[DJJEZ]

I've had the Pacific for almost a week. This thing is massive.. and gear is ALWAYS double the size you imagined when simply looking at the specs lol. Amazing craftsmanship and feel. Doesn't fit well on my current rack, which I'm going to replace either soon or after I move. So future pics will be limited as it's not in an ideal photo worthy space. But you get the idea . I originally wanted to pure gold classic Pacific chassis, but that's been discontinued and I'm pretty sure anything with the engine 11 upgrade going forward is likely to be in this colorway.. in the end I have appreciated it quite a lot as it looks less gaudy and more similar to the gear I own.

As for the sound, I've intentionally been really lip tight as I typically am with new gear. I had been listening to the SGL Sr. and HE90 w/the Dave mainly leading up to its arrival, and have been using them mainly with the Pacific for consistency. Right now, I've come to two pretty consistent conclusions:

1. Resolution/Detail/Spacing: overall in these categories, the Pacific is pretty noticeably ahead of the MDave, which for me, was a bit unexpected and surprising. I've always figured, "how much better can things get in that regard?". But it was apparent from the very first listen.. a) a bigger stage and enveloping sound while maintaining the same since of intimacy and closeness, b) I'm literally hearing detail I haven't heard in songs before, and consistently, and c) vocals and instruments sound more detailed, clear and textured than ever.
2. Tone/Timbre: from a tonal balance perspective, the Pacific with the tubes I have is pretty lush in the midrange, detailed in the highs, while being more resolving and transparent (clearer perceived window into the music) than the mDave, which is a major accomplishment. It also doesn't sound overly warm or "tubey", which was my primary reason in going with the Pacific over the GG. I want to maintain the transparency and neutrality the mDave provides to a large degree. Regarding timbre and weight of the music, it's pretty similar to the Dave. With the current tubes, I don't sense a much weightier sound, but rather an improved tonal balance.
3. Bass impact/subbass: performance here is virtually the same, and in some cases, I'm even sensing less of a visceral impact and sub-bass rumble than w/the mDave. This difference is pretty slight, but it was unexpected and given my previous desire to improve upon mDave in this aspect, it stood out as not as impressive as I would have hoped.
   1. I do think (and hope) this is largely based on the stock tubes supplied with it, new production KR 5u4g rectifier and PX4 power tubes. From what I've read the PX4s can be a bit slower and softer in attack and 242s and others should be better. I also now have a Tak 274b tube (minimal improvement) and I'm likely closing in on a used matched pair of 242s

So overall, definitely a pretty impressive improvement over the mDave, and particularly in categories in which I expected things to be far closer. The first few hours were really an incredible wow experience in which I haven't really experienced since I upgraded from the 009 to the SGL Sr. and separately from the BHSE to the T2. Almost reminded me how when I went from the Hugo 2 to the mDave.

Now I just need to find the right set of tubes that improve the bass. I'm not expecting a massive improvement here, but would like to at least get slightly improved performance over the mDave. I've talked to quite a few ppl that have gone through this exact upgrade path, and nearly all of them noted improved bass, so will just have to experiment. If it doesn't improve, that would just be the one area that isn't a significant improvement (editing this to "one area that would be a major disappointment" given what I originally set out to accomplish in moving on from mDave--again, resolution, clarity etc. wasn't the driving factor in moving on).

Based on my experience with tube rolling my red october, wa33 elite, aic-10 you absolutely can get better bass just gonna require messing about with tube rolling.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Based on my experience with tube rolling my red october, wa33 elite, aic-10 you absolutely can get better bass just gonna require messing about with tube rolling.

That's what I figure as well. I've accepted I'll have to do a lot of rolling to drill down to the exact combo needed and then sell off anything I don't love. The 242s should be here tomorrow, and it looks like I might be able to pick up some PX25s and T100s as well. I'll stop there and just start rolling to see if I can fine tune to what I like.

 

[number1sixerfan]

So I've gotten several tubes thus far. I changed the KR 5ug4 (non-anny version) to the Tak 274b, and the KR PX4's to the KR 242s. Also swapped the stock to NOS 6N6P USSR red-tips (don't have much info, but the seller of the 242s threw them in for a cheap price).

The Tak 274b was enjoyable, but the sound didn't change much. After adding the 242s and swapping out the 6N6Ps, the bass improved and is very sufficient. Maybe a hair ahead of the Dave with quick comparison just to confirm the change of the tubes based on previous comparison, but nothing earth shattering at all. I'll do more in depth comparison on that at some point in the future, but for the time being, just really enjoying the Pacific. As I mentioned, it's helping to rediscover each headphone, the Expanse sounds so good, and actually has a bit better attack and overall fullness (after the new tube swaps). I'll probably focus on the HE90 today.

I also have some PX25s on the way and may still grab the T100s. Have been finding everything used and reasonable.

 

[number1sixerfan]

The HE90 are the most complete and well balanced headphones I own (in this regard of completeness, the Susvara would be second btw). Through the Pacific > T2, it improves a bit in spacing and overall window of music, and to a large degree perception of detail and resolution--which has been very consistent across all headphones.

I hate that I swapped to the 242s and 6N6Ps both at the same time. I can't speak specifically to which is the greater driver, but this combo is really perfect. I still have the PX25s on the way, but I think I'll cancel the T100s. What I have in the Pacific now sounds like something I can land on long term without any concern, which is what I'm looking for.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Well... on another note. The current interest rates are completely zapping the fun out of house shopping lol. I understood that the 2/3% rates years ago were never going to last, but having had a loan at 3% (was going to buy my grandfather's house in CA until we uncovered just how much work was needed) and searching now is just depressing. You can't get much house for the money whatsoever. Outside of this hobby I can be a bit cheap and from a principled standpoint it just seems ridiculous haha

May think about pushing back the timelines again, but for certain the excitement around the process is gone lol

 

[number1sixerfan]

Anyways for tonight. The R10, L3000 and the Valkyria are the last on my list to give significant time with the new Pacific dac. I've tried each, but not with considerable time. I'll do so and report back tonight.

I won't get to in depth Dave vs. Pacific for a while, and given the more than expected improvement than thought, I probably won't spend more than a day doing so. What I can say is it doesn't make the Dave irrelevant and now I need to think through: do I continue with the mods and then see how they compare? Or do I sell all of my Dave products at stock and replace with a Lampi GG or similar at no cost. Leaning towards the former for the sake of the hobby and sharing the info + I really don't want to source any more tubes. Also love how you can keep (many) traditional DACs on 24/7 without issue.

 

[number1sixerfan]

What a session lol. TL;DR, there's less scaling in the efficient, more easy to power headphones. To the point that I actually wanted to verify what I was hearing and did a bit of A/B'ing with the Dave. Limited, as it just wasn't needed for the harder to power headphones in the stable. That just completely reinforced the performance differences between the Dave and Pacific.

With the SGL Sr., 009, 007, Expanse, the differences were jump out apparent. With the R10, L3000 and Valkyria detectable in some regards on first listen, but much less so. Then plugged back into the mDave, and wow, even for the easy to power cans.. a very clear difference in clarity, detail and transparency. Immediately noticeable. And still consistent in that I don't notice a large difference with timbre and bass, however. Bass is improved with the new tube set although again not crazily ahead, and timbre largely feels the same tbh.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Was able to track down a RK Anniversary 5U4G thanks to another head-fier that responded in a thread I mentioned it in. Gotta love the hobby and community!

Can't really say much about it right now even though I've been listening for a few hours. Have some PX25s arriving tonight as well, although the 242s are very likely the long term tubes for me.. or at least one of two sets of power tubes. I'll try them out down the line after I have a bit of a handle on the RK rectifier change alone.

Unfortunately, the Psvane 300bs I have a clear issue with, so they'll need replacement in my EC Studio B. Stalling a bit here, but will replace with some used WE300bs. I'll try them out in the Pacific as well, and will report back given it seems like 50/50 with Lampi owners.

 

[goldwerger]

Unfortunately, the Psvane 300bs I have a clear issue

they're coming with a new line of tubes including 300b that will be cost effective. can't attest to quality as haven't tried those

 

[number1sixerfan]

they're coming with a new line of tubes including 300b that will be cost effective. can't attest to quality as haven't tried those

You mean Psvane is?

 

[goldwerger]

You mean Psvane is?

yes (sorry for brevity)

 

[LISIANTHUS]

Technical TOTL Tier Ranking​

As I mentioned a few times, I wanted to rank the headphones covered in this thread from a technical perspective in addition to the recent preferenced based ranking I shared. To keep this post simple, when referring to “technical”, I am simply referring to the capabilities of the headphone unrelated to what I prefer tonally, music I listen to, comfort or practicality of the headphone.. simply what it can do.

This speaks to dynamic range, staging, detail & resolution, bass reproduction, realism, and timbre—resolution being the highest priority factor, but to be clear even this subjective based on how I interpret the word vs. others. Same for the other categories. This largely excludes tonality, as this is just highly preference based and for the purposes of this ranking simply doesn’t matter much.

I’m doing tiers in addition to a straight ranking because this is a really nuanced challenge due to the imperfect nature of headphones. And without preference as a deciding factor, it just becomes a tougher list to make. I.e. the Sr1a thrives with resolution, but struggles with bass reproduction (compared to other TOTL headphones), which is also a technical category. The L3000 excels with bass reproduction but isn’t as resolving as the Sr1a, and so on, so forth.

Because of the above, I want to reiterate that this isn’t an objective list. Your personal list may be justifiably different, this is just my perspective from my journey captured in this thread. However, I very much welcome anyone to share how it would be different for them + the genres and overall listening preferences to help anyone making purchase decisions and/or doing research. Lastly, some headphones may be in a very low tier as they are simply not technical show-stoppers, but you can see in my previous preference ranking that they are very well respected by me despite—so please take no offense lol

And lastly, this only includes headphones I have owned in this thread (so I know there are so high performers that would be in tier 1 or 2, etc that I simply haven't owned or demoed).


Tier 1

1. Hifiman Shangri-La Sr.

-x9000 is very close imo to being in this same tier, the SGL Sr. just has a distinguishable higher level of resolution and that’s the reason for the separation

Tier 2

2. Stax x9000
3. Raal Sr1a

-The Sr1a does many of the things the x9000 does nearly equally well (or one may even argue better), especially detail retrieval and clarity, but the much better bass reproduction of the x9000 + a bit more of an overall cohesive/complete sound keeps it ahead for me

Tier 3

4. Abyss TC Phi /Stax 009
5. Hifiman Susvara
6. Sennheiser “Orpheus” HE90
7. Sennheiser HD800

-Not a huge difference between tier 3 vs. tier 2, but bigger than the gap between tier 2 vs. tier 1.

-Susvara is very close to the 009/TC, and got a majority of head time (slightly more than the 009) when I had them all, but there’s just categories where it’s bested by the 009/TC, whereas the Susvara is just the overall more complete headphone of the three without areas that it stands out over the other two, again for me.

Tier 4

8. Sony MDR-R10
9. Audio Technica “Leatherhead” ATH-L3000/AKG-K1000
10. Focal Utopia/Audeze LCD-5
11. Stax 007 MK1
12. Sennheiser “Baby Orpheus” HE60
13. Audeze CRBN

-Take the ratings in this category a bit more lightly. It’s very hard to rate this specific group as they are so different strengths wise, but I think all generally around the same level/tier.

-HE60 can be quite a bit higher based on the music you’re listening to, and it’s one of my favorite headphones ever, but I have to knock it down a bit because it lacks completeness. The bass and overall impact/weight of the sound is pretty light, which is very enjoyable for some music, but stands out like a sore thumb for others against other headphones.

Tier 5

14. ES Lab ES-1a
15. ES Lab ES-R10
16. ZMF Verite Closed

-For the price, each of these perform better than they should and they are very close to tier 4. Highly recommendable, and especially if picked up used.

May I ask how you rank those HPs?
Solitaire P
Valkyria
Zmf
Expanse
Aperio
1995s

Thank you~