NightPhotograph
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2016
- Posts
- 24
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- 13
Thank you very much for your response. The problem is I’ve never heard ALEX Cavalli’s original amps but my experience with Massdrop Liquid Carbon X was terrible. It didn’t sound right with any of my headphones (HE-560, E-MU Teak, & HD 800S). Even my HD 800S feels like a closed back headphone with little to no instrument separation! To my ear, it has so much high bass that bleeds to the mids and does’t even give room to mid bass and sub bass to shine. So practically, no articulations. That’s why I’m on a hunt for a new amp. I was almost certain that I’d get THX AAA 789 this time but found out about Gold X which made me pause .I don't have one here to compare, but I'm pretty familiar with the sound. As @Slim1970 said above, they are pretty much polar opposites when it comes to tonality.
The THX789 is what I would call "clean, crispy and solid-state-ey without being annoying... with an emphasis on neutrality and articulation" in contrast, the Liquid Gold X is "smooth, tubey and musical with an emphasis on detail, imaging, transparency and realism."
In a comparison analogous to headphones, the THX-789 would be more of a Utopia/HD800/HD600/K702/SR-009 headphone, whereas the Liquid Gold more of a Abyss/LCD-4/Atticus/SR-007. Obviously, the net effect is lower with amplification, but I think you get where I'm going.
It seems that Crimson, Gold, and Glass created a cult in the audiophile world so I’m also curious to see what was the buzz about but as I said, Liquid Carbon X left a lot to be desired.
Any more feedback would be highly appreciated