[ginetto61]

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 |

 

[KCXT]

Picked up one of these to try along with a THX 789 but also against my Emotiva A-100. Little later this n the game but with prices coming down as they are the gap between this and the THX amps isn't what it used to be. Great time to be in this hobby.

 

[KCXT]

The Spark arrived today - solid little unit for $100. Feels of good quality and the knob has a solid feel and turns smoothly, though the buttons feel 'OK' and not as premium. Nothing else to say here that hasn't been said a number of times elsewhere. Definitely runs warm, much warmer than my Emotiva.

Have had a chance to compare with the A-100 in stock mode, so the full 220-ohm output impedance (no jumpers). Listening through my DT 1990s with analytical pads. My source is an LG V30 (Slow Quad DAC setting, no EQ) outputting Spotify Premium HQ downloaded tracks via the headphone jack into RCA, so the LG Quad DAC is doing the conversion. Wide range of songs from Cake, Metallica, In This Moment, various rap artists, the Eagles, A Perfect Circle, and some Beethoven String Quartet recordings that I enjoy. Environment is my pretty-quiet office and I find myself listening on low gain at about 2:00 on the dial with the LG at 70/75 on its volume, which overall is a pretty solid volume level. No signs of stress pushing these headphones.

There's a post from someone at Emotiva floating around here that states they went with the 220 ohm to emulate old-school headphone output sound of past stereos and I can understand that vibe. Right off the bat the Liquid Spark bass is tighter and the treble a bit crisper than the Emotiva (mids are very comparable), maybe a touch less sibilant than the Emotiva but that could definitely be in my head. Output impedance difference could be contributing to tonal difference since plugging the 1990s directly into my V30 gets me a sound pretty much matching the Liquid Spark and I perceive no bass bloat when using the Emotiva as a speaker amp with the JBL Studio 530s on my desk.

I heard some very soft background hi-hat counts in the intro of Forever by Kid Rock that I'd never heard before along with someone (Gwen?) smacking their lips ever so slightly at the 6-second mark of Hella Good. Could be the amp, could be me, could be both, who knows, but I'll give it a listen again when I go back to the Emotiva and see if they're perceptible. Dynamics and detail are great, evidenced by the various string quartet recordings.

Soundstage is a bit smaller than the Emotiva and a song or two sounded more 'processed' but for the most part things sound great. I'll say that for imaging it's really interesting hearing the quartet performers breathe during quiet moments as it imparts a sense of their exact location. Those breaths do sound like they're coming from 'above' my perception of the instrument sources and closer to the mics so I'd say imaging is more than satisfactory.

No huge faults thus far with this $100 amp and I'll post again after the 789 arrives.

 

[KCXT]

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.

 

[ronnco]

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.

 

[ronnco]

Heads up! You can get the Liquid Spark today for about $80 with free shipping from Monoprice. Discount code Liquid20.

 

[KCXT]

Heads up! You can get the Liquid Spark today for about $80 with free shipping from Monoprice. Discount code Liquid20.

Nice! A smoking deal indeed.

 

[crippledchicken]

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!

 

[big45-70]

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?

 

[SLCanhead]

It's been a while since I have been around these parts, but I was recently looking for some open headphones for my guitar/bass modeler. My custom IEMs sound good but can be a bit too isolating/closed in and are not as much a "fun" listen - great for their purpose though. Not to mention, I don't mind having a nice set of full size cans for general listening when speakers are too disruptive. I picked up the Sennheiser HD 58x - sound great through all my sources, being relatively easy to drive. Then, I found this thread and now...

laptop (Equalizer APO) -> iBasso D7 (DAC) -> Liquid Spark -> Sennheiser HD 58x or Emotiva Airmotiv 4/NHT super 8 sub

Yeah, I think I can get used to this...great pairing with the 58x as mentioned. Nice preamp for my speakers as well.

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 think I am all set. Thanks all...

 

[Sharpty]

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 highly recommend checking out BlueSpartan's custom EQ profile for the 58X. For a while I was using the automatically generated EQ profile from AutoEQ on Github, then I came across BlueSpartan's EQ and now I can't listen to the 58X without it.

Here's the profile, you might have to change the file extension from .txt to .peace before you drop it in your EQ APO config folder. You will need to turn down the preamp gain to -5.3dB to avoid clipping.

 

[Sharpty]

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?

The stock PSU is 36V 1.25A, which is more power than the LS will ever use. You'll be fine with a 36V 1A power supply. It uses a 5.5mm jack which is the most common size, you can find lots of them on amazon. I would avoid the absolute cheapest ones, because not all SMPS are created equal, some have more or less filtering. If you can find one with a 3 prong (grounded) AC cable, that's what I would probably go for, altho it's not necessary.

 

[Shane D]

The Spark and the HD58X's are just about the best values in head-fi. Add in a cheapie DAC (D10, D30, E30, etc.) and you have a Great economy system!

Too bad the general public doesn't know how "cheaply" you can get into a quality head-fi system.

 

[Aradea]

Subbed

 

[tim0chan]

Subbed

You can just press the "watch this thread button" instead of unnecessarily spamming