I was listening to some of the LAME quality test samples[0] and I found that the hi-hat pre-echo test sounds worse at 160kbps than at 128kbps (LAME 3.100, -q 0). I thought it might be because of the different low-pass filter frequency, but even with manually specified matching lowpass (16805Hz) for the 160kbps version the pre-echo sounds worse.
The 128kbps version doesn't sound much like the original, but it's still a pleasant sound with hardly any pre-echo. The 160kbps version, even with the extra lowpass, has obvious and annoying pre-echo on the first hit.
Using the Foobar2000 ABX comparator I was able to 5/5 ABX:
wav vs. b128
wav vs. b160
b128 vs. b160 (this one was 7/8 ABX)
wav vs. pa128
wav vs. pa160
b128 vs. pa128 (more difficult)
pa128 vs. pa160 (more difficult)
I did not successfully ABX b160 vs. pc160.
I didn't do ABC/HR so I can't say for sure what my ranking would be, but my guess is:
The 128kbps version doesn't sound much like the original, but it's still a pleasant sound with hardly any pre-echo. The 160kbps version, even with the extra lowpass, has obvious and annoying pre-echo on the first hit.
[0] https://lame.sourceforge.io/quality.php