[mandrake50]

  My concern is trying to create the ground with the WA5 connected to the Vega.  I already know the WA5 has nothing to do with the hum.  But if I do what you suggest I am creating a three way connection with all units.  Now this might be exciting in another context but is it wise in an electrical context?

 

  My concern is trying to create the ground with the WA5 connected to the Vega.  I already know the WA5 has nothing to do with the hum.  But if I do what you suggest I am creating a three way connection with all units.  Now this might be exciting in another context but is it wise in an electrical context?

 I think that it should not be a problem. But I have not analyzed the circuitry in the three devices not taken any measurements. If it were me in your situation, I would try it.  There should be no reason for the ground potentials to be so different that it would hurt anything. Of course there may be exceptions without a complete analysis... as I said, just going by my experience of 40 or so years with audio gear... I would try it. Of course, if you want absolute guarantees , there are none. Still, in my estimation you should be just fine with testing using the wire that I mentioned...

 

[rocketron]

Can I just say thank you to Dr Cavalli for such I fine amp.
Paired up with HD800S balanced and fed from Hugo the sound in my opinion is far better than it has any right to be for the money.
Can only wait and see what the Spark brings for portable use.
I'm loving it

 

[negatron81]

Hi Guys, I'm a new LC owner for the last week and have loved the power and dynamic sound this amp brings.

I've been driving Lcd-xc via the balanced out since I got the amp and have been very happy with it.
. Today I tried my shure se846 attached to the s.e output and am getting a hum when volume is low (near zero) I've tried changing power cords, attaching rcas to the dac 's rca outs, removing /re attaching the xlr cables. Nothing works... Hum is still present if it's just the LC and no input cables...

Any ideas on further fixes? Or should I contact our friends at Cavalli?

 

[shultzee]

Hi Guys, I'm a new LC owner for the last week and have loved the power and dynamic sound this amp brings.

I've been driving Lcd-xc via the balanced out since I got the amp and have been very happy with it.
. Today I tried my shure se846 attached to the s.e output and am getting a hum when volume is low (near zero) I've tried changing power cords, attaching rcas to the dac 's rca outs, removing /re attaching the xlr cables. Nothing works... Hum is still present if it's just the LC and no input cables...

Any ideas on further fixes? Or should I contact our friends at Cavalli?

My experience was Bal. in/ Bal. out no hum,   SE in/ SE out no hum,   Bal. in , SE out there was a hum at very low volume.   I believe this is inherent to the amp.   Also congrats.  Its a great sounding amp.

 

[Serenitty]

So I finally had an opportunity to try the HE-6 off the LC at a meet this past weekend in DC.  I had been curious if the amp could drive the phones well since Dr. Cavalli announced quite a few months ago that the amp was actually more like 2.8 watts balanced instead of the originally announced 1.5W.
 
So I tried a set of balanced plugged HE-6's and cranked the amp up.  I got up to about 90% on the pot and it was sounding pretty good, well, loud at least.  I was pretty much chalking that up as a failure when Sheldaze reminded me of the gain switch (with my Ether C's, I'm at 9o'clock on the volume pot on 1x gain, I've never used the 3x, I forgot it was there).  So I borrowed the headphones again, and got it up to thumping loudness around 65-70% of the volume.
 
The good news?  The phones were loud and the bass clear without any clipping or other distortion that I could hear.
 
The bad news?  The meet was so loud that I haven't got a clue if the rest of the music actually sounded good.  I certainly could hear/feel the low end, and the mids and uppers were plenty loud, but were they precise and clean?  Not a clue.
 
The only phones I was able to compare successfully were my Ether C's vs a pair of LCD-XC's. 

 

[Audio Addict]

  So I finally had an opportunity to try the HE-6 off the LC at a meet this past weekend in DC.  I had been curious if the amp could drive the phones well since Dr. Cavalli announced quite a few months ago that the amp was actually more like 2.8 watts balanced instead of the originally announced 1.5W.
 
So I tried a set of balanced plugged HE-6's and cranked the amp up.  I got up to about 90% on the pot and it was sounding pretty good, well, loud at least.  I was pretty much chalking that up as a failure when Sheldaze reminded me of the gain switch (with my Ether C's, I'm at 9o'clock on the volume pot on 1x gain, I've never used the 3x, I forgot it was there).  So I borrowed the headphones again, and got it up to thumping loudness around 65-70% of the volume.
 
The good news?  The phones were loud and the bass clear without any clipping or other distortion that I could hear.
 
The bad news?  The meet was so loud that I haven't got a clue if the rest of the music actually sounded good.  I certainly could hear/feel the low end, and the mids and uppers were plenty loud, but were they precise and clean?  Not a clue.
 
The only phones I was able to compare successfully were my Ether C's vs a pair of LCD-XC's. 

 
What was the source?  I have found the source output has a fairly large impact on the LC.  A straight fixed line out works best from the source.

 

[jarnopp]

So I finally had an opportunity to try the HE-6 off the LC at a meet this past weekend in DC.  I had been curious if the amp could drive the phones well since Dr. Cavalli announced quite a few months ago that the amp was actually more like 2.8 watts balanced instead of the originally announced 1.5W.

So I tried a set of balanced plugged HE-6's and cranked the amp up.  I got up to about 90% on the pot and it was sounding pretty good, well, loud at least.  I was pretty much chalking that up as a failure when Sheldaze reminded me of the gain switch (with my Ether C's, I'm at 9o'clock on the volume pot on 1x gain, I've never used the 3x, I forgot it was there).  So I borrowed the headphones again, and got it up to thumping loudness around 65-70% of the volume.

The good news?  The phones were loud and the bass clear without any clipping or other distortion that I could hear.

The bad news?  The meet was so loud that I haven't got a clue if the rest of the music actually sounded good.  I certainly could hear/feel the low end, and the mids and uppers were plenty loud, but were they precise and clean?  Not a clue.

The only phones I was able to compare successfully were my Ether C's vs a pair of LCD-XC's. 

I hope you get the chance for a proper listen. I'm enjoying the HE-6 balanced driven by LC with the Mojo (3v fixed out) as a source. 9-11 o'clock on 3x gain with modern compressed music and 11:30-2:30 with more dynamic classical music. Sometimes I lower the Mojo line out a few clicks (to about 2.2v) to get more usable volume control with rock/pop.

 

[Serenitty]

   
What was the source?  I have found the source output has a fairly large impact on the LC.  A straight fixed line out works best from the source.

Ak120ii "Line out"...

 

[Audio Addict]

 
Ak120ii "Line out"...

 
I don't know much about the AK's so if it is a fixed line out, it should have provided a good source input for the LC.

 

[swspiers]

I'm not sure if I'll have time to do a comprehensive review, but I can post a couple of impressions.

After owning this amplifier for a while now, I think I'm really close to calling it "endgame". The combination of this amplifier, with the balanced out of my Benchmark DAC, along with my Alpha Primes and 400i's, is as good as I have ever heard. When I make that statement, I am including many of the high-end speaker systems I've heard over the years. So far, I feel like every detail in the music that I want to hear, is clearly there. I also have a feeling that getting any better than this is going to cost serious money. True, I may get a multi-bit DAC somewhere down the road, but I'm certainly in no hurry.

My congratulations to the Cavalli team: this is the 1st amplifier I've ever heard, in any system, that I am 100% satisfied with. It sounds like an amazing accomplishment to me, and might actually take me out of the running for purchasing a more powerful amp. It just sounds and feels that darn good.

 

[d1sturb3d]

^ truly reflects what I feel..this is it for me..I know my limits on spending money on head-fi gears..so thank you to Cavalli Audio for creating this lovable amp for us.
 
Balance is the way to go
 
DC-1 -> LC -> HE-560
 
 
*wifey was listening to Spotify, liked the one playing (Stitches) and I got myself a copy and played it through my setup, my heart jumped on the first slam of the drums..mind you I listened to it a couple of times in the phone, laptop, iems so I was caught off guard, the slam has really weight to it and didn't expect it..maybe the blackness of the background also helped..anyway just rambling.

 

[paulpthcom]

The old DAC thread got discontinued and I was wondering if there were some new options out there that I have missed.
 
Here's what I want.
 
Requirements:
 

1. Balanced (I know its not supposed to matter much but the heart wants what the heart wants)
2. Physically close in size to the LC (Not the Gungnir)
3. Modern USB input, at least async 24/192, preferably something like an XMOS
4. Sold by a company with a US presence
5. Doesn't try to sell $500+ USB cables

 
Nice to have:

1. Digital volume control
2. Not ridiculously expensive
3. No headphone amp component 

 
So far the only ones I've found that are pretty close are:

1. Violectric V800 with XMOS board
2. Emotive Stealth DC-1
3. Oppo HA-1
4. Teac UD-50x
5. DacMagic Plus

 
 
Other than the price, the Violectric is probably the closest, but man that price hurts. Am I missing any?

 

[musiclvr]

The old DAC thread got discontinued and I was wondering if there were some new options out there that I have missed.

Here's what I want.

Requirements:

• Balanced (I know its not supposed to matter much but the heart wants what the heart wants)
• Physically close in size to the LC (Not the Gungnir)
• Modern USB input, at least async 24/192, preferably something like an XMOS
• Sold by a company with a US presence
• Doesn't try to sell $500+ USB cables

Nice to have:

• Digital volume control
• Not ridiculously expensive
• No headphone amp component 

So far the only ones I've found that are pretty close are:

• Violectric V800 with XMOS board
• Emotive Stealth DC-1
• Oppo HA-1
• Teac UD-50x
• DacMagic Plus

Other than the price, the Violectric is probably the closest, but man that price hurts. Am I missing any?

I think the V800 V2 would be my choice given your criteria. It also helps that it is currently being offered on Massdrop for $700.00!

 

[paulpthcom]

I think the V800 V2 would be my choice given your criteria. It also helps that it is currently being offered on Massdrop for $700.00!

Yeah, the problem is I'd need to upgrade the USB chip to the XMOS board which adds another ~$200 or so (the current chip requires a driver on OS X which I just won't install). At that price I'd probably go for a refurb Oppo HA-1 which has that cool looking display.

 

[musiclvr]

Yeah, the problem is I'd need to upgrade the USB chip to the XMOS board which adds another ~$200 or so (the current chip requires a driver on OS X which I just won't install). At that price I'd probably go for a refurb Oppo HA-1 which has that cool looking display.

Oh I see. Well that takes one choice off your list:thumbsup_tone2: