[Youth]

Sounds like I haven't fully heard the Carbon yet without the balanced cable. Can't wait to recieve it.

 

[aamefford]

Sounds like I haven't fully heard the Carbon yet without the balanced cable. Can't wait to recieve it.

Certainly not night and day difference by any means, but certainly better to my ears.

 

[reddog]

If @reddog
 was listening to the last GOP debate through Crimson, it probably got really dirty and is in need of liberal cleaning.

lol try to watch educational tv only. Lol. The debates are to farcical.

 

[Stillhart]

@aamefford, have you upgraded the tube in the Crimson yet?  I grabbed a nice $100 NOS tube and it improved the sound noticeably.  I don't like the idea of fiddling with tubes either, so I just bought a really good one (from a friend so I knew it was good and it worked) and called it a day.  Even at the RMAF discount price, the tube was significantly cheaper than the cost of the amp so the noticeable increase in performance was money well spent IMO.

 

[aamefford]

@aamefford
, have you upgraded the tube in the Crimson yet?  I grabbed a nice $100 NOS tube and it improved the sound noticeably.  I don't like the idea of fiddling with tubes either, so I just bought a really good one (from a friend so I knew it was good and it worked) and called it a day.  Even at the RMAF discount price, the tube was significantly cheaper than the cost of the amp so the noticeable increase in performance was money well spent IMO.

No. The previous owner went through a couple of NOS tubes and back to stock. Lmk what you went with. I'll try out a NOS tube at some point. I like the idea of the currently available Genelax.

 

[swspiers]

Sounds like I haven't fully heard the Carbon yet without the balanced cable. Can't wait to recieve it.

Certainly not night and day difference by any means, but certainly better to my ears.

With my Primes and 400i's, it's pretty much night and day. It's a whole different experience for me, and one that has me tempted to end the game here.

 

[Serenitty]

So I moved to a new city last weekend and most of my stuff is still in boxes.  That includes most of my audio gear and the tables where I plan to put it.  As good as my portable rig is (AK100ii or QP1R and Noble4C or Westone ES60 currently), I miss my desktop rig.  Tonight I decided to dig out my LC at least and run it right from the line out on a DAP into my HD800.  It's no DAC-19 + Liquid Crimson, but it should scratch the itch.

Well damn, I forget sometimes how GOOD the LC sounds.  I settled on the AK100ii for the DAC (the QP1R is more resolving but it's brighter and the HD800 doesn't like it as much) and this is just a really really good combo.  For most sane people (i.e. people not willing to spend three grand or more on a big brother Cavalli), the Liquid Carbon could easily be endgame.  I know as soon as I plug my Crimson back in I'll remember why I bought it, but for now I know that if a cash crunch should hit, I could sell the Crimson and be perfectly happy with the LC alone.

Fun fact:  I listened to the "Akira" symphonic suite (OST) two+ times through and now I'm jamming to some Bonobo.  Having a wonderful evening of listening thanks to the LC.

I've been very satisfied with my AK120ii > LC > Ether C combo... I don't have anything to compare it to right now, but I have doubts that another Dac would be that much better.

 

[reddog]

No. The previous owner went through a couple of NOS tubes and back to stock. Lmk what you went with. I'll try out a NOS tube at some point. I like the idea of the currently available Genelax.

I switched in a good NOS Telefunken E88CC PLATINUM and it was alright, but I found I liked the Crimson better with the Genalex Gold lion.

 

[Stillhart]

No. The previous owner went through a couple of NOS tubes and back to stock. Lmk what you went with. I'll try out a NOS tube at some point. I like the idea of the currently available Genelax.

 
I have a Dario Miniwatt or some such.  @Hansotek is the original owner, he can expound a bit.  I just know that it gave me a very nice bump to the low end.  I believe he swapped out to a Telefunken?
 

I've been very satisfied with my AK120ii > LC > Ether C combo... I don't have anything to compare it to right now, but I have doubts that another Dac would be that much better.

 
If there's one thing I want from the AK100ii it's a bit more clarity/resolution.  The 120 has two of the single DAC that's in the 100, so I suspect it's got that extra clarity I crave.  I know the Ether C is very revealing of detail so if you're not noticing any softness, it's probably pretty solid.  I'll have to see if I can find someone local with a AK120ii or AK240 (same DAC setup) so I can test it out.  Possibly against the Mojo.
 

I switched in a good NOS Telefunken E88CC PLATINUM and it was alright, but I found I liked the Crimson better with the Genalex Gold lion.

 
I don't like to roll tubes but I'd be curious what all tubes people end up with.  We should maybe take that discussion over to the Crimson thread.  It's depressingly dead in there and I hope it'll pick up soon with the final run coming and the LC discount.

 

[Serenitty]

If there's one thing I want from the AK100ii it's a bit more clarity/resolution.  The 120 has two of the single DAC that's in the 100, so I suspect it's got that extra clarity I crave.  I know the Ether C is very revealing of detail so if you're not noticing any softness, it's probably pretty solid.  I'll have to see if I can find someone local with a AK120ii or AK240 (same DAC setup) so I can test it out.  Possibly against the Mojo.

The two I'm curious about are the Mojo and the Bifrost Multibit. There were a couple of bimby's at the DC meet last weekend, but with the background noise unless the difference was sledgehammer in the face obvious, I doubt I would have noticed. Like comparing my ether C off the LC vs the Lcd-XC. That was obvious....

 

[x RELIC x]

If it weren't for the Canadian dollar I'd have bought the Crimson by now. You guys need to take it to the Crimson thread as my jealousy meter is pretty high right now.

Mojo=/=DAC-19 > AK240 as a source to the Liquid Carbon.

 

[x RELIC x]

The two I'm curious about are the Mojo and the Bifrost Multibit. There were a couple of bimby's at the DC meet last weekend, but with the background noise unless the difference was sledgehammer in the face obvious, I doubt I would have noticed. Like comparing my ether C off the LC vs the Lcd-XC. That was obvious....

Have you read this?

http://www.head-fi.org/products/chord-mojo/reviews/15145

 

[Stillhart]

The two I'm curious about are the Mojo and the Bifrost Multibit. There were a couple of bimby's at the DC meet last weekend, but with the background noise unless the difference was sledgehammer in the face obvious, I doubt I would have noticed. Like comparing my ether C off the LC vs the Lcd-XC. That was obvious....

 
At the price of the AK120ii, you should be looking at the DAC-19 or GMB, not the BMB.  I haven't had a chance to dig into the BMB at all (I've heard it at loud shows, so same problem as you), but I've been reading some mixed things about it.  If you want R2R done at the level of the AK DACs, you might want to step up from it.
 
EDIT - Oh and here's the Crimson thread:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/737694/new-cavalli-audio-liquid-crimson-amp

 

[paulpthcom]

The two I'm curious about are the Mojo and the Bifrost Multibit. There were a couple of bimby's at the DC meet last weekend, but with the background noise unless the difference was sledgehammer in the face obvious, I doubt I would have noticed. Like comparing my ether C off the LC vs the Lcd-XC. That was obvious....

As someone waiting for the LCD-XC to get here but thinking maybe one of the Ethers would've been a wiser choice, would love to have that expanded upon.

 

[reddog]

I have a Dario Miniwatt or some such.  @Hansotek
 is the original owner, he can expound a bit.  I just know that it gave me a very nice bump to the low end.  I believe he swapped out to a Telefunken?


If there's one thing I want from the AK100ii it's a bit more clarity/resolution.  The 120 has two of the single DAC that's in the 100, so I suspect it's got that extra clarity I crave.  I know the Ether C is very revealing of detail so if you're not noticing any softness, it's probably pretty solid.  I'll have to see if I can find someone local with a AK120ii or AK240 (same DAC setup) so I can test it out.  Possibly against the Mojo.


I don't like to roll tubes but I'd be curious what all tubes people end up with.  We should maybe take that discussion over to the Crimson thread.  It's depressingly dead in there and I hope it'll pick up soon with the final run coming and the LC discount.

I agree I hope the Crimson thread gets more active, when the new run of Crimson's start arriving.