[atomicbob]

   
I have this theory that the Liquid Crimson club is pretty quiet, because the amp is so damned fine sounding that we all spend our free time listening instead of discussing.  You picked one up over thanksgiving and have not posted back yet.  I rest my case!
 
I have never bothered moving on from the stock tube, taking at their word those who have said that the Liquid Crimson doesn't really change all that much through tube rolling.
 
I got to the Crimson in a similar way - I bought and waited, and waited.... and waited for my Liquid Carbon, after having heard the Crimson at a meet.  Sold the Carbon after getting the Crimson - it was just redundant after the Crimson arrived.
 
I have one minor niggle - I find the volume pot travel with my Ethers to be very limited.  7 to about 8:30 or so.  I even bought (and sold) a pair of HD650's to see if the higher impedance would use more of the volume travel.  No joy.  I can't get to 9:00 on the volume knob.  I have found a solution - a Schiit Sys passive preamp.  I use it as an attenuation pad.  Dac to Sys, set at 12:00 to 1:30 or so, to Liquid Crimson.  I get good volume knob travel on the Crimson, and it appears to be sonically transparent. Some may scoff at blending an inexpensive volume pot into the mix that way, but it works nicely for me.  The Sys volume pot is well into the linear region, so I see no real issues with this solution.
 
If the good doctor offered a reduction of the gain in the low gain setting, I'd probably be all over that.  Mean time, the Sys is solving my only minor issue.

Well said, and on target.
I am privileged to have two very fine amps, Liquid Crimson and EC ZDSE. Much time spent listening to the library even though I have quite a backlog of items to measure / evaluate in the lab.
Nothing wrong with your passive attenuator solution. When presented with a similar mismatch I use a Goldpoint SA2 that I've had for years. The Sys is a very good option.

 

[Greggo]

I have really been enjoying my Liquid Crimson, running X-Sabre Pro into Liquid Crimson into HD800S... but have recently decided to sell off my prized head-fi gear and get more serious about pro audio. So all three of the components mentioned here are going up for sale this weekend. Thought I would mention it here since the Cavalli club in general is a fairly small group and will no longer be expanding with new models.

 

[Jozurr]

The Liquid Crimson does make the Utopia sing like a muse of old. The soundstage is large and very holographic. The bass is tight, with deep satisfying thud, without muddying up the mids. And the mids are sweet, very sooth, with a touch of edge. Finally the highs are good, with no annoying sybilance. As good as the legendary Liquid Crimson makes the Utopia sound, the phenomenal Liquid Glass makes the Utopia sing like the next coming of god. The soundstage is large, perhaps not as large as the Crimson, it is far more detailed and holographic. Furthermore, with the right tubes, the bass is the deepest sounding, I have ever heard from the Utopia. Likewise the themirs are so sweet and smooth, yet extremely detailed and transparently resolute. And the highs are just fantastic, very detailed, without being bright or seemingly sybilant.
My favorite headphone for the Liquid Crimson, is my HE 1000 (not upgraded). I prefer using the HE1K with my Crimson. I feel my Utopia sound absolutely devine, when driven by the Liquid Glass ( especially with the right tubes). The Utopia sound signature really likes being complimented with some nice tubes. And I need to explore more tubes for the Liquid Glass. That said, I feel the Utopia sounded best, through the Liquid Gold. I am sure, with the right tubes,, the Liquid Glass could get exceed the performance of the Liquid Gold.

Just read this post - which tubes do you think sound the best with Utopia on Liquid Glass? and what tubes are you using on the Crimson?

Thanks

 

[Stylish]

Sorry for crazy Necro! I got into this hobby and ended up getting this as my first real amp that im keeping, read a lot of old media on it and was kinda surprised by what I read, Ended up getting super lucky and got ahold of #24 listening to it has been a real eye opener for me as I never really had proper hifi gear until now. I still dont have a dac but I plan to use nothing other than the Rockna Wavedream once I can get ahold of one, I do plan to do an impression eventually if I ever get to it >_>. I am super late to the party for this amp but oh well.

 

[longbowbbs]

Congrats on getting your hands on a Liquid Crimson! I loved that amp when I reviewed it many years ago. Take your time and get a proper DAC when it fits your budget. This is a piece you can enjoy for the long term.

 

[Stylish]

Congrats on getting your hands on a Liquid Crimson! I loved that amp when I reviewed it many years ago. Take your time and get a proper DAC when it fits your budget. This is a piece you can enjoy for the long term.

Thank you reading all the old reviews from you and the other reviewers, as well as owner impressions, I knew there was something extremely special here and thats what I really want out of my audio. took the dive and have 0 regrets. Its been incredible since the day it arrived, havent got much sleep since then. Also I agree waiting for that right DAC will be just as special of a moment for me, I wanna make it count with equipment that will also last.

 

[heliosphann]

Sorry for crazy Necro! I got into this hobby and ended up getting this as my first real amp that im keeping, read a lot of old media on it and was kinda surprised by what I read, Ended up getting super lucky and got ahold of #24 listening to it has been a real eye opener for me as I never really had proper hifi gear until now. I still dont have a dac but I plan to use nothing other than the Rockna Wavedream once I can get ahold of one, I do plan to do an impression eventually if I ever get to it >_>. I am super late to the party for this amp but oh well.

Think I used to own that one. I had #28 recently, but the pic I have of my first unit I believe says #24. The pic is kinda blurry, so hard to tell.

Great amp, only reason I don't still have one is I like the LAu a little more.

 

[Stylish]

Yeah the Old Cavalli amps are definitely special, I wish I could have had an opportunity to hear a LAu myself or a Liquid Fire, Im again very thankful I got ahold of a Crimson, as nice as the new Monolith designs are it didnt take me long to really see that my Liquid Platinum just doesnt compare to the Liquid Crimson. I am curious what Headphones would be recommended in 2021 to pair with this old piece? I've got a Final Audio d8000 Pro Edition, which definitely seems to compliment this extremely well, especially since I like genres like Liquid Drum and Bass, Electro, Classical.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Congrats on getting a Crimson.

I have a Fire and Platinum. I consider the Audeze headphones to pair well with the Cavalli blended hybrids. The Cavalli blended hybrids have a midrange that fills in and compliments the Audeze midrange. The amp and headphones work together to get the Audeze headphones to sound better than they should. Maybe something like an LCD-3 would work for you and the music you like. I use a LCD-2 and LCD-2 Classic with my Liquid Fire and I'm very happy with that combo. A LCD-3 would also be nice, but I keep not wanting to spend the money to get one.

The Rosson Audio RAD-0 would also be something to consider. I believe Alex Rosson has a Liquid Crimson. I suspect the RAD-0 and Liquid Crimson would work very well together. But it's not a combo I've tried yet.

I'd also look at the Abyss headphones. Abyss HQ has a Liquid Fire and Liquid Gold amongst their supply of reference amps. I'm guessing the Crimson would pair well and be able to drive the Abyss headphones, even the 1266.

 

[Fegefeuer]

What tube did you install into the Crimson?
Not recommending to go overboard but I am using 60s Telefunken and tried a few others like Amperex, Philips (except some Siemens Silver or Grey Shields) which I didn't like as much. Might do some time later.

Anyway, I don't know of any headphone that would not pair well with such an amp (high bandwith, near perfect square wave, lots of microdetailing + a bit of pixie dust going on) but here are some really special pairings I'd add to the other recommendations:

ZMF Verité - speed, detail, texture, there's nothing this amp can't do to support the Verité's strengths. Really special. Killed off quite a few amp comparison attemps as I just couldn't get off.

HD 800 - I could repeat those various attributes from above but let's just say it plays to the HD800's strengths in a way most amps are not able to
HE-1000v1/v2, even SE

 

[Stylish]

Congrats on getting a Crimson.

I have a Fire and Platinum. I consider the Audeze headphones to pair well with the Cavalli blended hybrids. The Cavalli blended hybrids have a midrange that fills in and compliments the Audeze midrange. The amp and headphones work together to get the Audeze headphones to sound better than they should. Maybe something like an LCD-3 would work for you and the music you like. I use a LCD-2 and LCD-2 Classic with my Liquid Fire and I'm very happy with that combo. A LCD-3 would also be nice, but I keep not wanting to spend the money to get one.

The Rosson Audio RAD-0 would also be something to consider. I believe Alex Rosson has a Liquid Crimson. I suspect the RAD-0 and Liquid Crimson would work very well together. But it's not a combo I've tried yet.

I'd also look at the Abyss headphones. Abyss HQ has a Liquid Fire and Liquid Gold amongst their supply of reference amps. I'm guessing the Crimson would pair well and be able to drive the Abyss headphones, even the 1266.

I definitely love the recommendations given here, as ive never heard of the RAD-O but they definitely look cool, I was originally going to go with an Audeze but I just found them super heavy and I quite literally live in my headphones. However if I can get a chance to Audition a few in the future id love to, However my area has almost no one with equipment like this. Rosson Audio definitely Looks awesome I'd have to read more on them for sure. As for Abyss I'd definitely want to try a Diana Phi at some point if I can ever audition it.

What tube did you install into the Crimson?
Not recommending to go overboard but I am using 60s Telefunken and tried a few others like Amperex, Philips (except some Siemens Silver or Grey Shields) which I didn't like as much. Might do some time later.

Anyway, I don't know of any headphone that would not pair well with such an amp (high bandwith, near perfect square wave, lots of microdetailing + a bit of pixie dust going on) but here are some really special pairings I'd add to the other recommendations:

ZMF Verité - speed, detail, texture, there's nothing this amp can't do to support the Verité's strengths. Really special. Killed off quite a few amp comparison attemps as I just couldn't get off.

HD 800 - I could repeat those various attributes from above but let's just say it plays to the HD800's strengths in a way most amps are not able to
HE-1000v1/v2, even SE

Currently on the Stock Tube, I've read a fair bit on tube rolling for it but would also like to hear any impressions. Definitely I think ill be pleased with any result on the Crimson it even makes my old Sennheiser 598 not sound terrible, but I love all the recommendations im getting for it, glad to see I could get some input on this old piece ^^. The ZMF Verté - Seems like a really interesting pick, ill be on the lookout for that one. The HD 800 is definitely a piece ill try since I've used a hd598 series for so long, only seems plausible plus their not too hard to get ahold of for a good price.

 

[Stylish]

Ended up getting a Rockna Wavedream Signature for the DAC, along with a NOS Telefunken E88CC, the combination is extremely pleasant to listen to while being highly revealing. My favorite headphone with the setup ended up being a black paper HD 580 The Mids and Timbre are just perfect especially on this setup, even compared to Susvara the HD 580 was overall just a more pleasant listen which is what I was really going for in the hobby. Smooth Mids, great treble, detailed and revealing, sums up my experience this amplifier is a legendary one.

 

[elwappo99]

Ended up getting a Rockna Wavedream Signature for the DAC, along with a NOS Telefunken E88CC, the combination is extremely pleasant to listen to while being highly revealing. My favorite headphone with the setup ended up being a black paper HD 580 The Mids and Timbre are just perfect especially on this setup, even compared to Susvara the HD 580 was overall just a more pleasant listen which is what I was really going for in the hobby. Smooth Mids, great treble, detailed and revealing, sums up my experience this amplifier is a legendary one.

The Telefunken E88CC is a really clean sounding tube. One of my favorite tubes. It's too bad this amp didn't get enough attention to get good tube rolling guides on it.