Barry S
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2012
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Day 2
Somehow I totally missed Cavalli Audio on Day 1, but found them on Saturday with the help of Grinding Thud. Very impressed with both the Liquid Gold and the Liquid Glass amps. The Liquid Gold sounded transparent, clean, and powerful with the LCD-X--definitely an amp that gets out of the way of the music. Great soundstage, no hint of harshness and fast crisp dynamics. I also tried it with the Abyss. The Abyss sounded fine, but there was nothing revelatory about the signature, and I prefer the Audezes and the usual TOTL suspects. There was a lot of ambient noise that made it hard to assess the Abyss, so it might be another story under quiet conditions, but you can still hear the quality of the Audezes/HD800/HE-6 over the din.
The Liquid Glass amp was at the Cavalli table and Dan had one at the Mr. Speakers table--each with a different pair of tubes. I like this amp a lot and it sounded tremendous with the Alpha Dogs, the LCD-X and the HD-800. Dan's rig with the Alpha Dogs, Liquid Glass, and Auralic Vega was everything you can ask for in a closed can system. And how much were the super-tubes in Dan's Liquid Glass? $30 for the pair.
It seems like the signature of Liquid Glass can be easily shaped with different tubes--and you don't have to roll uber rare tubes to get high-level performance.
Dan also had a Lyr 2/Bifrost Uber powering the Alpha Dogs. The sound was warm and clean, but without quite the soundstage and dynamics of the Liquid Glass/Vega.
I'm not a big IEM guy (yet), but I spent some time at the Noble Audio table--auditioning the Noble 4, 6, and Kaiser 10. They all sounded top notch--ranging from the slightly agressive Noble 4 to the very refined sound of the Kaiser 10. The sweet spot for me was the Noble 6--great detail, sense of space, and an exciting listen with a balanced reference signature.Mostly listened out of a Chord Hugo/AK120, but they still sound very good direct out of an iPad.
Like a moth to the flame, I was back at the Stereodesk/Profundo table for another listen to the Crayon CHA-1 and Mal Valve Head Amp Three. The Mal Valve has a superb rich and musical sound with the LCD-3 and the LCD-X--with every detail perfectly resolved. If you need (and can afford) an endgame amp that powers dynamic/orthos and Stax--the Mal Valve is amazing. I also had another listen to the Crayon CHA-1--this time with HE-6s. I've heard the HE-6s on a lot of amps that aren't up to the task--and they don't sound good. The Crayon has no problem powering the HE-6s and showing off their true potential. The future version will also power Stax phones. Some power problems prevented me from listening to the Viva Egoista again, but it's fun to look at--even turned off.
Somehow I totally missed Cavalli Audio on Day 1, but found them on Saturday with the help of Grinding Thud. Very impressed with both the Liquid Gold and the Liquid Glass amps. The Liquid Gold sounded transparent, clean, and powerful with the LCD-X--definitely an amp that gets out of the way of the music. Great soundstage, no hint of harshness and fast crisp dynamics. I also tried it with the Abyss. The Abyss sounded fine, but there was nothing revelatory about the signature, and I prefer the Audezes and the usual TOTL suspects. There was a lot of ambient noise that made it hard to assess the Abyss, so it might be another story under quiet conditions, but you can still hear the quality of the Audezes/HD800/HE-6 over the din.
The Liquid Glass amp was at the Cavalli table and Dan had one at the Mr. Speakers table--each with a different pair of tubes. I like this amp a lot and it sounded tremendous with the Alpha Dogs, the LCD-X and the HD-800. Dan's rig with the Alpha Dogs, Liquid Glass, and Auralic Vega was everything you can ask for in a closed can system. And how much were the super-tubes in Dan's Liquid Glass? $30 for the pair.
Dan also had a Lyr 2/Bifrost Uber powering the Alpha Dogs. The sound was warm and clean, but without quite the soundstage and dynamics of the Liquid Glass/Vega.
I'm not a big IEM guy (yet), but I spent some time at the Noble Audio table--auditioning the Noble 4, 6, and Kaiser 10. They all sounded top notch--ranging from the slightly agressive Noble 4 to the very refined sound of the Kaiser 10. The sweet spot for me was the Noble 6--great detail, sense of space, and an exciting listen with a balanced reference signature.Mostly listened out of a Chord Hugo/AK120, but they still sound very good direct out of an iPad.
Like a moth to the flame, I was back at the Stereodesk/Profundo table for another listen to the Crayon CHA-1 and Mal Valve Head Amp Three. The Mal Valve has a superb rich and musical sound with the LCD-3 and the LCD-X--with every detail perfectly resolved. If you need (and can afford) an endgame amp that powers dynamic/orthos and Stax--the Mal Valve is amazing. I also had another listen to the Crayon CHA-1--this time with HE-6s. I've heard the HE-6s on a lot of amps that aren't up to the task--and they don't sound good. The Crayon has no problem powering the HE-6s and showing off their true potential. The future version will also power Stax phones. Some power problems prevented me from listening to the Viva Egoista again, but it's fun to look at--even turned off.
