Headphone lovers, what do you love, what do you have, Head-Fi fans 2018 edition.

Happy Holidays All !

I'm going on 100 hours on the liquid platinum. Swapped in some JJ gold pins that had about 40 hours on them at about 66 hours on the Platinum. I like the changes, stage is slightly pushed back compared to the stock EH tubes. Little more general thickness to the sound without much if any changes to mid's. Highs seem a touch more soft but extended if that makes sense. Mainly listening balanced out with 6xx and modi multibit, can't say how pleased I am. Will be grabbing some gold lions in the near future when I can get a deal. $600 for the LP was my christmas gift this year to myself along with 11 days in a row off work.

 

An LPS supposedly specifically built for the Cavalli LP has appeared on Ebay. Made in China, $348 bucks shipped.

LPS-36 Low noise Linear power supply For Monolith Liquid Platinum Cavalli DC 36V | eBay

I am holding off. I'll let others risk frying their LP before I dip my toes in those waters. Even if it is safe to use I'm not sure it will deliver enough improvement to justify the cost. I'll wait and see if W4S can come up with something as they procured a Cavalli LP for testing. As is I am very, very pleased with the LP.

On the other LP front, there is a cheap passive preamp that may prove useful in reducing the gain on the LP. It's a Nobsound unit that sells for the staggering sum of 56 bucks and is available both SE and balanced. The reviews of it have been pretty good (as a preamp) over at the Cheap and Cheerful group on Audio Circle. The preamp section of my Auralic Vega DAC has helped me reduce gain on the LP, which has given be more flexibility on volume settings. I may try one of the Nobsounds between my Gumby and the LP as XLR attenuators are tough to find. They are common for microphones and I wonder if they would work in this application.

On the cans front, my modded Sennheiser 800 HD have been a positive delight. There is no treble spike thanks to the Super Dupont Resonators (a fancy name for a couple of discs made of layers of different materials with a hole in the center) that came preinstalled on the used pair. I can't compare it to stock as I don't want to disassemble and remove them. Talk about wide soundstage! Excellent detail too. Using the stock XLR cable right now.

 

Bought myself a Grado PS1000e for Christmas. Always wanted a pair and it was on sale at hifibuys. The midrange is very clear with incredible resolution. Bass is deep and natural. I'm pairing it with an AK240 Blue Note I got from TommyTunes.

Makes me wonder how good the PS2000e is.

 

I want to hear the LCD-4 soon. I also heard the LCD-4/Liquid Glass pairing. Superb.

Electrostatics are getting better too. The new Jade II from hifiman is really good based on a listen at RMAF. The Ether 2 also impressed on sound and comfort.

 

The LCD-4 with my Liquid Glass was better than I was expecting. I've heard the LCD-3 and in comparison to the LCD-2 I end up hearing them as similar and end up debating with myself how much better the LCD-3 is than the LCD-2. Is it 10% better? 20% better? But mostly they end up sounding like just a better version of similar sound. But with the LCD-4 I didn't think like that at all. The LCD-4 were doing something more real, more "you are there", that made comparing them to the LCD-2 kinda futile. Better "you are there" style of sound makes me take notice. And that's what the LCD-4 does compared to the other LCD series. I still haven't been able to hear the LCD-4x version yet to hear if it also does that "you are there" style of sound better.

 

Have you converted the PS1000e to balanced yet for use with the AK240? The PS1000 and PS2000 series of Grados are neat. Very spatial in their sound.

 

Sennheiser hd650 on a s*** jotunheim amp absolute beautiful pairing made for each other.

Philips Fidelio x2hr on a jotunheim amp made for each other.

Those are my best two headphones I do prefer the synthesizer 650 slightly over the Philips but not by much both are excellent excellent headphones and the jotunheim is an excellent amp for headphones.

 

I'm glad someone else was willing to pull this thread into 2019.

I'm not sure that I understand the beef with the Liquid platinum's gain. Does the volume knob just scale too quickly from too quiet to too loud? I don't have one so I'm only guessing.

 

I just got a pair of Symphonized Wraith 2.0 Premium Genuine Wood Over-Ear Headphones last week. I paid $64.99 from Amazon with free 2-day shipping on my Prime account. These have a very nice sound to them and fit perfectly once adjusted a little. One cord feeds two separate ones with left and right channels. And there's L and R printed right on each respective side.

Are they the best pair money can buy? No, not even close. But for my current budget, they're very nice and well worth what I paid for them.

 

I have not yet done that.

 

I think there may be a "4z" model now...maybe a mention in the MusicDirect catalog?

 

I got the LCD model numbers confused and made up a LCD-4 version that doesn't exist. There's the 200 ohm LCD-4, 15 ohm LCD-4z, and now a 20 ohm LCD-MX4. I don't know how the MX4 version differs from the 4 or 4z. I'd need to be able to hear it to find out and learn more about design differences.

What impressed me with the LCD-4 was a better sense of a "you are there" style of sound. That sort of sound is so elusive in headphone gear (and so hard to describe). So when you find something that does that sort of sound better you take notice. All of the LCD series headphones are able to do some of that "you are there" sound when paired with the right amps and DAC. Even the original LCD-2. It's one of the qualities I've always liked about the Audeze sound. The LCD-4 seems to have taken that "you are there" quality up a notch or two and does it noticeably better than the rest.

 

I suspect the issue with the gain of the Liquid Platinum is that the volume knob ramps up too quickly. So with most headphones you are only able to use a limited portion of the volume knob. I also have a Liquid Fire amp that has similar gain but I'm able to use more of the volume knob. I don't know if the volume knob on the Liquid Fire has a different taper than the Platinum. I kind of suspect so.

 

Late reply. I would not care where the speakers were made. But, $11K is too much for me. I may not hear the difference to any degree from my present speakers. I have 68 year old ears. Not bad ears, but not like when I was 40 years old.

 

I've been enjoying my new Abyss 1266 Phi CCs for a week or so now. I'm absolutely smitten. I was really expecting to be underwhelmed, in my experience audiophiles talk up sound quality enormously even on good gear, but these blew me away. The soundstage is 90% as big as the HD800, but with better imaging. Detail retrival may not be 100% there with top SR009/SR007 setups, but is close enough to be unnoticeable. FR is smooth and extended at both ends, with only a slight dip in the whole mid region (I'd guess no more than -0.5 to -3dB from ~750Hz to ~4kHz). Bass is the equivalent of top-flight e-stat treble. Seemingly infinite texture, extension, detail, and control below 500Hz, all the way down to subsonics. Treble is smooth, detailed, and extended without any offensive peaks or veiling. Overall, treble production is as good as a top-floght e-stat, just missing that "floating out of the ether" magic they have. Basically if you want that magic in the treble, get Stax. If you want it in the bass, get Abyss. If you want it in the mids, tell me what you've found 'cause I'm still looking.

Other than price (I still feel a touch ill if I think about it too much), then only problem with these cans are how fiddly getting perfect fit is. And you need a perfect fit. I've been listening to these for a week and I'm still finding slightly better fits every day. The upside is that every time I'm convinced the Abyss' have made my LCD-XCs seem as crappy as possible, they get better (And I freaking love the XCs, Audeze mids/bass without the treble veil). Just this morning I probly doubled the quality of the Abyss' already insane bass by breaking the pad seal ever so slightly at the front of my ears. Basically, getting a pair of 1266s is making a commitment to learning how to wear it over a period of days to weeks. The payoff however is divine. Music and sounds just sound right.

 

So I finally got my Liquid Platinum after many weeks waiting for it without realizing it got stuck with DHL who later claimed they could not contact me. I swear I could have gotten better and speedier service if I had to swim across the Mediterranean and Atlantic and back to fetch it myself.

So first some observations: The power supply is indeed universal but the detachable power cable is US only. It's a rather standard cable so finding a replacement was cheap and easy. The tubes were well packed and snapped in without any problems, which is remarkable since I'm able to shatter even a standard light bulb when I have to change it. However I didn't get a user manual and surprisingly - there is no PDF version to be downloaded and even Google failed me in my search for it online.

Despite being documentation challenged, I didn't find connecting the Platinum to be difficult. I was left guessing only at the function of the extra set of RCA connectors in the back, which I suppose are used for pass through and there is a small button on the right side of the front panel which I'm pretty sure is a gain selector. Anyway, I'll still be grateful if anyone has a user manual and is willing to scan it into a PDF file and email it to me.

My audio chain is a bit complex, the source is a NUC HTPC running Jriver media center and I wanted to use the TeddyDAC. Unfortunately the DAC is one of Teddy’s first designs and can’t accept anything higher than 48/24 through its USB input and the NUC doesn’t have any S/PDIF outputs. Which mean that I needed to find a USB to S/PDIF converter that will not cost me an arm and a leg.

Once this issue was sorted out, courtesy of a Topping D10, I found that the coax cable was too short to enable me to install the DAC and the Platinum on the top shelf of the rack, well that’s something that I’ll have to fix next weekend. Anyway, the moment of truth arrived and I connected the HD6XX headphones to the ¼” jack.



My first impression is that it’s a good match. I can’t really compare it to the Violectric HPA v281 in the study because I’m using different headphones and just shuffling back and forth between the two spaces will void any attempt at an objective comparison. However I noticed that the soundstage and imaging is very good with the HD6XX, which is a benefit since generally speaking the HD600/650/6XX are not known for their wide soundstage. Instrument separation was also good and the sound in general was clear and leaning a bit toward the higher portion of the mid-range. So it’s definitively not an amp for the bass head but is very good for vocal, especially female voices.



My curiosity pushed me to check the Liquid Platinum with the HD600 from the study that have a balanced cable and the impression I got is that beside a very slight sound signature difference, they sound about the same as the HD6XX with their SE cable, I just need a quarter of a turn more on the volume knob for the HD6XX.

Then I decided to check the influence of the DAC on the audio chain and connected the Liquid Platinum, directly to the Topping D10. It turn out that beside being an excellent USB to S/PDIF converter the D10 is also a very good DAC. I still prefer the TeddyDAC but it’s more a matter of sentimentality toward one of the first pieces of true HiFi gear I bought than finding any faults with the Topping D10.

I didn’t try to push the Liquid Platinum to its limits or try other headphones yet. My current experience is still very limited but is also very positive. For what it's worth my opinion right now is that anyone with a HD600/650 looking for a good match should give the Liquid Platinum some considerations and give it a try.

 

I have to do closed-backs because of a lot of travelling and use in office (and because my wife wouldn't tolerate the leakage from open-backs in the flat). In October last year I set a budget of a thousand pounds to get a really decent set of cans and did an awful lot of auditioning (Focal, Audeze etc.). The best by a country mile were the Mr Speakers Aeon Flow closed. Very neutral, with a flat response, but still dynamic with a lot of PRAT, non-fatiguing, but with bags of detail. Worth every penny of the 800 quid I dropped on them (which was a significant and much mulled over purchase for me).

 

I sent my Decware Taboo MK IV headphone/speaker amp in for 25th Anniversary power supply mods and am listening again to my Taboo Mk III amp.

The Mk IV was wonderful with both my Sennheiser HD800S dynamic speakers and my Oppo PM-1 and my Audeze LCD-2. The Mk III though clearly sound its best with the Audeze LCD-2. And what a great combination they are. I watched a few episodes of Legion, Season 2 and was completely immersed in a sonic world that matched the vivid wildness of the visual world, and listening to Flora Purim on Milestone and electric Miles Davis on Columbia was a gas! It's great to reconnect with this killer tube amplifier.

 

The switch on the right of the LP is a toggle between RCA and Balanced input. There is a lot more information on the LP over at Head-Fi including posts by Dr Cavalli:

Monoprice Monolith Liquid Platinum - By Alex Cavalli

 

Have: Grado SR80 - Fairly priced. Great sound.
Would love: Grado RS1e with hand-crafted mahogany wood body & brown leather headband

 

@Ham Sandwich mailed me the scan he made from the user manual, which I found particularly helpful as it also detailed the correct power on/power off sequence for the LP. I was also suspecting that my guess about the button being a gain selector was wrong as I noticed that pushing it cut the sound to the headphones. The manual clarified this issue for me as I started to think that perhaps my unit was defective.

I already read most of the thread in the past and was very interested in the contribution of Alex Cavalli when he gave his opinion about using a linear power supply with the Liquid Platinum.

I plan on moving the DAC and LP to the top shelf of my stand this weekend and take some time to enjoy the music while lounging on the couch. I hope that it will only get better with time to break in the tubes and my ears to get used to the sound signature.

 

I’ve been wanting to get a decent set of headphones that I can run from the headphone amp that’s built-in to my Parasound Halo Integrated (it uses the TI TPA6120). I’m thinking the Audeze LCD2 Classics might be a good match, based on their specs aka the description of their sound. What do y’all think? Should that chip be able to drive them decently?

 

Just picked up the Focal Elegia over the weekend for use at work.
Sounds great through my Woo Audio WA8.
I will probably sell my Aeon Flow Closed which although also sound excellent, I find they pinch my eyeglasses.
The Elegia is much more comfortable.

 

I wanted to try closed back headphones for when the neighborhood is noisy. I have been very happy with my open back Sennheiser HD600 which I have used for years but they don't seal out external noise. I didn't want to spend too much money so settled on Beyerdynamic DT770 which I purchased this month for less than $200. They have a nice sound, perhaps a bit more sparkle in the uppers than the Senns but less bass. The Senns are still my go to headphones but for when it is noisy outside the Beyers do a good job of passively reducing outside noise and they are super comfortable. I got the 250 ohm version as I pair it with my Channel Islands VHP-2 headphone amp with has plenty of power and even two gain settings.

 

Regarding the Monoprice Cavalli LP, I ordered and received some Rothwell in-line attenuators, both RCA and XLR. I installed the -15 db XLR's with no change to the sound quality. My 1980's low volume CD's (DMP and such) now need to be set around 1 o'clock for an adequate volume level. Plenty of play to fine-tune lower but I may have been better off with -10 db but. I am satisfied with the results.

Also rolled in some Amperex 6922 gold pin tubes and they are an improvement over the Genalex. Not a a revelation but a refinement. Very happy with this driving my modded HD800 cans.