[Sampajanna]

Yes. Initially, I thought the same. I thought I would only get one if it is black. I normally hate the bling stuff. But this brass is so nice. It looks WAY better in person. It is very nice indeed. I never would have thought i would choose it, but it worked out that way. Have you seen one in person? Once I did, it changed my mind.

 

[GoldenSound]

Gotta say I do love the look of the Nixie tubes in their new one

 

[adrianm]

Initial observations: The soundstage was between the speakers and now they are gone, completely gone. The room is music. It feels liquid, tacit. You can touch it, lick it It honestly feels like sitting in a bath of sound. I thought there would be a trade off in detail but there isnt. I have the RK PX25 and 5U4G tubes, Detail is equal to the Dave, but impact, bloom, soundstage imaging are up up a notch or three, Emotional involvement is Pacific ocean size…. Like a real honeymoon, there is no time for sleep

So just to put thing into context, you liked the Dave setup much more than the DCS and MSB stuff , but the Lampi is better still? If only there was some context for a headphone setup

 

[Sampajanna]

Me too. Part of what enticed me to pull the trigger is the 100% MSRP take-in deal they offer, which is exceptional and unprecedented.i am far from doing that, but amazing to know I am not that crazy distant from one if I want. I think they all look amazing As you can tell, I am smitten….

 

[Sampajanna]

So just to put thing into context, you liked the Dave setup much more than the DCS and MSB stuff , but the Lampi is better still? If only there was some context for a headphone setup

Actually just better than DCS (and non-Apex older version). I mentioned that I actually liked the MSB Reference a bit better. I obviously dont have a Reference here to compare, so cannot say About Lampi vs Ref. But this is damn good.

 

[alxw0w]

Yes. Initially, I thought the same. I thought I would only get one if it is black. I normally hate the bling stuff. But this brass is so nice. It looks WAY better in person. It is very nice indeed. I never would have thought i would choose it, but it worked out that way. Have you seen one in person? Once I did, it changed my mind.

Unfortunately I've not seen lampi pacific in person.
Ive only auditioned their entry level model which I believe was Baltic.

Edit
I looked some photos on the internet and actually it was Amber II - that's their entry level.

 

[Sampajanna]

I liked the HMS + Dave + Storm cables and 2X DC4 better than Rossini and felt it was lose some win some vs. Vivaldi (not whole stack, just dac). These were both pre Apex upgrade. MSB Ref was better to my ears. Never heard premier, but did hear Discrete and my rig was way better, Thee Lampi Pac is better than my HMS/Dave?PSU rig so far…. But dont hold me to it later. Apparently I am on a honeymoon, which is entirely possible for sure. But it is a good ride if so… I will keep you guys posted over the next couple weeks as it settles,

 

[Sampajanna]

If such random opinions matter, the guy who sold me this Pac said he had a MSB Ref and switched to the Pac, liking it more. He was selling because he upgraded to the whole Ideon Epsilon stack which is 80+k…He said he liked that better than Select 2. I havent heard either of those stratosphere dacs yet…. Way out of my budget, but would be cool to hear.

 

[Reactcore]

Although i was skeptical about the benefits a LPS could possibly have on the well engineered Dave.. i wouldnt disgard anything before i hear it first hand. Ok i was already thinking to try batteries to feed it ..later..

So today i had Maarten on visit with a full stack of Farad LPS units for Dave and HMS.

And it was A-B time with this and my stock Dave. I tested with only my HD800 (SDR mod) and my self made array speakers feeded by my Denon POA S10 mono amps.

Impressions with HD800 out of Dave amp:
On the first note.. One word: Bass!
Not overacted heavy ..but well defined bass compared to stock. I could real easy follow the tune of the rumble extending upwards into the low mids.

The mid and highs were kind of untouched making the whole picture more rich.

On my speakers:
Fuller overall sound like its hugging you.
Voices got more meat on the bone ..offcourse due to better control of the low end.

I'm no basshead by any means but i can definately get used to this.

Then switching back to stock Dave.
The sound is as open and transparent as before.. but i miss something.. fullness..
the music is kind of less grabbing me.

Now im by myself again and am listening further and slowly adjusting back to how it was. I guess i have to speed up my battery
(or perhaps Farad) upgrade ☺

With thanks to @MvRBE10 and his insight.

 

[adrianm]

For those still on the Dave bandwagon, I've been doing my periodical sanity check after receiving my new generator (Isotek Genesis One), which I hoped would replace my current filter, the Aquarius. Like i've previously said, the most consistent thing I've found so far in this hobby is mains filtering. I've only had experience with Isotek and felt no need to change, so they can just take my money at this point. I've owned the Sirius previously, sold it to a friend after i got the Aquarius and now got it back for a sanity check.
The improvements are consistent across the range and while the Genesis is clearly the best sounding, connecting it to the Aquarius instead of directly to the mains makes a shocking difference. I've never heard Dave have so much depth, dynamic range, and defined imaging. Sadly, this shines an even bigger light on the noise entering Dave from the PC, even with a Jitterbug and DC-blocks in place, previously with an Intona USB isolator as well, which i've since returned, since it's clear i need to get back to either a streamer or an Innuos Phoenix.

 

[adrianm]

Although i was skeptical about the benefits a LPS could possibly have on the well engineered Dave.. i wouldnt disgard anything before i hear it first hand. Ok i was already thinking to try batteries to feed it ..later..

So today i had Maarten on visit with a full stack of Farad LPS units for Dave and HMS.

And it was A-B time with this and my stock Dave. I tested with only my HD800 (SDR mod) and my self made array speakers feeded by my Denon POA S10 mono amps.

Impressions with HD800 out of Dave amp:
On the first note.. One word: Bass!
Not overacted heavy ..but well defined bass compared to stock. I could real easy follow the tune of the rumble extending upwards into the low mids.

The mid and highs were kind of untouched making the whole picture more rich.

On my speakers:
Fuller overall sound like its hugging you.
Voices got more meat on the bone ..offcourse due to better control of the low end.

I'm no basshead by any means but i can definately get used to this.

Then switching back to stock Dave.
The sound is as open and transparent as before.. but i miss something.. fullness..
the music is kind of less grabbing me.

Now im by myself again and am listening further and slowly adjusting back to how it was. I guess i have to speed up my battery
(or perhaps Farad) upgrade ☺





With thanks to @MvRBE10 and his insight.

Well it looks like we have a theme for tonight

 

[MvRBE10]

Got the stack back in place and was a good time to clean all the debre and dust but its working again. Was alot of fun and on his speakers while his setup is totally different than mine, amp, streamer and speaker wize the sound difference was kind of the same, more and better defined bass and a much more spacious and grabbing sound. Nice was that what i can’t do at home was a 1min change to original dave so the memory was still there and we both looked at each other and alot of engagement was gone and bass and bass texture. So was fun to see sort of the same results on a completely different system.

 

[Sampajanna]

Day 2: Listened to a lot more music across a wider spectrum,. Started to see the flaws in the Lampi. I will listen to it until Sunday and then swap the Dave rig back in to see what happens. I have noticed a slight decrease in instrument separation and micro details between the speakers, especially apparent in electronic music. that said, the soundstage is still much bigger with the Lampi, the tone meatier and juicier. I wouldn’t say the Dave is a lean dac, but it is relative to the Lampi Pac. A lot of music seems more whole and less about details and more about liquid, engaging sound. My dealer has me keeping notes and especially listing if there is anything I cannot live without… I will continue to share if you want to hear about the journey. Sunday will be interesting, to add the old rig back in. I always learn a lot from the swap back in, when A/B anything….

 

[sm60]

Day 2: Listened to a lot more music across a wider spectrum,. Started to see the flaws in the Lampi. I will listen to it until Sunday and then swap the Dave rig back in to see what happens. I have noticed a slight decrease in instrument separation and micro details between the speakers, especially apparent in electronic music. that said, the soundstage is still much bigger with the Lampi, the tone meatier and juicier. I wouldn’t say the Dave is a lean dac, but it is relative to the Lampi Pac. A lot of music seems more whole and less about details and more about liquid, engaging sound. My dealer has me keeping notes and especially listing if there is anything I cannot live without… I will continue to share if you want to hear about the journey. Sunday will be interesting, to add the old rig back in. I always learn a lot from the swap back in, when A/B anything….

Your impressions are largely consistent with mine. Some of these differences are due to the fact that the Lampi Pacific is using direct heated triodes. By the way, if you haven’t heard the Lampi with KR 242 tubes, you haven’t heard what it can really do. That’s an amazing tube capable of stunning dynamics. But you have to be careful with system matching if you don’t have a volume control on the Pacific. It can easily overload a typical solid state preamplifier. If you have a volume control, then there’s no issue.

I still like the Dave because it has a solid state leanness that is sometimes conducive to the music. Also I can turn it on and off for playing a single CD. I only turn on my Lampi in the evening when I’m listening for several hours. It takes a while for the beast to warm up its act, particularly in my case as I’m using a JJ 300B SET integrated amplifier with my Quads.

As they say, it’s horses for courses. Folks who like the lean snappy solid state sound ( Naim lovers, where are you?) will not like the Lampi. My wife thinks tubes makes the music a bit sluggish. The tempos bother her more than me.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Past few pages have reminded me why I really take it easy at least for the first week with new gear. I don't really compare against other gear much at all. Just too many mental loopholes.. familiarity with current setup, post purchase justification bias, etc... even the influence of others here. Case in point, a few people mentioned that the OP would start to see flaws, OP reads that and very next day, "I'm starting to see flaws" lol. There's just so much at play mentally with this stuff.. (also this is to no offense to anyone at all, I'm saying this light heartedly and I'm impacted all by the same bias and input).

I just find it best to try to tune as much as possible out and just get to know the gear early without too much analysis or comparison.. and even taking a temporary step back from this place helps as well. But that's just me, I do also get that the immediate analysis and comparison is also a part of the fun, I totally get that as well. And obviously, if you only have something on loan for a week you really just have no choice lol

Also, separate from all of the above. The Lampi looks and seems (based off impressions) amazing, I'm certainly interested in checking on out once I have the right room setup for a higher end 2 channel system..