Cavalli Audio's Liquid Carbon 2.0 - Owners Impressions | Page 8 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

bronzboy · Mar 17, 2017 at 11:12 AM

argns said:
I'm thinking about the Norne Audio Draug 2C (balanced). But I've never spent that much on a cable before... so that seems a bit extreme to me.

They look good, but only you can tell if they're worth what they cost.

iAudio365 · Mar 21, 2017 at 1:01 AM

Hi guys,

I just received my Cavalli Liquid Carbon brand new It just arrived today to me here in Australia.

Anyway I noticed that when I turn the volume knob to 3 o'clock and above it feels and sounds like its brushing against something behind the knob itself, I'm not really sure how to explain it, like its rubbing on something.

The button itself doesn't appear wonky its well seated and not damaged in anyway and it's smooth to turn from what I can tell. But as noted above when I turn it all the way to the right as its getting to say 3 o'clock it starts to scrape, like it makes a sound as if you were to slide your finger over brushed metal if that makes any sense at all, like a shhhhh sound. Haha, really hard to explain.

Is that normal from being fresh out the factory production? Maybe with some use it loosens and won't brush against itself. Sorry it's kind of hard to explain but it also sounds like its brushing against maybe the metal soround that's holding it.

Note that I have not turned it on yet at all, my power cord gets here tomorrow.

bronzboy · Mar 21, 2017 at 3:42 AM

What you describe is not normal, and I haven't seen your problem described in any of the forums. You should contact Cavalli, but I think you should wait until you plug it in and listen to it to be sure there are not any other issues.

There have been a number of people who have reported problems in regard to the volume pot, the balance not being quite right. I had a balance issue and sent it back for repairs. My LC 2.0 is fixed now and sounds great. I assume that sending your LC back for repairs would be problematic for you because of the distance involved, but you should still contact Cavalli.

They have been very responsive to me. email: info@cavalliaudio.com

iAudio365 · Mar 21, 2017 at 4:02 AM

bronzboy said:
What you describe is not normal, and I haven't seen your problem described in any of the forums. You should contact Cavalli, but I think you should wait until you plug it in and listen to it to be sure there are not any other issues.

There have been a number of people who have reported problems in regard to the volume pot, the balance not being quite right. I had a balance issue and sent it back for repairs. My LC 2.0 is fixed now and sounds great. I assume that sending your LC back for repairs would be problematic for you because of the distance involved, but you should still contact Cavalli.

They have been very responsive to me. email: [COLOR=2B2E2F][COLOR=2B2E2F]info@cavalliaudio.com[/COLOR] [/COLOR]

Hi thanks for your response,

Yes I have contacted them and am awaiting a response. To be honest it's a pain in the arse, I bought this agaisnt all my better judgement and the first thing I notice is a volume knob issue and I havent even turned it on yet.

The button looks a bit wonky now on closer inspection its not alligned propely. Still turns and is hard to notice, hypertheticaly I can live with it but for 800$ or $1200 AU$ with the conversion I'm truly dissapointed in the quality control of these products. Especially because of my location.

bronzboy · Mar 21, 2017 at 4:13 AM

iaudio365 said:
Hi thanks for your response,

Yes I have contacted them and am awaiting a response. To be honest it's a pain in the arse, I bought this agaisnt all my better judgement and the first thing I notice is a volume knob issue and I havent even turned it on yet.

The button looks a bit wonky now on closer inspection its not alligned propely. Still turns and is hard to notice, hypertheticaly I can live with it but for 800$ or $1200 AU$ with the conversion I'm truly dissapointed in the quality control of these products. Especially because of my location.

I definitely know how you feel. I couldn't believe that I paid that much for the Cavalli and I had to send it back. As I said, it sounds great, and now that I have it back, I'm willing to forgive; however, I'll probably always wonder if something else is going to go wrong with it. I've had a Toyota for six years and have not returned to the dealer to have anything fixed, and a car is an extremely complicated machine with many more parts than a tiny amp.

iAudio365 · Mar 21, 2017 at 4:37 AM

bronzboy said:
I definitely know how you feel. I couldn't believe that I paid that much for the Cavalli and I had to send it back. As I said, it sounds great, and now that I have it back, I'm willing to forgive; however, I'll probably always wonder if something else is going to go wrong with it. I've had a Toyota for six years and have not returned to the dealer to have anything fixed, and a car is an extremely complicated machine with many more parts than a tiny amp.

Completely understand, The more I'm thinking about it the more it just frustrates the crap out of me. It's not like these were mass produced either on the scale of say schiit products which I might ad are very good products as I've owned them before, just plug and play.

Anyway I'll see what they say and report back. The worst part is there is no Fedex here to send it back only DHL (which is a much better service by the way) so I've told them this. lets hope they come to the party and make this right.

Now like you I'm also worried about what else may go wrong (balance issues anyone?) then having to go through this mundane annoying return issue yet again.

I'm literally just contemplating getting a refund from Music to My Ear where I purchased it from in the states. and grabbing a jotunheim.

This may just sound nit picky and salty to some but with my busy life etc I don't have time for all this.

bronzboy · Mar 21, 2017 at 11:54 AM

iaudio365 said:
Completely understand, The more I'm thinking about it the more it just frustrates the crap out of me. It's not like these were mass produced either on the scale of say schiit products which I might ad are very good products as I've owned them before, just plug and play.

Anyway I'll see what they say and report back. The worst part is there is no Fedex here to send it back only DHL (which is a much better service by the way) so I've told them this. lets hope they come to the party and make this right.

Now like you I'm also worried about what else may go wrong (balance issues anyone?) then having to go through this mundane annoying return issue yet again.

I'm literally just contemplating getting a refund from Music to My Ear where I purchased it from in the states. and grabbing a jotunheim.

This may just sound nit picky and salty to some but with my busy life etc I don't have time for all this.

I failed to mention that I sent my LC 2.0 back twice. Once to fix the volume pot because you could hear music when the volume was turned all the way left to zero, and a few weeks I sent it back again when I finally realized that for all the albums there was a subtle, but definite, bias toward left of center most noticeable with singers. Cavalli fixed it a second time and sent it back. The LC now sounds like it should, and I'm very satisfied with it, sans my bit of anxiety about there being a third issue.

I am also a Schiit alumni and fan. My last amp was an Asgard 2, and I have a couple of their DAC's, Bifrost Uber and Multibit. These are two great DAC's, but I had to send a broken Multibit back, which Schiit replaced, instead of fixing. This occurred when the Multibit first came out, so I guess Cavalli isn't the only one that suffers through a new product. I suspect this is why I haven't freaked out over the issues with the Cavalli.

I haven't heard the jot but there is a lot written about it in the forums. Seems like a lot of people think the amp is great, but benefits from a stand alone DAC vs its internal DAC.

kellte2 · Mar 21, 2017 at 12:27 PM

bronzboy said:
I failed to mention that I sent my LC 2.0 back twice. Once to fix the volume pot because you could hear music when the volume was turned all the way left to zero, and a few weeks I sent it back again when I finally realized that for all the albums there was a subtle, but definite, bias toward left of center most noticeable with singers. Cavalli fixed it a second time and sent it back. The LC now sounds like it should, and I'm very satisfied with it, sans my bit of anxiety about there being a third issue.

I am also a Schiit alumni and fan. My last amp was an Asgard 2, and I have a couple of their DAC's, Bifrost Uber and Multibit. These are two great DAC's, but I had to send a broken Multibit back, which Schiit replaced, instead of fixing. This occurred when the Multibit first came out, so I guess Cavalli isn't the only one that suffers through a new product. I suspect this is why I haven't freaked out over the issues with the Cavalli.

I haven't heard the jot but there is a lot written about it in the forums. Seems like a lot of people think the amp is great, but benefits from a stand alone DAC vs its internal DAC.

I was under the impression that minimal sound at the lowest volume was considered normal for those with sensitive headphones. It's not a huge deal, but I think my 2.0 unit has the same issue. Probably won't send it in unless something else major went wrong.

Definitely too many QC issues for an objectively expensive piece of electronics.

iAudio365 · Mar 21, 2017 at 4:27 PM

kellte2 said:
I was under the impression that minimal sound at the lowest volume was considered normal for those with sensitive headphones. It's not a huge deal, but I think my 2.0 unit has the same issue. Probably won't send it in unless something else major went wrong.

Definitely too many QC issues for an objectively expensive piece of electronics.

The minute I took it out of the box it just felt cheap, it looks really nice though and is a great size but it's also a ticking time bomb of qc issues and just feels really cheaply built. I should have listened to those forums where I heard all the bad stuff about how poorly built it was etc but I will admit the hype trian on this forum got me good.

Anyway I decided that I'm just not going to deal with it and am sending it back for a full refund and grabbing a jotunheim instead.

kellte2 · Mar 21, 2017 at 4:57 PM

iaudio365 said:
The minute I took it out of the box it just felt cheap, it looks really nice though and is a great size but it's also a ticking time bomb of qc issues and just feels really cheaply built. I should have listened to those forums where I heard all the bad stuff about how poorly built it was etc but I will admit the hype trian on this forum got me good.

Anyway I decided that I'm just not going to deal with it and am sending it back for a full refund and grabbing a jotunheim instead.

I don't agree re cheaply built and I know that Jotunheim sound would not be as pleasing to my ear as the LC, but somewhat disappointing on the QC issues, truly.

JerryLeeds · Mar 21, 2017 at 6:17 PM

I also had issues with a LC 2.0 .. after about 2 weeks the right channel SE stopped working.. I tried for a few days switching wires and headphones thinking it was me ... but it just stopped working while I was burning it in.. I sent it back and an email exchange was started .. they could not reproduce the problem .. when it was sent back all was well ... for now the LC and the magni uber are my SS amps .. with a Mjolnir 2 on order coming at the end of the month .. for me while the LC sounds very good .. I don't think I will be investing in their products again .. they left a bad taste in my mouth .. I have the same feelings about Mercedes Benes .. the sales person locked the car doors while I was looking at the car .. I guess I didn't look like I had the money to buy the car

bronzboy · Mar 21, 2017 at 6:30 PM

kellte2 said:
I was under the impression that minimal sound at the lowest volume was considered normal for those with sensitive headphones. It's not a huge deal, but I think my 2.0 unit has the same issue. Probably won't send it in unless something else major went wrong.

Definitely too many QC issues for an objectively expensive piece of electronics.

I don't know about minimal sound at the lowest volume but before my LC 2.0 I never at an amp, pre/amp, or receiver be anything but quiet when I turned the volume down; they did fix mine so if their is a recognized threshold I was above it.

I'm not trying to disparage Cavalli amps. I'm quiet happy with the build and sound of mine. And, I have a friend who purchased an expensive Integra Audio/Video receiver. He wound up have it replaced, then the second one replaced, and now he's happy with the third one. I assume Onkyo/lntegra company has excellent QC but things happen.

But, I do agree there were lapses in QA, or perhaps in the choice of parts for the manufacture of the LC, but they do seem to be making good so far.

iAudio365 · Mar 21, 2017 at 6:55 PM

kellte2 said:
I don't agree re cheaply built and I know that Jotunheim sound would not be as pleasing to my ear as the LC, but somewhat disappointing on the QC issues, truly.

This amp is literally the cheapest thing I have ever held, as I said it looks nice, and no doubt it probably sounds great not denying that for a second. But there is a line I will not cross and out of the box I could instantly tell it was no where near an 800$ amp, 3-450$? Maybe yes. It wasnt 800$ worth at all. It was light, flimsy and from what I could tell poorly built.

I also know for fact that where cavalli was originally going to have these amps made that manufacturer put prices up on certian components so Cavalli shopped around and went with a much cheaper manufacturer. You get what you pay for.

There are heaps of people that have had issues with this amp, there's a tear down of it on another forum I will not name here that shows like 300$ Cheap total components being used internaly. It is a cheaply made poorly qc's product thats way over hyped because of the cavalli name.

Now I really only cared that it worked because I so wanted the cavalli sound, I didn't care for build quality or a lot of others were talking about etc, i just wanted something that worked and sounded good, but out of box I knew deep down I had made the wrond decission as soon as I had that vulume pot/knob issue, and then everytging else I had heard about the imbalance issues etc, for me its just a ticking time bomb and us 2.0 users dont get life time warranties. So I weighed it all up and sent it back for a refund. Just not worth it imho.

And the Jotunheim will do me just fine, which I should of got in the first place. Apparently they sound very close, plus the jot is 200+$ cheaper and has pre amp outs. So I will go that, and if something happens they will just send me a new one I won't need to go through the repair process and wait for days/weeks like some people have with cavalli.

Mr Rick · Mar 21, 2017 at 7:19 PM

I purchased a LC from the first run. At the time, there was little available with balanced inputs and balanced headphone outputs. Especially at the introductory price.
( The Schiit Jotunheim was still on the drawing boards.)

I have used the LC consistently, both the SE and balanced outputs, with no problems whatsoever.

Finally, remember the introductory price of the LC was $599.00. The second run was only built because of the success, and high demand, for the first.

Skyyyeman · Mar 21, 2017 at 11:18 PM

iaudio365 said:
This amp is literally the cheapest thing I have ever held, as I said it looks nice, and no doubt it probably sounds great not denying that for a second. But there is a line I will not cross and out of the box I could instantly tell it was no where near an 800$ amp, 3-450$? Maybe yes. It wasnt 800$ worth at all. It was light, flimsy and from what I could tell poorly built.

I also know for fact that where cavalli was originally going to have these amps made that manufacturer put prices up on certian components so Cavalli shopped around and went with a much cheaper manufacturer. You get what you pay for.

There are heaps of people that have had issues with this amp, there's a tear down of it on another forum I will not name here that shows like 300$ Cheap total components being used internaly. It is a cheaply made poorly qc's product thats way over hyped because of the cavalli name.

Now I really only cared that it worked because I so wanted the cavalli sound, I didn't care for build quality or a lot of others were talking about etc, i just wanted something that worked and sounded good, but out of box I knew deep down I had made the wrond decission as soon as I had that vulume pot/knob issue, and then everytging else I had heard about the imbalance issues etc, for me its just a ticking time bomb and us 2.0 users dont get life time warranties. So I weighed it all up and sent it back for a refund. Just not worth it imho.

And the Jotunheim will do me just fine, which I should of got in the first place. Apparently they sound very close, plus the jot is 200+$ cheaper and has pre amp outs. So I will go that, and if something happens they will just send me a new one I won't need to go through the repair process and wait for days/weeks like some people have with cavalli.

Whenever you get your Jot it would be helpful to hear your impressions of LC v. Jot, in case others are of a similar mind.

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