x H x D ] cm 43 x 19 (plus tubes 15 cm) x 52 (plus 10 cm for cables at the back) (17” x 71/2x 20)
- Weight 20 kg net, (50 lb) 30 kg (70 lb) shipping gross (ships in the flight case)
- PCM conversion New fully balanced 2017 engine code “57” – up to 24 bit, up to 192 kHz via SPDIF, up to 705 kHz DxD via USB up to 32 bit/356 kHz via LAN DSD conversion via LAN or USB only, auto-sensing, auto switching, 64x, 128x, 256x, 512x
- Output voltage signal 3 V pp, adjustable by request.
- In Volume control models – 6 V pp adjustable in 64 one dB steps Optional inputs BNC, second SPDIF-RCA, AES/EBU, Toslink
- Mains Voltage: 110-240 V AC, with built in RFI filter
- AC power consumption 70 W (SE) and 90 W (Bal)
- Tube compliment one 5U4G rectifier, two 6H6P dual triodes, two SET DHT triodes (four for balanced) with a switch allowing for the use of: 300B, PX-4, 101D, 45, 245, 345, 242, PX25 Output capacitors Mundorf Supreme Silver/Gold or equivalent Rectifier tube 5U4G or 274B – Octal base – or any 5V equivalent like 5AR4WGB, 5Y3, GZ34
- High end STACORE footers
- Chassis Pure solid brass, clear coated.
- Sockets WBT inputs and outputs
- Warranty 5 years excluding tubes
–Rafe Arnott
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