[vitalogyx]

Do let me know if that fixes your problem with the LC. I have no dac with balanced out atm so I'm trying to rule out the splitter circuit problem. And I haven't received my LC at this point LOL.

Not gonna be using deoxit on the LC atm.
i gotta go in with a scopemeter to do the troubleshooting and trace the signal to hopefully nail the culprit. Not gonna happen any time soon but once I find a fix, I will keep this thread posted.

my LC is sitting overseas. Gotta get to it first

 

[394216]

Not gonna be using deoxit on the LC atm.
i gotta go in with a scope to do the troubleshooting To trace the signal and laid the culprit. Not gonna happen any time soon but once I find a fix will keep this thread posted.

That's a better way to do it. I don't have any skills tinkering with electrical stuff so maybe I just got lucky with my Soloist.

 

[Odin412]

I sometimes forget just how good the Liquid Carbon still is. I tried it again with the ZMF Atticus last night using the suede pads and the balanced output. Wow - that combo is amazing!

 

[Pharmaboy]

I never forget how good the LC is because I use it often. I have 6 amps to use in 2 separate desktop systems (5 ft. apart), one of which has 2 amps at all times. I rotate the LC v2 in and out at least 1/2 the time. Right now it's in my side-system/HP only, where lately it has really rocked my brain on the following headphones (balanced output only):

• (newest) Final D8000 w/"G" pads ... an amazing planar
• Verite Open ... outstanding dynamic HP, the best I've yet heard
• ZMF Aeolus
• ZMF Ori ... bass for days (love this HP)

You look at the LC and think, "This thing can't possibly be as powerful or good-sounding as I remember it being." Then you listen to it again--and it totally is.

I have 3 solid state amps that IMO define my endgame SS sound, albeit in slightly different ways:

1. Violectric V281 -- the best of the best
2. LC v2 -- very very good sound
3. Lake People G109-A -- single ended only and the best I've heard at that

 

[Ham Sandwich]

I never forget how good the LC is because I use it often. I have 6 amps to use in 2 separate desktop systems (5 ft. apart), one of which has 2 amps at all times. I rotate the LC v2 in and out at least 1/2 the time. Right now it's in my side-system/HP only, where lately it has really rocked my brain on the following headphones (balanced output only):

• (newest) Final D8000 w/"G" pads ... an amazing planar
• Verite Open ... outstanding dynamic HP, the best I've yet heard
• ZMF Aeolus
• ZMF Ori ... bass for days (love this HP)

You look at the LC and think, "This thing can't possibly be as powerful or good-sounding as I remember it being." Then you listen to it again--and it totally is.

I have 3 solid state amps that IMO define my endgame SS sound, albeit in slightly different ways:

1. Violectric V281 -- the best of the best
2. LC v2 -- very very good sound
3. Lake People G109-A -- single ended only and the best I've heard at that

The Liquid Carbon versions are all nice sounding amps. But the Monoprice Liquid Gold X is better and a much better representation of the Cavalli sound than the Liquid Carbon variations.

I have a Liquid Carbon v1 and the Massdrop version Liquid Carbon. Then I got the Liquid Gold X and that pretty much replaced the Liquid Carbon variations. The Liquid Gold X is just better. The advantage for the Liquid Carbon V1 and V2 is form factor size for transportable use and no wall wart style power supply wart that takes up space when packing it up for carry-on luggage.

 

[Odin412]

Cavalli Liquid Carbon – Schiit Jotunheim 2 - Cavalli Liquid Gold X Listening Comparisons

(I’ve taken the liberty of cross-posting this across the three amp threads – apologies in advance if you subscribe to all of them.)

Since I now have three balanced solid-state amps I thought that it would be fun to compare them using the ZMF Aeolus using the single-ended outputs. I plan to try the balanced outputs at a later date. My playback chain is a Windows 10 laptop running J River - Schiit Bifrost Multibit – Lokius (in bypass mode) – SYS – distribution amp – headphone amps.

Here are my impressions:

• The Liquid Carbon is a great match with the Aeolus and delivers a very enjoyable sound with the trademark Cavalli liquid midrange. The tube-like character of this amp lets the best aspects of the Aeolus really shine.
• The Jotunheim 2 sounds very similar to the Liquid Carbon. This was a bit of a surprise for me. In fact, if this were a blind test I’m not sure that I would be able to reliably tell them apart. The Liquid Carbon has maybe a slightly more expressive and liquid midrange, but the differences are small.
• The biggest change when switching to the Liquid Gold X is more bass body and impact. The midrange also comes across as slightly more open and clear, but with the trademark Cavalli liquidness.

Other random observations:

• All of these three amps sound great to my ears and the differences between them are surprisingly small – we’re talking different flavors here.
• The Cavalli Liquid Carbon is still a great amplifier after several years – it was released in 2015.
• The Jotunheim 2 is a great amp – especially considering its price of only $399.
• You can tell that the Liquid Gold X is a step up from the Liquid Carbon, but the family resemblance is still there.
• The Aelous is one of the most enjoyable headphones that I have ever heard. It really lets you forget about technology and just immerse yourself in the music.

So which one of these amps is my favorite? Actually, none of them – my favorite pairing with the Aeolus is the Cavalli Liquid Platinum with a pair of vintage Amperex tubes or the Woo Audio WA3. YMMV, as always.

 

[Pharmaboy]

The Liquid Carbon versions are all nice sounding amps. But the Monoprice Liquid Gold X is better and a much better representation of the Cavalli sound than the Liquid Carbon variations.

I have a Liquid Carbon v1 and the Massdrop version Liquid Carbon. Then I got the Liquid Gold X and that pretty much replaced the Liquid Carbon variations. The Liquid Gold X is just better. The advantage for the Liquid Carbon V1 and V2 is form factor size for transportable use and no wall wart style power supply wart that takes up space when packing it up for carry-on luggage.

I read your comments about the Monoprice Liquid Gold and get a little pang of regret. I bought one brand new/full price 13 months ago. Things went south when I realized I needed a driver for the built-in DAC to go w/my Windows 7 computers. It took 1-2 weeks of trying to reach Monoprice to finally be told there were no drivers. Too bad for me.

The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth--not because I needed the DAC (I don't), but because:

• I wouldn't even be able to check if the DAC worked
• And the larger issue was that I realized Monoprice has no support whatsoever for boxes like this. Buy one and you're on your own if it needs service. Maybe the company that services Cavalli gear would be willing to help, but maybe not

So I ended up returning it for credit w/o even hearing it.

I look back on that with some regret: I bought it because I liked the LC's sound so much, and the LG was described much as you did in this post--ie, well worth having for anyone who likes Cavalli SS sound.

Just checked Monoprice & find it's now $200 off what I paid ($799). I wouldn't mind picking up one of these used, but can't find any.

I'm OK with just about everything I ever did buying/selling in this hobby, but the Liquid Gold does feel like "the one that got away."

 

[sahmen]

Cavalli Liquid Carbon – Schiit Jotunheim 2 - Cavalli Liquid Gold X Listening Comparisons

(I’ve taken the liberty of cross-posting this across the three amp threads – apologies in advance if you subscribe to all of them.)

Since I now have three balanced solid-state amps I thought that it would be fun to compare them using the ZMF Aeolus using the single-ended outputs. I plan to try the balanced outputs at a later date. My playback chain is a Windows 10 laptop running J River - Schiit Bifrost Multibit – Lokius (in bypass mode) – SYS – distribution amp – headphone amps.

Here are my impressions:

• The Liquid Carbon is a great match with the Aeolus and delivers a very enjoyable sound with the trademark Cavalli liquid midrange. The tube-like character of this amp lets the best aspects of the Aeolus really shine.
• The Jotunheim 2 sounds very similar to the Liquid Carbon. This was a bit of a surprise for me. In fact, if this were a blind test I’m not sure that I would be able to reliably tell them apart. The Liquid Carbon has maybe a slightly more expressive and liquid midrange, but the differences are small.
• The biggest change when switching to the Liquid Gold X is more bass body and impact. The midrange also comes across as slightly more open and clear, but with the trademark Cavalli liquidness.

Other random observations:

• All of these three amps sound great to my ears and the differences between them are surprisingly small – we’re talking different flavors here.
• The Cavalli Liquid Carbon is still a great amplifier after several years – it was released in 2015.
• The Jotunheim 2 is a great amp – especially considering its price of only $399.
• You can tell that the Liquid Gold X is a step up from the Liquid Carbon, but the family resemblance is still there.
• The Aelous is one of the most enjoyable headphones that I have ever heard. It really lets you forget about technology and just immerse yourself in the music.

So which one of these amps is my favorite? Actually, none of them – my favorite pairing with the Aeolus is the Cavalli Liquid Platinum with a pair of vintage Amperex tubes or the Woo Audio WA3. YMMV, as always.

Very glad you added the last sentence. I was wondering where the LP stood in comparison with the others when I started reading your post, and its absence was like a deafening silence. By the way I also own the OG Liquid Carbon and the Liquid Platinum, and while I adore them both, I think the LP has a considerable edge, especially, when one factors in the tube-rolling and the versatility it adds in producing different flavors. Sadly, the Liquid Gold X has never really tempted me because of a prejudice I have against what I consider to be "tacked-on" DACs.

Before anyone tries to shoot me down for my remark about the L. Gold X, just note that I am speaking candidly of a prejudice that I find hard to shake. Fortunately, I have never heard the Liquid Gold x and can't comment on how it actually sounds, so I am not judging it as a unit per se, again, because of that good old "prejudice"

 

[Ham Sandwich]

I'm OK with just about everything I ever did buying/selling in this hobby, but the Liquid Gold does feel like "the one that got away."

You can always buy it again. And get it when it's on sale and save $200.
I bought my Liquid Gold X right after it was released. Paid full MSRP. I knew Monoprice would put it on sale later. But didn't care. Don't care. A couple hundred bucks difference isn't going to affect whether I buy or not buy an amp like this.

I don't care about the DAC. I don't plan on using it other than as a convenience DAC for if/when I take the Gold X traveling. I don't care if the DAC added $100 or $200 to the overall price. I bought the amp for the amp section. And that amp section is worth $1000 to me. And I'm fine with spending that much on it.

If you want to test the DAC you could use a Raspberry Pi or an Android phone running USB Audio Player Pro. That would allow you to test the DAC and hear what it sounds like (it sounds like a typical AKM DAC).

 

[You Kay]

I’ve owned the mk1 Cavalli Liquid Carbon which was OK with grado ps500e but I only used it in single ended as I didn’t have a balanced headphone cable at the time. Nor could I conjure up the effort to mod the grado.

Now I’ve recently picked up a mk2 at a great price. Looking forward to setting it up with Abyss 1266phiTC in the coming months.

Now my only concern reading through this thread is that what if one day it develops a fault? My last unit worked absolutely fine but in the event of a failure where might one go for repairs?

Btw I still love the Cavalli styling and form factor of this amp. Super cool.

 

[pippen99]

https://avensonaudio.com/cavallirepair/

 

[You Kay]

https://avensonaudio.com/cavallirepair/

You sir, are a great guy. Such a relief, thank you.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

https://avensonaudio.com/cavallirepair/

I don't believe Avenson is specially able to repair the Massdrop Cavalli amps or the Monoprice Cavalli amps. Avenson is the place to go for repairs and maintenance of the big Cavalli amps (Fire, Crimson, Glass, Gold, Lightning, Carbon). That's because Avenson is the place that Cavalli contracted to build those amps. So Avenson knows the amps and may even have some spare parts. Avenson didn't build or have anything to do with the Massdrop Cavalli amps or the Monoprice Cavalli amps. So I doubt they'd be able to help repair those amps any more than a general audio repair tech in your city could.

For the Massdrop produced Cavalli amps you'll have to contact Massdrop for repair options or repair suggestions.

For the Monoprice produced Cavalli amps you'll have to contact Monoprice for repair options or repair suggestions.

 

[Odin412]

Cavalli Liquid Carbon – Schiit Jotunheim 2 - Cavalli Liquid Gold X Listening Comparisons (Balanced)

(I’ve taken the liberty of cross-posting this across the three amp threads – apologies in advance if you subscribe to all of them.)

Following my initial comparison of the three amps using the single-ended output I thought that it would be fun to do the same using the balanced outputs. My playback chain is a Windows 11 laptop running J River - Schiit Bifrost Multibit – Lokius (in bypass mode) – SYS – distribution amp – headphone amps.

However, this task turned out to be harder than I expected. Using the ZMF Aeolus I wasn’t able to hear any meaningful differences between the amps. I then switched to the Beyerdynamic T1.2 and heard only very minor differences. Finally, I switched to planar magnetic headphones and tried the DCA Aeon Flow Closed and Audeze LCD-2.

Here are my impressions:

• The Liquid Carbon is a great match with all four headphones and delivers a very enjoyable sound with the trademark Cavalli liquid midrange.
• The Jotunheim 2 sounds very similar to the Liquid Carbon, but with a very slightly fuller sound in the upper bass/lower midrange area. I found the sound from the Jotunheim 2 to be really enjoyable.
• Switching to the Liquid Gold X there was a slightly punchier bass and an ever so slightly smoother treble. The midrange also came across as slightly more open, but with the trademark Cavalli liquidness.

In summary, all of the three amps sound great to my ears and the differences between them are very small (and smaller than the differences that I heard using the single ended outputs) – we’re talking very slightly different flavors here.

So which one of these amps is my favorite? It depends on the headphone. I really enjoy the Jotunheim 2 with the T1.2 and I enjoy the Liquid Gold X with the LCD-2. However, I could live happily with any of the three amps. YMMV, as always.

 

[Endless_Chris]

I don't believe Avenson is specially able to repair the Massdrop Cavalli amps or the Monoprice Cavalli amps. Avenson is the place to go for repairs and maintenance of the big Cavalli amps (Fire, Crimson, Glass, Gold, Lightning, Carbon). That's because Avenson is the place that Cavalli contracted to build those amps. So Avenson knows the amps and may even have some spare parts. Avenson didn't build or have anything to do with the Massdrop Cavalli amps or the Monoprice Cavalli amps. So I doubt they'd be able to help repair those amps any more than a general audio repair tech in your city could.

For the Massdrop produced Cavalli amps you'll have to contact Massdrop for repair options or repair suggestions.

For the Monoprice produced Cavalli amps you'll have to contact Monoprice for repair options or repair suggestions.

Thank you for this. My original production Liquid Carbon has just started to fail and I was somewhat distraught as to how to get it repaired.