I heard them and they are very good, but Lampis are much more analog to me and I guess that to each his own. The Sel 1 was a huge "Meh". The Sel2 is much better. The cost of MSB Dacs are very "tasty" now and I could never justify that.
This very thread us a mystery to me. The OP asks for a comparison between the GG1 and the Reference Dac. there is like £X price difference there. Given he has a Lampi and knows and likes the sound, it would be far more logical to compare the Ref to a GG2 or Pacific, if he had an upgrade itch. The GG 2 upgrade cost is a relative bargain. The Pac cost is just over half the Ref cost (I assume its circa $40K starting price). Pimped out fully, the Ref is significantly more than 2X the Pac.
Without even addressing preferences or what is better, I would have expected the OP to first investigate the higher Lampi models...especially since it took a while for the Ref to gain a decisive preference advantage to the "lowly" GG1.
However, since he has the budget, no one should begrudge his spending choices and I hope he remains happy with his choice for a long time.
First, to the bolded part: if you read the thread title, I was interested in comparisons between the GG and the
Premier and that is what Mike sent me to compare.
As mentioned by me above, the GG was the single greatest upgrade I had made in my 30 years in this hobby. Just a list of dacs I've owned and lived with over those years: Theta Basic III, Theta Gen V, Audio Aero Capitole, Esoteric UX3 with Statement mod from Steve Huntely, Berkeley Alpha DAC, Metric Halo LIO-8 pro audio dac, Luxman DA6, Lampizator Big 7 (used), Lampizator Golden Gate. I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
I did not expect the MSB Premier to compete with my GG...seriously. Most of those dacs I've owned were good/better in some way to what I used just prior (not always), but most were also just "incremental". I would have to listen for a little while to determine differences and then a bit longer to determine preferences. The Big 7 and GG were MAJOR steps forward and noticeable immediately. The MSB Premier is incrementally better (to me) in many different areas, but it is incremental, not MAJOR. The key for me is that it didn't give up what the Lampi's brought to my room: organic, natural, cohesive, tonally dense, real-sounding music. The Premier just did those and more a little better.
Given he has a Lampi and knows and likes the sound, it would be far more logical to compare the Ref to a GG2 or Pacific, if he had an upgrade itch. The GG 2 upgrade cost is a relative bargain. The Pac cost is just over half the Ref cost (I assume its circa $40K starting price). Pimped out fully, the Ref is significantly more than 2X the Pac.
Secondly, I have investigated going balanced GG about 2 years ago. I received a demo used at one of the shows (can't remember) with the intention of buying it; however, it was all over the map. After about a week with it, I started to freak out about the mistake I had made. My SE GG with Dueland caps was just superior to me and the balanced GG with Mundorfs (I think) made all my albums sound really different, but not better. Fred was awesome and gave me a full refund minus shipping. Now, I have no idea if it was the balanced config, the mundorfs, or something else that so altered my experience with that Lampizator, but it confirmed for me that I must hear a significant component in my system before pulling the trigger.
Without even addressing preferences or what is better, I would have expected the OP to first investigate the higher Lampi models
Thirdly, or secondly continued, the start of this thread was exactly the first steps toward examining potential upgrades either within Lampi or (possibly) MSB. I had heard the Select II at Axpona a couple of years ago...sounded really good, but I can't tell a thing from an audio show...strange equipment, rooms, etc. My inclusion of the MSB was more based on what I had read than from that show. There is a great deal of enthusiasm surrounding these new releases and the Premier was of interest to me.
I did not investigate the possibility of auditioning a GG2 or a Pacific, though I would have tried at some point in this process if I had not enjoyed the Premier so much. From past experience, that would not have been so easy because I really don't like wasting dealers/importers time, or my own for that matter. I had already done this with Fred and although he was incredibly pleasant throughout, I felt badly that I had to return the unit. I would not do this again with Fred unless I had little doubt that I would follow through.
...especially since it took a while for the Ref to gain a decisive preference advantage to the "lowly" GG1.
I also wouldn't say it "took a while for the
Premier to gain a decisive preference advantage to the 'lowly' GG1" The settling in time was predicted by Mike; it was nicely sorted in a couple of days, but my weekdays are very busy and are not a good time to compare equipment. I have a friend who only needs a very short time listening to a component to determine better/worse; I WISH I was that lucky! That Sat morning, I had to become familiar with the sound, to understand how it presents various instruments, recordings, etc. Jumping back and forth would have screwed with my ability to really understand that part of the Premier. For me it is more than better/worse, more like better/worse/preference/worth it...that takes time to reveal...in this case, a full day of listening.