NiceGuyTom
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2015
- Posts
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- 14
#497 - burning in atm
For headphones like the HD650 that aren't (relatively) hard to drive, should using 1x gain with higher volume vs. 3x gain with lower volume make a difference? I haven't experimented much, but seem to slightly prefer 3x gain with low volume seems as it seems to provide more punch, but could all be in my mind.
Initial impressions with only 60 hours of burn in, but I do find the LC (fed by iPhone -> Mojo) to be extremely refined in sound, even on grungy stuff, which may be some of what you are hearing, or rather not hearing. More detail and less distortion?
Well, I am comparing it to the Hugo alone, which does have extremely clear, refined sound. But even on extremely well-recorded acoustic, classical, or ambient recordings, I still feel like the LC has a lot of room for improvement in the clarity/coherence department.
And hey, it's a $600 amp. Saying, "It's great, but I bet a $3000 amp made by the same guy must offer a lot more" should not be a controversial statement.
This is an interesting question. Anyone?
For headphones like the HD650 that aren't (relatively) hard to drive, should using 1x gain with higher volume vs. 3x gain with lower volume make a difference? I haven't experimented much, but seem to slightly prefer 3x gain with low volume seems as it seems to provide more punch, but could all be in my mind.
I am beginning to think that if the amps absolutely need Burn-in as the instruction manual says, then they should have been burned in by Cavalli audio. It seems there has been a hundred different ways to burn the thing in and nothing is consistent. Like a Martin Guitar, the amps were not finished when received by the user but were in untested kit form for us to burn in haphazardly. Now we seem to have a lot of different Liquid Carbons with imbalance problems and what not. I still think my amp had more bottom end before putting it through "The Burning". I asked Alex about burning in gradually or all at 150 hours at once. I got a two word answer. "It's better". Perhaps he's sick of the entire project. When you get down to it, Cavalli, Schiit and everyone else is simply in Retail. Just like Best Buy. Throw Socks. The amps should have been finished in-house.
I am beginning to think that if the amps absolutely need Burn-in as the instruction manual says, then they should have been burned in by Cavalli audio. It seems there has been a hundred different ways to burn the thing in and nothing is consistent. Like a Martin Guitar, the amps were not finished when received by the user but were in untested kit form for us to burn in haphazardly. Now we seem to have a lot of different Liquid Carbons with imbalance problems and what not. I still think my amp had more bottom end before putting it through "The Burning". I asked Alex about burning in gradually or all at 150 hours at once. I got a two word answer. "It's better". Perhaps he's sick of the entire project. When you get down to it, Cavalli, Schiit and everyone else is simply in Retail. Just like Best Buy. Throw Socks. The amps should have been finished in-house.
Keeping 500 amps burning in, plugged in with music playing and headphones attached, for 150 hours would take forever and cost a ton. People were already about to burn Alex at the stake for any and all delays. Not realistic IMO. And my guess is that the imbalance has nothing to do with the burn-in, but rather the amps themselves, as he was having a bunch of issues with the manufacturer. And to my engineering mind I simply don't see a way that burning in an amp could affect the balance between channels. Cheers
I think this is part of the learning curve for a company. Cavalli has never done a product in these numbers. That takes a different approach. I hope they have learned from this product. Do it again but in another way or stick to the high priced models in low volumes. And when you read the "adventures" of the Schiit founder, there are some many things that can go wrong with a product like this. Again, this is a first for the company and lets keep this in mind.
Maybe expectations grew a little out of proportion over time. Anything less than an amp that gives us an immediate eargasm, thats bulletproof, delivers 99,999% of the sound of the higher priced models, etc will not meet the expectations by some people. Lets just see how Cavalli handles any technical problems with the product.
For me; I now have a really nice amp that perfectly fits my needs for a price thats a little higher then I first thought I would spend. But I am not regretting any pennie of it now because I really enjoy listening to it. Yes probably there are better products for more money but so what. It still is a great product for a great price.
Scanspeakman
Kickstarter is not a bad way of thinking about it I agree. So far the waiting and anticipation and reading the Immense Complaining has been more fun than the amp. I would buy the amp again just for the amp. I wouldn't let it go through "The Burning" again for sure. Mine is maybe a little shy on the bass but perhaps not. Perhaps the amp just opened up on the upper mids and detail. I bought some th900's to compensate. My amp is working fine.As someone who had an amp sent back and repaired, I totally understand your frustration. But I have approached the LC with a dirpfferent mindset than "retail" - more like a Kickstarter campaign, with the benefits being that you can get in on the ground floor of something special (sound, price, and community of interested people waiting for it to arrive). I think it is a lesson to all, but not necessarily a bad one. I am living the sound of the second unit at 75 hours continuous burn in so far.