[LCMusicLover]

LP or LG? Not sure what these stand for...

Liquid Platinum, Liquid Glass (or Liquid Gold, although that’s usually Lau).

 

[zappazappazappa]

Liquid Platinum, Liquid Glass (or Liquid Gold, although that’s usually Lau).

Thanks for that. Just had a quick search for the Liquid Platinum and see there is a company called Monolith who are producing the design. Going a little off topic here but I wonder if Cavalli will license their designs to other companies to produce? I recall seeing excellent show reviews of his last full size valve amp (which I don't think ever went into production and can't recall the name) being used to drive Ether Flows. Unfortunately I never heard any Cavalli amps but I believe they were up with the best of any headphone amp producer.

 

[heliosphann]

Thanks for that. Just had a quick search for the Liquid Platinum and see there is a company called Monolith who are producing the design. Going a little off topic here but I wonder if Cavalli will license their designs to other companies to produce? I recall seeing excellent show reviews of his last full size valve amp (which I don't think ever went into production and can't recall the name) being used to drive Ether Flows. Unfortunately I never heard any Cavalli amps but I believe they were up with the best of any headphone amp producer.

Liquid Tungsten

Alex is tight lipped whenever asked about it, so hopefully something is in the works. A shame if it never got in the people's hands!

 

[gb21011971]

Hello everyone.
How Ether 2 sound compare to Focal Elear?

Thanks.

The E2 is much more neutral than the Elear. I owned the Elear, but had too many sonic issue with it. It can be a fun headphone for bass heavy tracks, but all in all, I found it too bloated in the bass vs a sort of suck-out in the mids and highs. The tonal characteristic I would describe as veiled.

The E2 is much more neutral. But this does not always translate into listening pleasure. Tonally, some people might prefer the warmer, bassier sound with lots of slam that characterizes the Elear. Technically, however, the E2 is on a whole different level - detail retrieval, texture etc.

Hope that helps.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Let me tell you why I love the Ether 2. I’m so tired of having to turn the volume down because so many TOTL headphones have too much upper mid and/or treble energy. With the Ether 2, I find myself turning the volume up because it’s so smooth.

And maybe if you’re older and have lost some of your hearing, then these might sound like they lose detail, because the treble isn’t peaky or boosted. But I disagree. I have very good hearing and these present very competent detail retrieval and resolution. They just do it without the usual harshness.

 

[DocBass]

While mulling over the decision to upgrade to E2 this weekend I stumbled upon a tube configuration in the Inspire IHA-1 that works extremely well for the Ether. That was an enjoyable listening session. Instead of helping me make a decision it has ended up making that decision harder. Not a terrible problem to have either way I suppose.

I use this set up in my office and the Inspire IHA-1 sounds absolutely wonderful with the Ether 2. I highly recommend the pairing. So smooth and liquid with surprisingly good bass. I have spent a lot of hours recently listening to this pairing while I am working at home. It replaced the Utopia that I was using. I think you would enjoy this very much!

 

[franz12]

Liquid Tungsten


Alex is tight lipped whenever asked about it, so hopefully something is in the works. A shame if it never got in the people's hands!

Is that picture from Canjam new york 2019? Exciting to hear that a Cavalli product is on the way. But it looks too much industrial. I think aesthetically, it can do better.

 

[heliosphann]

Is that picture from Canjam new york 2019? Exciting to hear that a Cavalli product is on the way. But it looks too much industrial. I think aesthetically, it can do better.

No, I think it was from CanJam So-Cal 2017. Before Cavalli shuttered.

 

[ahossam]

The E2 is much more neutral than the Elear. I owned the Elear, but had too many sonic issue with it. It can be a fun headphone for bass heavy tracks, but all in all, I found it too bloated in the bass vs a sort of suck-out in the mids and highs. The tonal characteristic I would describe as veiled.

The E2 is much more neutral. But this does not always translate into listening pleasure. Tonally, some people might prefer the warmer, bassier sound with lots of slam that characterizes the Elear. Technically, however, the E2 is on a whole different level - detail retrieval, texture etc.

Hope that helps.

Thank you, I had Elear pairing it with Mjolnir and Gungnir its really fun headphone, looking forward to audition Ether 2.

 

[Odin412]

Thanks for that. Just had a quick search for the Liquid Platinum and see there is a company called Monolith who are producing the design. Going a little off topic here but I wonder if Cavalli will license their designs to other companies to produce? I recall seeing excellent show reviews of his last full size valve amp (which I don't think ever went into production and can't recall the name) being used to drive Ether Flows. Unfortunately I never heard any Cavalli amps but I believe they were up with the best of any headphone amp producer.

Yes, Monoprice licensed the Liquid Platinum and Liquid Spark designs and are now selling them. I have the Liquid Platinum and it is excellent. Massdrop licensed the Liquid Carbon and Cavalli Tube Hybrid (CTH) designs and you can find drops there from time to time. No word yet on other Cavalli designs, but many on these forums are hoping and waiting.

 

[Xcalibur255]

I use this set up in my office and the Inspire IHA-1 sounds absolutely wonderful with the Ether 2. I highly recommend the pairing. So smooth and liquid with surprisingly good bass. I have spent a lot of hours recently listening to this pairing while I am working at home. It replaced the Utopia that I was using. I think you would enjoy this very much!

I've been trying to talk myself into selling my IHA-1 because I also own a custom made amp that, in all honestly, simply out-performs it. But I'm one of those people who gets attached to things so I can't quite convince myself to do it. Been listening to the Inpsire a lot lately in a counter-intuitive attempt to convince myself to let it go and strangely enough that plan isn't working.

 

[ra990]

After over 150 hours, I'm really starting to notice how nice the sound stage has opened up on these. Maybe it's brain burn in, but they seem a lot wider sounding when the music calls for it than they did just a while ago.

 

[FangJoker]

Thanks for that. Just had a quick search for the Liquid Platinum and see there is a company called Monolith who are producing the design. Going a little off topic here but I wonder if Cavalli will license their designs to other companies to produce? I recall seeing excellent show reviews of his last full size valve amp (which I don't think ever went into production and can't recall the name) being used to drive Ether Flows. Unfortunately I never heard any Cavalli amps but I believe they were up with the best of any headphone amp producer.

The reason why I am considering adding the Liquid Platinum or Liquid Glass to the E2 is because I think it could use a smidge of tubiness without going with a regular tube amp. I typically don't like tube amps, but a good tube/ss hybrid is something I like and do not currently own at the moment. And the HMS which seems like an almost must buy from what everyone is saying. But if I'm going to blow that kinda money then maybe I should consider just getting a DAVE instead. I think most opinions that I've heard has the DAVE bettering the TT2 and HMS. I'd also like to listen to the Voce, but I'd have to travel to a can jam or maybe drive to Cali to hear it. Does mrspeakers hq have setups to demo? Driving to SD is a realistic option for me too. But getting into electrostatic gear is something I've been avoiding for years.

Upgraditis is a disease I've shaken before but I have to force myself to avoid review sites and HF for a few years, but I seemingly can't stop this time. I think I might be getting married next year and we've talked about upgrading to a more modern home as we live in a nice starter home, but isn't really the dream house I'd like to retire in so there's really more important things I should prioritize and I could always come back to this hobby. I'm sure that Dan and the rest of the industry will have a lot more goodies waiting for me if I do take a break.

 

[zappazappazappa]

The reason why I am considering adding the Liquid Platinum or Liquid Glass to the E2 is because I think it could use a smidge or tubiness without going with a tube amp. I typically don't like tube amps, but a good hybrid is something I like and do not currently own at the moment. And the HMS which seems like an almost must buy from what everyone is saying. But if I'm going to blow that kinda money then maybe I should consider just getting a DAVE instead. I think most opinions that I've heard has the DAVE bettering the TT2 and HMS. I'd also like to listen to the Voce, but I'd have to travel to a can jam or maybe drive to Cali to hear it. Does mrspeakers hq have setups to demo? Driving to SD is a realistic option for me too. But getting into electrostatic gear is something I've been avoiding for years.

Upgraditis is a disease I've shaken before but I have to force myself to avoid review sites and HF for a few years, but I seemingly can't stop this time. I think I might be getting married next year and we've talked about upgrading to a more modern home as we live in a nice starter home, but isn't really the dream house I'd like to retire in so there's really more important things I should prioritize and I could always come back to this hobby. I'm sure that Dan and the rest of the industry will have a lot more goodies waiting for me if I do take a break.

House or Hifi! Surely it's got to be house? If you do go the Hifi route I really liked the TT2/M-Scaler combo, which excited me more than Dave (which I've heard a couple of times at shows), when I heard it at last years CanJam London. Also I believe the Ether 2's are quite low sensitivity - 95db? The headphone amp on the TT2 is much more powerful than the Dave Headphone amp so I would have thought the TT2 better able to drive the Ether 2's?
Point taken about upgraditis - a terrible affliction! I had a year off purchasing hifi but am now back on the treadmill!

 

[FangJoker]

Maybe the upcoming pad options can tweak the sound enough to bump up the sq. I really like these and feel that they are great all rounders, but I can see why some don't like them. It might not be the best in any category, but they are not weak in any either and they play well with metal and 80s and 90s music.