ginetto61
1000+ Head-Fier
For what it's worth, I've read of a few LS owners trying upgraded power supplies.
The general consensus is that it's a marginal improvement and that the stock power supply is more than adequate.
Thanks ! perfect |
For what it's worth, I've read of a few LS owners trying upgraded power supplies.
The general consensus is that it's a marginal improvement and that the stock power supply is more than adequate.
I've been comparing the 789 with the Liquid Spark and A-100 for the last week. Sources/chain have been the same as above and my primary is the DT-1990, but my ATH-A900Xs and DT-990 Pros have gotten some good run as well.
Overall the Liquid Spark is a great unit and has gone toe-to-toe with the THX on most songs. Overall the mids are perhaps a bit more forward and soundstage a bit narrower, but it's only largely noticeable on certain songs with no clear rhyme or reason (eg not genre-specific, artist-specific, etc). For most content I'm playing things are nearly indistinguishable from one to the other or with only a nominal change in mids/soundstage. One thing I'll note though is that the preamp outs are not straight passthrough like the 789 - the signal does run through the gain structure, if not the entire amplifier section, so does color the sound for anything down the chain. Some might not care but it was something I listened for and I felt I could perceive a change in my speakers (JBL 530s) when the Emotiva speaker amp was fed post-Spark vs the super-clean sound the A-100 puts out when fed direct from my source. I also found at times that it felt like the Spark maybe gave a bit more headroom to my DT1990s vs the THX, even in lower-gain mode. Both had plenty of juice though and I'm not saying that definitively and sure not backing it up with any measurements, just a general feeling.
While the Spark and THX sound very similar to me they're both different flavors than the Emotiva. As I noted in my first post the A-100's stock headphone sound is, per Emotiva, meant to be rounder and more 'old school'. The bass is bigger than either the Spark or THX but it's also a bit warmer across the spectrum; for example, the quiet hi-hats in the the 'Forever' intro that I mention in my first post are not audible when using the A-100 but they're definitely there with the Spark and 789. I'd say that either the Spark or THX make a great complement to the A-100 and I'll likely run one of them along with the A-100 for variety since the A-100 will remain as my speaker amp.
I'd say that, on average, the Spark gives at least 90% of the performance at 1/3 the cost of the THX while the Emotiva is a bit of a different thing entirely (stock, not with the jumpers in). The Spark is a fantastic value and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Heads up! You can get the Liquid Spark today for about $80 with free shipping from Monoprice. Discount code Liquid20.
I ordered one Saturday for $79.99 with promo code and free shipping. My first, headphone amp ever but I figured at that price I'd give it a go!Heads up! You can get the Liquid Spark today for about $80 with free shipping from Monoprice. Discount code Liquid20.
The equalizer with a bass bump at around 40/60/80 and just a slight roll off at 10k and 16k sets things off to my ears.
I've been looking to pick up another power supply. I travel often and have been taking my spark with me because of its compact size, the only issue is I have to mess with my pc's cable management every time I go I take it. Anyone have any luck tracking down a second power supply for the spark?
You can just press the "watch this thread button" instead of unnecessarily spammingSubbed