Is it true that it is recommended to buy better quality tubes than those that come standard on the LP? Could someone confirm that information to me or does the LP sound great with their own tubes?
Monoprice Monolith Liquid Platinum - By Alex Cavalli
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LP sounds amazing with stock EH tubes it comes with. I also have genelex gold lions, depending on the headphones they match up nicely. Obviously some nice old school NOS tubes would be different/better depending how you'd like to change the sound and for whatever headphones.
Lots of good tube info in this thread - https://www.head-fi.org/threads/monoprice-liquid-platinum-tube-rollers.898852/page-23#post-14834958
In short, the LP sounds good with stock tubes, and sounds killer with upgraded NOS tubes.
nwavesailor
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"What is that?"............"It's a rabbit hole"..............."What is a rabbit hole?"............."It is where folks just getting into tube audio go!!!"..............."Is it safe to go down the rabbit hole?......................."SURE, what could possibly go wrong!!!"
Been there and done that! I am so far down the hole there is no getting out, and there is no place I would rather be.
LCMusicLover
Headphoneus Supremus
Generally, I agree with other posters. However, I fall into the 'LP is significantly better with upgraded tubes' camp.
To my ears, with my cans, etc., LP didn't really shine with stock tubes. My first goal was to 'fix' Utopia. I had always found it a bit 'sharp' with my SS amps.
2 different SS amp upgrades (V280, BHA-1). Went from ES9038PRO-based DAC to R2R DAC. Various cable swaps -- settled on Lazuli Reference. Pad swaps -- Dekoni fenestrated, Elex -- actually listened with Elex pads for quite some time -- until LP showed up.
Stock EH tubes didn't get me there. Gold LIons turned the corner, and then some other NOS tubes really did the job. I've settled on NOS Siemens CCa tubes as the best LP/Utopia fit. Warmer, still detailed, not 'sharp' anymore, very musical. CCa are also great with my Blackwood Auteur.
For Empyrean I preferred my Brimar CV-2492s. A little brighter, and a bit more dynamic. Not a huge difference though. My RAD-0, Ether 2 and HEKv2 like both. And Auteur can go either way as well but slightly prefer the CCa.
Ether 2 are a bit of a special case. I DIDN'T like them with the stock tubes, as they seemed flat and lifeless. The Gold Lions weren't much of an improvement. But when I got to the Siemens (E88CC) tubes E2 really opened up. CCa are even better. Very 3-d headstage with great depth. A little more space with the Brimar tubes and a more 'delicate' sound. Very noticeable on acoustic music. Conversely, a little beefier bass with the Siemens tubes, and better for rock.
pichu
500+ Head-Fier
Just wanted to point out to all here that i got my Liquid Platinum for $475 from Monoprice right now. Theyre giving a super good deal on open box items!
Good stuff. Another tube that does not get enough credit and pairs extremely well with LP, is the Holland made Bugle Boy 6dj8/ECC88. They can be found for under $100.
^^ Got my "open box" LP today. It came with the box taped shut, with the tape assuring me that it had been inspected before shipped to me. Their inspectors must be Larry, Moe and Schemp. The unit that arrived at my door was not only seriously defective. It was also dangerous.
It was stuck in the "on" position, regardless of whether the power button was pushed in or out. It could only be turned off by pulling the power cord, which causes sparks (and gosh knows what else). The pins of one of the tubes were bent--not far off, but enough to notice and enough not to fit properly in the tube socket. I applied enough gentle adjustment allowing the tube to sit as it should in the socket. However as soon as the amp was plugged in (with the power switch in what is supposed to be the "off" position), one tube began glowing, while the one with the bent pins did not. That tube, its socket and/or something(s) in the box are defective. The red LED lit immediately, but it never moved to white. This was not a surprise in light of the rest of the issues.
If my experience is the norm, it is clear that not even minimal checking (e.g. assembling the amp and turning it on) is done. If they are doing anything, it must be a cursory visual inspection and checking to see that all parts were returned.
It's worth adding that I have other tube and hybrid amps and that this is my second LP. So I am familiar with how the LP should be assembled and work. I will be placing a call with MP customer service tomorrow morning. I have serious doubts that I can trust them to replace what they sent me with a reliable and properly performing amp--certainly not from their "open box" inventory.
It was stuck in the "on" position, regardless of whether the power button was pushed in or out. It could only be turned off by pulling the power cord, which causes sparks (and gosh knows what else). The pins of one of the tubes were bent--not far off, but enough to notice and enough not to fit properly in the tube socket. I applied enough gentle adjustment allowing the tube to sit as it should in the socket. However as soon as the amp was plugged in (with the power switch in what is supposed to be the "off" position), one tube began glowing, while the one with the bent pins did not. That tube, its socket and/or something(s) in the box are defective. The red LED lit immediately, but it never moved to white. This was not a surprise in light of the rest of the issues.
If my experience is the norm, it is clear that not even minimal checking (e.g. assembling the amp and turning it on) is done. If they are doing anything, it must be a cursory visual inspection and checking to see that all parts were returned.
It's worth adding that I have other tube and hybrid amps and that this is my second LP. So I am familiar with how the LP should be assembled and work. I will be placing a call with MP customer service tomorrow morning. I have serious doubts that I can trust them to replace what they sent me with a reliable and properly performing amp--certainly not from their "open box" inventory.
That is a bummer! Just to clarify, you never want to plug in the power supply with the power switch pushed in, which is the on position.
The power switch was in the out/off position when I plugged it in. That said, someone unfamiliar with the unit may not know what position it is in if the unit arrived with the power switch in the power "on" position. This is certainly something that could be improved in a next generation or earlier.
xiorath
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Hey guys, I recently got a good steal on ebay of the LP and looking for some advice. I'm planning on using them paired with the Sennheiser HD800S. I'm coming from a Schiit Valhalla 2 Amp and a Modi Multibit Dac. What tubes would you recommend since the Sennheiser's are known to be quite bright without proper tubes? I ordered a pair of JJ 6922 Gold Pin tubes but looking for other opinions and options as well in case I don't care for them too much. Taking a good look at the Siemens E88CC tubes(Are the E88CCA variants worth the extra 70$ for a pair?), I'm pretty tempted to drop two bills on a pair of those.. Also, will my DAC be holding the SQ back much? I listen to a lot of electronic music and do a lot of PC gaming (So imaging, sound stage and bass slam is pretty important)
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Congrats on a getting a killer amp! The Liquid Platinum is quite transparent and can be affected quite a bit from using different dacs. I highly recommend the Amperex Holland made Bugle Boy 6dj8/ecc88.
Also lots of good tube info in this thread.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/monoprice-liquid-platinum-tube-rollers.898852/page-33
Welcome to the club!
I recently bought an open-box from Monoprice and so far no problems with it. Great amp! Much more musical than my Massdrop THX AAA 789 while still maintaing excellent resolution and detail retrieval. Looking forward to trying the Gold Lions I just ordered. 
xiorath
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thanks man! your post got me worried so it made me take a splurg on a Topping D70.. for a Dac upgrade. Now I remember why I stopped coming to Head-Fi unless im dead set on upgrading lol. I also ended up going with a pair of the 1961 Amperex PQ 6922/E88CC White labled USA Gold Pin with matching serials for 225$ from a ebay seller you linked to in another thread and found them mentioned on joes tubes recommendations as it sounds like they're the perfect match for me.
I plan on doing some more tube rolling and will probably be picking up a pair of the ones you recommended as well just to see what they're all about
Welp, thats about 1300$ in the hole but I'm sure the entire upgrade will be worth it. They should all be coming around the same time so hooking up a whole new system to the HD800/S is going to be pretty damn exciting.
Oh, are there any particular XLR cables that I need? This is my first time diving into using balanced cables. I was just going to grab some basic ones from monoprice.
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