Monoprice Monolith Liquid Spark - By Alex Cavalli

[antdroid]

Well, may you have more discipline and self-control than I did, that is if that is what you really want .

As a follow-up... Nope. No self control. None at all.

Will be listening to a new amp early next week.

 

[muckyfingers]

Here’s what’s under the hood.

Could you take a picture of it next to or on top of the Liquid Carbon? Fully cased of course, I’m trying to gauge the overall size of it.

 

[Hansotek]

Could you take a picture of it next to or on top of the Liquid Carbon? Fully cased of course, I’m trying to gauge the overall size of it.

Sorry, I had to send it off to the next reviewer.

 

[leeperry]

Here’s what’s under the hood.

Awesome, thanks! Any chance for macros please? Just to know what we're buying, especially those opamps

 

[muckyfingers]

Oh, well I’m sure someone will post a pic sooner or later. Or I’ll probably pick one up before then.

 

[Hansotek]

Awesome, thanks! Any chance for macros please? Just to know what we're buying, especially those opamps

Sorry, I don’t have this board anymore. These pics are from a few months ago.

 

[smallcaps]

Updated product page with more details

 

[Odin412]

Well look what the friendly UPS driver dropped off earlier today:

 

[smallcaps]

@Odin412 you tease! Come on, let's go! Impressions?

 

[GenEricOne]

I dropped this review in the actual gear section, but figured I'd post it here for convenience as well. Alex Cavalli contacted me directly and asked if I'd like to test and review a production-grade Liquid Spark prior to release, which I was happy to do.

It’s a good day for anyone with an interest in inexpensive headphone amps! The Liquid Spark, currently available through Monoprice for a penny shy of $100, occupies the same market space as the Schiit Magni 3. I found the Magni 3 to be a great sounding amplifier, and it really set the bar for amps in its price range. I’m happy to say the Liquid Spark is a worthy competitor. (TL;DR at bottom.)

The amps seem near identical in form and function. Both are solid state, have pre-outs, have a gain switch, are of a similar size, and utilize an external power supply. I had no issues driving my HD650 with ease on both amps, so they both have plenty of power to spare for about anything you might toss at them.

That the two products basically do the exact same thing on a functional level is good, because it makes the review easy by allowing me to only focus on sound quality.

If I had to generalize right off the bat, I’d say the Liquid Spark sounds a little more like a good tube amp, while still clearly not being a tube amp, whereas the Magni 3 sounds a little more like a good solid state amp. That said, they sound more similar than not, especially if you take a step back and hear their similar tone and presentation in a broad scope: slight warmth, agreeable treble, but close enough to neutral to not necessarily be called colored.

The Liquid Spark has a more spacious, layered sound and gives the midrange more room to breathe as it wishes. It’s a little more laid-back sounding. Again, not too unlike a good tube amp here. The Magni 3 retains a common characteristic I hear from many Schiit amps in that it’s rather forward sounding and a little two-dimensional at times.

However, the Magni 3 does benefit from its forward nature in that it’s a more dynamic and engaging sounding amp. While I’m likely to give the nod to the Liquid Spark for micro-dynamics and nuances, the Magni 3 excels with a sense of muscle. That’s not to say the Liquid Spark isn’t dynamic. It drives the HD650 without making it sound lean or strained, so it has plenty of weight to throw around on its own.

Interestingly enough, I find the Liquid Spark to have slightly cleaner, tighter sounding bass. It took me a while to get over the Magni 3 sounding more powerful in the low end, a main contributor to a sense of macro-dynamics, but inevitably the lower octaves on the Magni 3 started to sound a tiny bit rounded and bloomy in comparison. Still, both have that characteristically clean low-end as you’d hope to find in a good solid-state amp, so I’m splitting hairs here.

Circling back to my comments on the midrange, that’s where I really found the Liquid Spark to do what it does best. The Magni 3’s midrange and treble response can at times sound a bit strained or have the slightest sheen to it, despite being an overall warmer and very agreeable sounding amp. This is the sort of quality you really only notice in direct comparisons, so it’s subtle. The Liquid Spark, on the other hand, has more of an organic ease to the sound, giving everything a natural tone, timbre, and plenty of space to ebb and flow naturally. It has a more natural sense of space, captures reverb a bit better, and sounds a little more graceful overall.

It’s that quality, along with the spacious, airy nature of the Liquid Spark, which reminds me more of a good tube amp. The downside is one might find the midrange and treble to be a bit softer or bloomier sounding than they would like. Nonetheless, I found the amp to never lose details and nuances, as its overall resolution was quite good and at least as good, if not slightly better, than the Magni 3.

If I had to nitpick in one other, related area, it’s that the Liquid Spark’s airy sort of nature can at time give the sense that its background isn’t as clear or black as it should be. The Magni 3 does well in this regard. Though it would up the cost dramatically, perhaps the Spark would benefit from a LPSU?

Overall, the Magni 3’s characteristics are a little more brute-force-like. This plays into its strengths (power, macro-dynamics, engagement, clarity, sharpness) but also its weaknesses (a little too forward, slightly bloomy bass, slightly strained mids and treble in specific use cases).

The Liquid Spark seems internally work with more ease and less intense focus. Again, its strengths are the tube-like midrange and treble performance, clean bass, spaciousness, nuance, and so on. But those wishing for an incredibly sharp and focused sounding amp may want to look elsewhere.

Personally, I’m a little fonder of the Liquid Spark’s presentation. It strikes a really nice balance across the board to my ears. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s outright better than the Magni 3, because tastes will play a big role here. Simply put, they’re both excellent amps with an insanely low price point. I’m still amazed at the sound quality both amps offer given their price relative to common offerings from even a few years back. Take your pick, and either will suit you well!

TL;DR

- Comparing to Magni 3, since they basically occupy the exact same space in market (price, function, etc.).

- Spark is a little more tube-like, with a more spacious, layered sound, liquid mids and treble, and a more graceful sound overall. Better micro-dynamics. But some may find its mids and treble just a hair too soft.

- Magni 3 tends to brute-force the sound more, being more forward, aggressive, having greater macro-dynamics, but also has the benefits of sounding more focused, sharper, clearer, and having a blacker background. But it does sound a little strained compared to the Spark.

- Both have similar overall tone, i.e. slightly warm, agreeable, but not too far off neutral.

- Magni 3 may have slightly more rounded bass.

- Both are a steal at $100. Just pick what suits your preferences best.

- Spark may benefit from LPSU, but you’re looking at a significant price bump then.

I've been using my Spark and comparing it to my Magni 3 since I got it earlier today and my observations are almost completely in line with this. Only difference is, I'm not sure I heard the same strain from the Magni 3, if anything there was more from the Spark (but only a weird incident with the M1060C, see below).

I tested it on my modded TH-X00 PH, Dekoni Blues, Monoprice M1060C, and HD6XX. I'm not sure there was much difference between the Spark and the Magni 3 on the TH-X00, but the other three headphones more clearly differentiated the amps. The HD6XX especially so.

Both are good pairings with all the headphones, just different tastes.

There was a brief issue I had with the M1060C, where it sounded really strained and anemic for a 15min period on the Spark and then went away after a session back on the Magni 3. Maybe I didn't plug it in all the way? Hopefully it was user error.

Super minor usability nitpick about the Spark, but the gain switch basically useless, just +3dB. I don't have any IEMs or particularly sensitive headphones, nor did I use any headphones that required turning the knob past 12 o'clock on low gain, so I don't ever have a need to switch to or from either mode and can't really tell any differences.

Listening chain setup: Apple Music > Eitr > Mimby > Loki (bypass mode) > Y adapter > Magni 3 and Spark.

Really liking the Spark and excited to use it more going forward. Will be bringing to work where it will replace my Fulla 2 (will probably pair it with my now-unused D50).

 

[smallcaps]

I've been using my Spark and comparing it to my Magni 3 since I got it earlier today and my observations are almost completely in line with this. Only difference is, I'm not sure I heard the same strain from the Magni 3, if anything there was more from the Spark (but only a weird incident with the M1060C, see below).

I tested it on my modded TH-X00 PH, Dekoni Blues, Monoprice M1060C, and HD6XX. I'm not sure there was much difference between the Spark and the Magni 3 on the TH-X00, but the other three headphones more clearly differentiated the amps. The HD6XX especially so.

Both are good pairings with all the headphones, just different tastes.

There was a brief issue I had with the M1060C, where it sounded really strained and anemic for a 15min period on the Spark and then went away after a session back on the Magni 3. Maybe I didn't plug it in all the way? Hopefully it was user error.

Super minor usability nitpick about the Spark, but the gain switch basically useless, just +3dB. I don't have any IEMs or particularly sensitive headphones, nor did I use any headphones that required turning the knob past 12 o'clock on low gain, so I don't ever have a need to switch to or from either mode and can't really tell any differences.

Listening chain setup: Apple Music > Eitr > Mimby > Loki (bypass mode) > Y adapter > Magni 3 and Spark.

Really liking the Spark and excited to use it more going forward. Will be bringing to work where it will replace my Fulla 2 (will probably pair it with my now-unused D50).

I didn't notice where the gain switch was located. Is it built into the volume pot? Thanks for sharing your impressions.

Edit: or is it that button on the front? I might have mistaken it for the pre-amp function...

 

[GenEricOne]

I didn't notice where the gain switch was located. Is it built into the volume pot? Thanks for sharing your impressions.

Edit: or is it that button on the front? I might have mistaken it for the pre-amp function...

Yep, the button on the front that isn't the power button.

 

[Jthompson300]

I went ahead and bought this, fingers crossed that it is super low noise because the 20 ohm impedance is really unforgiving when trying to go for high current with the Audeze LCD-Xc (My noisy Burson Soloist MK2 is on high gain and at 10 o’clock right now, goes to 12 when listening to stuff like old school jazz music on DSD 256 and that is comfortable. I am not hard of hearing, I don’t know, sometimes math just doesn’t work out and Audeze has their recomended min watt for a reason.)

If anything I have cables that I have used maybe twice and they cost more than this amp so nothing lost I guess.

Shame that there are no places where I live to audition amps, hopefully I can stop my search here for now until I decide to go for a one amp for all set up and spend real money.

 

[Odin412]

@Odin412 you tease! Come on, let's go! Impressions?

No problem – here are my first impressions. Please note that Cavalli recommends 100 hours of burn-in and my amp has only 4 so far, so things may change.

First, the amp feels solid and well made. The volume knob has a nice buttery feel to it. The switches and headphone jack are good but don’t have the same satisfying ‘click’ to them as on the original Liquid Carbon, but that amp costs 7x more so it’s not a fair comparison. The Liquid Spark runs warm to the touch, but it’s not hot.

So how does it sound? In short, like Cavalli amp – wonderful! I’m using the Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC and the MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Closed headphone, which incidentally was the headphone I used when I first heard the Liquid Spark prototype. Let’s skip the usual audiophile test tracks today. Let’s not take five with the girls of Ipanema and don't worry whether Keith stays or goes.

First up, On Air (Lemon 8 Remix) by Son Kite. An MP3 file – heresy! The trademark Cavalli midrange is here and the bass is surprisingly deep and juicy for such a small amp. The treble is smooth but maybe a little grainy – remember, only 4 out of 100 recommended hours so far (and MP3 doesn't help). Next, Video Games by Lana Del Rey. I love her sultry voice and I always wonder what this song is really about, although I suspect it’s not really about video games. Ah, the Cavalli midrange. So lifelike and, well, liquid. Next, some blues: Tramp by Buddy Guy. The distorted guitars can sound screechy on some systems, but not here. Moving on to Stockings by Suzanne Vega. This track has a really deep bass line, which the Liquid Spark renders really well. This is a very good-sounding and enjoyable amplifier.

I have attached a picture to compare the size next to the original Liquid Carbon. The Liquid Spark is a bit narrower and not as deep. Is the Liquid Spark as good as the Liquid Carbon? No, of course not. The Liquid Carbon has even deeper, juicier bass, more full-bodied midrange and a smoother treble, but it’s 7x the price so that’s to be expected.

In summary, if you’ve heard about the legendary Cavalli sound and want to find out for yourself what that sounds like, you owe yourself to try the Liquid Spark. At $99 it’s a steal, but be warned: If you like the Cavalli sound (like me), you’ll want more, so your wallet may not be as happy. BTW, now I realize the logic behind Monoprice offering the Liquid Spark and the Liquid Platinum: The Liquid Spark is the gateway drug to the Cavalli universe, and an inviting gateway it is.

 

[smallcaps]

No problem – here are my first impressions. Please note that Cavalli recommends 100 hours of burn-in and my amp has only 4 so far, so things may change.

First, the amp feels solid and well made. The volume knob has a nice buttery feel to it. The switches and headphone jack are good but don’t have the same satisfying ‘click’ to them as on the original Liquid Carbon, but that amp costs 7x more so it’s not a fair comparison. The Liquid Spark runs warm to the touch, but it’s not hot.

So how does it sound? In short, like Cavalli amp – wonderful! I’m using the Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC and the MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Closed headphone, which incidentally was the headphone I used when I first heard the Liquid Spark prototype. Let’s skip the usual audiophile test tracks today. Let’s not take five with the girls of Ipanema and don't worry whether Keith stays or goes.

First up, On Air (Lemon 8 Remix) by Son Kite. An MP3 file – heresy! The trademark Cavalli midrange is here and the bass is surprisingly deep and juicy for such a small amp. The treble is smooth but maybe a little grainy – remember, only 4 out of 100 recommended hours so far (and MP3 doesn't help). Next, Video Games by Lana Del Rey. I love her sultry voice and I always wonder what this song is really about, although I suspect it’s not really about video games. Ah, the Cavalli midrange. So lifelike and, well, liquid. Next, some blues: Tramp by Buddy Guy. The distorted guitars can sound screechy on some systems, but not here. Moving on to Stockings by Suzanne Vega. This track has a really deep bass line, which the Liquid Spark renders really well. This is a very good-sounding and enjoyable amplifier.

I have attached a picture to compare the size next to the original Liquid Carbon. The Liquid Spark is a bit narrower and not as deep. Is the Liquid Spark as good as the Liquid Carbon? No, of course not. The Liquid Carbon has even deeper, juicier bass, more full-bodied midrange and a smoother treble, but it’s 7x the price so that’s to be expected.

In summary, if you’ve heard about the legendary Cavalli sound and want to find out for yourself what that sounds like, you owe yourself to try the Liquid Spark. At $99 it’s a steal, but be warned: If you like the Cavalli sound (like me), you’ll want more, so your wallet may not be as happy. BTW, now I realize the logic behind Monoprice offering the Liquid Spark and the Liquid Platinum: The Liquid Spark is the gateway drug to the Cavalli universe, and an inviting gateway it is.

Very much appreciate your impressions. Thank you for sharing. For a first listen cold and before burn-in, this sounds quite promising. Can't wait to get my copy and curious how the sound will evolve after a few more hours of heating. I'll be using it with a delta sigma and hope it performs as smoothly.