[Hansotek]

First 5 hours of burn in - so far my only complaint is the soundstage seems a bit closed in, lacking a bit of width and breath. I am digging the bass and especially the lower midrange, which is simply phenomenal. Treble is the smoothest I've heard the HEK so far but without any significant deficits at the extreme Reserving judgment on the rest for now. Will let it burn in
The tonality is just awesome

Soundstage definitely improves with burn-in, my friend. More good things ahead for you!

 

[Emerpus]

For those who have the LC and wondering if the Liquid Spark is similar ... I think they sound very very close in sound signature. (Based on my listening experience with the LC which is my main amp)

Note: listened under show condition with Cayin N6 and Ether 1.1

 

[Evshrug]

First 5 hours of burn in - so far my only complaint is the soundstage seems a bit closed in, lacking a bit of width and breath. I am digging the bass and especially the lower midrange, which is simply phenomenal. Treble is the smoothest I've heard the HEK so far but without any significant deficits at the extreme Reserving judgment on the rest for now. Will let it burn in
The tonality is just awesome

Soundstage was definitely something I felt was weird with mine out of the box, it had an off-shape to it and had a lot less frontal depth than width... But keep in mind, these amps are somewhat unique in that they had less than 10 hours (maybe less than 5?) of burn in after manufacturing. There is a DEFINITE burn-in period and noticeable change in the sound as you put the hours into it. Educational! Now the soundstage space is much more even and extended with a smoother sense of roll off to where the soundstage "ends."

For those who have the LC and wondering if the Liquid Spark is similar ... I think they sound very very close in sound signature. (Based on my listening experience with the LC which is my main amp)

Note: listened under show condition with Cayin N6 and Ether 1.1

Nice pic, I actually quite dig the purple color cast! I wish I had spent time with the earlier version prototype of the Spark at RMAF, but I confess I was more interested at the time in hearing the LC which I'd ordered and been waiting on (can you blame me?). It was also Cavalli's booth where I really stopped to get a handle on what each of the high-Fi or Summit-Fi headphones sounded like, with quick swaps of Sennheiser, Audeze, MrSpeakers, and HiFiman headphones on the same Cavalli LC + DAC (aurelic Taurus? Or something?) audio chain. Alex was SOOO kind to share the time. Please say HI to Warren (and Alex, is he there?) for me!!!

My opinion, if the Spark continues having the same DNA as the LC and LGold, the Spark may well be the obvious upgrade after the popular Objective2 amp, taking the O2's quest for transparency and value further with less distortion/noise and less coloration on reactive headphones (like Sennheiser) because of it's current-mode amplification (in addition to near-zero output impedance). Ask Warren if the Spark also has more power in reserve than the O2 design?

Hope you're having an awesome time at CanJam! Wish I could be there too!!

 

[zachawry]

Do we have a tentative price on the Spark?

I'm selling my LC, but I kinda want to keep in touch with the Cavalli sound.

 

[Emerpus]

Soundstage was definitely something I felt was weird with mine out of the box, it had an off-shape to it and had a lot less frontal depth than width... But keep in mind, these amps are somewhat unique in that they had less than 10 hours (maybe less than 5?) of burn in after manufacturing. There is a DEFINITE burn-in period and noticeable change in the sound as you put the hours into it. Educational! Now the soundstage space is much more even and extended with a smoother sense of roll off to where the soundstage "ends."
Nice pic, I actually quite dig the purple color cast! I wish I had spent time with the earlier version prototype of the Spark at RMAF, but I confess I was more interested at the time in hearing the LC which I'd ordered and been waiting on (can you blame me?). It was also Cavalli's booth where I really stopped to get a handle on what each of the high-Fi or Summit-Fi headphones sounded like, with quick swaps of Sennheiser, Audeze, MrSpeakers, and HiFiman headphones on the same Cavalli LC + DAC (aurelic Taurus? Or something?) audio chain. Alex was SOOO kind to share the time. Please say HI to Warren (and Alex, is he there?) for me!!!

My opinion, if the Spark continues having the same DNA as the LC and LGold, the Spark may well be the obvious upgrade after the popular Objective2 amp, taking the O2's quest for transparency and value further with less distortion/noise and less coloration on reactive headphones (like Sennheiser) because of it's current-mode amplification (in addition to near-zero output impedance). Ask Warren if the Spark also has more power in reserve than the O2 design?

Hope you're having an awesome time at CanJam! Wish I could be there too!!

 
The Liquid Spark that I heard was on loan to Dan ... didn't had the honor to meet Warren (don't think Alex flew in though)

Would love to have a chat with him about more Cavalli amps and what they are doing going forward ... but well

 

[Emerpus]

Do we have a tentative price on the Spark?

I'm selling my LC, but I kinda want to keep in touch with the Cavalli sound.

 
No pricing or date yet ...

 

[ejong7]

Do we have a tentative price on the Spark?

I'm selling my LC, but I kinda want to keep in touch with the Cavalli sound.

The last time it was talked about it was said to be PREDICTED to be under $700.

 

[Jozurr]

For those who have the LC and wondering if the Liquid Spark is similar ... I think they sound very very close in sound signature. (Based on my listening experience with the LC which is my main amp)

Note: listened under show condition with Cayin N6 and Ether 1.1

 
I tried to clean my screen a few times to move that hair appearing on the spark... only to realise it's in the picture. 

 

[Emerpus]

   
I tried to clean my screen a few times to move that hair appearing on the spark... only to realise it's in the picture. 

 
Lol ... just saw that hair

 

[inthere]

For those who have the LC and wondering if the Liquid Spark is similar ... I think they sound very very close in sound signature. (Based on my listening experience with the LC which is my main amp)

Note: listened under show condition with Cayin N6 and Ether 1.1

Spark is better than the Mojo?

 

[Hansotek]

For those who have the LC and wondering if the Liquid Spark is similar ... I think they sound very very close in sound signature. (Based on my listening experience with the LC which is my main amp)


Note: listened under show condition with Cayin N6 and Ether 1.1

Spark is better than the Mojo?

Inherently different products. Spark has no DAC, Mojo has no analog input. You could use them together, if you wanted more juice for you Mojo. Certainly with units like the HD800 and the HE1000, you'd have an extremely worthy "unplugged" setup that could easily rival multi-thousand dollar desktop setups.

I don't think people have yet fully processed the level of fidelity a combo like this is going to achieve.

 

[inthere]

Inherently different products. Spark has no DAC, Mojo has no analog input. You could use them together, if you wanted more juice for you Mojo. Certainly with units like the HD800 and the HE1000, you'd have an extremely worthy "unplugged" setup that could easily rival multi-thousand dollar desktop setups.

I don't think people have yet fully processed the level of fidelity a combo like this is going to achieve.

 
 Sticking to sound quality though, how do they compare? For instance, my Cayin C5 has no DAC either, yet the Mojo is cleaner and more powerful if you're comparing quality. The Spark will serve the same purpose as my Mojo-portable audio for Ether C's. I want to know if I'll be able to ditch the Mojo for the Spark because as much as i like the idea of a killer setup of iPhone+Mojo+Spark in theory, in reality it's a PITA to find room for all 3 when traveling.

 

[AxelCloris]

  Sticking to sound quality though, how do they compare? For instance, my Cayin C5 has no DAC either, yet the Mojo is cleaner and more powerful if you're comparing quality. The Spark will serve the same purpose as my Mojo-portable audio for Ether C's. I want to know if I'll be able to ditch the Mojo for the Spark because as much as i like the idea of a killer setup of iPhone+Mojo+Spark in theory, in reality it's a PITA to find room for all 3 when traveling.

As Hansotek mentioned they're different devices and you won't be able to simply replace the multiple roles of the Mojo with a Liquid Spark. The Mojo only has digital inputs so there's no way to use it as a dedicated amp. If you remove the Mojo from the equation and connect a Liquid Spark then you'll either be using the DAC built in to your source or using an external DAC that feeds into the LS. In this case you'd be using the iPhone's 3.5mm jack to feed the LS, meaning you'd not only be using the DAC in the phone but also the amp, double amping the signal through the LS. This is probably part of the reason the Mojo sounds cleaner and more powerful than when using your C5.
 
As for how the Mojo sounds solo or running line out into the Liquid Spark I personally cannot say as I don't have either on-hand and I doubt many do. Alex or Warren can correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the Liquid Spark was still in development, so the sound signature could potentially change from now to when it's released. I'm not sure if they've locked in the final voicing yet or not. When I heard the prototype a while back I preferred the LS to the C5, so there's that at least.

 

[doctorjazz]

I would hope the LS sounds better than the C5...my impression of the C5 is "good for the money", as it is quite inexpensive, but it has grain and is not as good sounding, to my ears, as, say, the ALO National, which own.

 

[dBel84]

To my ears LS>>LC ..dB