Monoprice Monolith Liquid Platinum - By Alex Cavalli

Nov 9, 2020 at 3:16 PM Post #3,376 of 5,245
I had my eye on this for a while, but was reluctant with many noting volume control issues, that seem to have been corrected.

Hope the order goes through. Shipping was free, but LP was taxed.
You have 30 days to return the unit and a 5-year replacement warranty. I shipped my first LP back due to the channel imbalance issues and the replacement unit is much better (no channel imbalance at 10 o'clock on the volume dial despite still having that jump in gain at 11:30. That said, leaving the volume dial at 1:30 and controlling your volume via your DAC or preamp is a workaround to this issue.
 
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Nov 9, 2020 at 3:44 PM Post #3,377 of 5,245
You have 30 days to return the unit and a 5-year replacement warranty. I shipped my first LP back to the channel imbalance issues and the replacement unit is much better (no channel imbalance at 10 o'clock on the volume dial despite still having that jump in gain at 11:30. That said, leaving the volume dial at 1:30 and controlling your volume via your DAC or preamp is a workaround to this issue.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. I plan to use the balanced SMSL SU-8 DAC which has a nice remote interface for volume and other functions. I run most of my amps at fixed volume, and control it either with the DAC, or my foobar2000 player I use on my Windows machines.
 
Nov 9, 2020 at 4:00 PM Post #3,378 of 5,245
Thanks, I will keep that in mind. I plan to use the balanced SMSL SU-8 DAC which has a nice remote interface for volume and other functions. I run most of my amps at fixed volume, and control it either with the DAC, or my foobar2000 player I use on my Windows machines.

I enjoy this combo. I am actually leery of upgrading to a DAC without a volume setting.
 
Nov 11, 2020 at 5:12 PM Post #3,380 of 5,245
Anyone try the LP with Diana V2? If so, how was/is your experience?
The LP sounds fantastic with my TC’s. It also paired well with the Diana Phi’s I had before upgrading to the TC’s. I can’t imagine the Diana V2’s would be any different.
 
Nov 12, 2020 at 4:33 PM Post #3,381 of 5,245
just finished the Cap mod up on mine.. 12$ in parts from mouser, got em overnight, they are close by. Pretty easy cap swap. Just fired it up an hour ago, no magic smoke. Ended up doing Elna Silmic 470UF x 3, 10UF x 2, and a Nichicon 100UF "UKZ" aka "Muse", for the front XLR cap, as recommended by ksorota. Desoldering was a little harder then typical, but not too bad. the muse caps where only available in 50v, had to trim the leads a bit to get them to fit.

Edit for clarity : "Trim the leads" means reducing the radius of the wire, as it was physically to thick to fit though the hole. I used a small bench grinder with a smooth stone wheel. Ideally you could get the cap in a lower voltage, which would have smaller leads.
 

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Nov 12, 2020 at 4:42 PM Post #3,382 of 5,245
just finished the Cap mod up on mine.. 12$ in parts from mouser, got em overnight, they are close by. Pretty easy cap swap. Just fired it up an hour ago, no magic smoke. Ended up doing Elna Silmic 470UF x 3, 10UF x 2, and a Nichicon 100UF "UKZ" aka "Muse", for the front XLR cap, as recommended by ksorota. Desoldering was a little harder then typical, but not too bad. the muse caps where only available in 50v, had to trim the leads a bit to get them to fit.
So what do you think of the sound?
 
Nov 12, 2020 at 4:59 PM Post #3,384 of 5,245
I'm curious as well. What is the purpose of the electrolytic caps? Personally, I find the mids a bit thick for my taste. Does it bring the thickness down slightly? Tighter bass would be an improvement as well.
That's exactly what the cap mod does, opens up the sound and improves the frequency response across the board. I thought the LP is stock form sounded a bit congested. All of that went away with the cap mod and a set of tube adapters to go from the 6922 to the 12UA7 family of tubes.
 
Nov 12, 2020 at 7:10 PM Post #3,385 of 5,245
That's exactly what the cap mod does, opens up the sound and improves the frequency response across the board. I thought the LP is stock form sounded a bit congested. All of that went away with the cap mod and a set of tube adapters to go from the 6922 to the 12UA7 family of tubes.
As much as I like the case, it's a shame it does quite heavily limit how big 'n' fancy caps we could potentially swap in...
 
Nov 12, 2020 at 9:18 PM Post #3,386 of 5,245
As much as I like the case, it's a shame it does quite heavily limit how big 'n' fancy caps we could potentially swap in...
So true, because apparently they make a difference to the sound.
 
Nov 12, 2020 at 10:40 PM Post #3,388 of 5,245
I think most of these caps are power supply stuff, Im not familiar enough with the design of the LP to know if it uses a "Coupling Cap" or anything directly in the signal path. I kind of doubt it, because usually if that is the case, the designer can at least spring for Wima's,(a film cap, vs electrolytic) for this critical role. Considering, there are likely no caps directly in the signal path, they are slightly less important. However, a lower noise, higher performing cap in the power supply circuitry should deliver superior results. I want to refrain from making any comments with regards to audio quality on freshly installed caps. I'll comment when they have 150 hours on them, and I have had longer to listen.
 
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Nov 13, 2020 at 10:34 AM Post #3,389 of 5,245
Just got my new toy to pair with my Liquid Platinum!!!

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Nov 13, 2020 at 10:39 AM Post #3,390 of 5,245
Wow nice man, I use an RME ADI-2. I have used Schiit before, I enjoyed the pairing with Bifrost 1, for awhile. Im way to spoiled by the feature set of the adi now. I can't live without hardware level PEQ.
 
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