[Radio_head]

Looks to be totally solid state.  (Says solid state and I don't see any through the "holy yin/yang" on top)

 

[sillysally]

Yes but, in his review he states "The CLL doesn’t have costly upgrade options, and it doesn’t need expensive NOS tubes to sound great." That tells me there may be tubes in the LL. That's why I am asking for a clarification.

 

[n3rdling]

The LL is SS.
 
I am going to be busy for a bit but skimmed the review.  Question: what amps have you owned in the past/now that you've listened to with the SR009?  The Woo WEE (that's all I saw mentioned, but again I skimmed)?  And the rest of the comparisons are from a meet with different sources?

 

[livewire]

SS uh yeah, so what's under the hood?
Design topology begs to be seen. Not just a front panel.
Guess we'll just have to wait for some early adopters.

 

[sridhar3]

Quote:

Yes but, in his review he states "The CLL doesn’t have costly upgrade options, and it doesn’t need expensive NOS tubes to sound great." That tells me there may be tubes in the LL. That's why I am asking for a clarification.

 
It's a pure solid state amplifier.  There are no tubes.  I was just pointing out that there are no expenditures to be made on upgrading the amplifier, which would be an issue with one of the electrostatic tube amps already available on the market.
 
 
Quote:

I am going to be busy for a bit but skimmed the review.  Question: what amps have you owned in the past/now that you've listened to with the SR009?  The Woo WEE (that's all I saw mentioned, but again I skimmed)?  And the rest of the comparisons are from a meet with different sources?

 
Virtue TWO.2 -> WEE is what I was using prior to receiving the CLL (and after I sent it back).  The rest of the comparisons are from several meets, with different sources, as you have mentioned.  I can give a better comparison once my BHSE comes in, but the ETA on that amplifier is not an element that is within my control.  I'm not rich, and I haven't been in the electrostatic game for particularly long.  If you feel my review lacks credibility, and my comparisons are suboptimal, then your point is well taken.
 
All that said, I never represented this to be anything other than my own opinion, and I did qualify my "Comparisons" section with the admission that my listening experience with competing electrostatic amplifiers has been brief.  If this doesn't stand up to your level of scientific scrutiny and personal standards for comparative analysis, and you've subsequently concluded that the review is "useless", you're certainly entitled to your opinion.
 
 
Quote:

SS uh yeah, so what's under the hood?
Design topology begs to be seen. Not just a front panel.
Guess we'll just have to wait for some early adopters.

I was hoping to open the amplifier up, but the prototype case is apparently not easy to crack open.  Even so, though, I did not request permission to photograph the innards.  I'm not sure that would've been acceptable, as it's a prototype.

 

[Elysian]

Thanks for the great impressions.  Glad the LL is coming out, as it's great to have another high-end SS option for people, particularly given how a few people have noted it has a noticeable different character to the BH/BHSE.  Wonderful pics too (many and detailed), and it's completely understandable that you wouldn't publicly photograph a lent prototype without the designer's permission.  Though I am not familiar with the Cary and Audiophilleo, based upon comparable impressions I've heard (from gear that I do know) from people I trust, it should have been a very solid pairing.
 
Given the gear you've mentioned to me that you're putting together, you should have a wonderful system coming together in the next 6-12 months.
 
It's always interesting when you take a piece of gear out of a chain and it sounds like the life has been sucked out entirely.  I've been wondering if that's chalked up to personal preference towards a specific signature, which gets further solidified over time, and have been doing blind tests every few weeks to see if it's really just in my head, or if I actually notice if something is taken out.
 
Anyway, I've found it difficult to go back to the dynamic sound after living with stats for awhile.  Will be giving the Audeze cans yet another shot to see whether or not it's prejudice on my part.

 

[Argo Duck]

Great work sridhar3. Thoughtful and comprehensive, there's a lot packed into this review. This type of gear is not on my radar, but reading this was well worthwhile. Cheers!

 

[dBel84]

 
Quote:

It did nothing wrong and most everything right.  It had an element of emotion and musicality that I felt simply didn’t exist with the BHSE.
 
I personally liked the SR-009 with the CLL better than with the BHSE, but the O2Mk1 with the BHSE represented an excellent combination.
 

I am looking forward to hearing the final product which I anticipate will have more headroom but similar character..dB
 

 

[sillysally]

I hope you are right about the sound-stage. That's the one thing that is slowing me down getting a LL, the other is I am waiting for a reply from Alix.

 

[visualguy]

 
True - maybe it has a circuit that makes it worth it - we don't know yet. Also, since the review didn't compare the sound of this amp to the 727 and the KGSS, we don't know if it's worth the premium on the merits of its sound either. Basically, there isn't enough information out there yet to enable anyone to make an informed decision about whether to buy this amp or not.
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Thanks for the review. Any new solid state Stax amp is always welcome. The 727 is fine, but it's made to a price. With the KGSS gone, if you want something better than the 727 and you don't want tubes, you were basically SOL unless you're willing to build the amp yourself. I don't think the LL is terrible looking, but for $4200 I don't think it's good looking either. The Headamp KGSS was also pretty ugly, but it cost half as much. The short lived KGSS DX definitely looked better than this. The BHSE and the WES look like $5,000 components. This looks like a $1500 component. I'm not saying it needs to look as good as a Pathos or EAR, but something better than just a black slab with some blue writing would be a start. Any idea what Cavalli chose for volume control? Is it a pot or a stepper?

 

[Radio_head]

Quote:

I'm not saying it needs to look as good as a Pathos or EAR, but something better than just a black slab with some blue writing would be a start. 

This was a prototype model.  In addition to fine-tuning the innards, the chasis may also not be a final model.  (look how much they classed up the look of the LF between prototype and production model.)
 
 

 

[runeight]

Gents, I'd like to make one important clarification.
 
The LL has been described as a prototype, but it's actually a pre-production unit.
 
This means that the amp section is what will be in the production unit except for some biasing tweaks. The PS is the production PS. The transformer is the production transformer. The chassis is, more or less, the production chassis, subject modifications for additional input jacks and adjustment of board locations in the box. The output jacks are what will be in the production unit. The vol  pot will be different. And the color will no longer be blue (too hard to read), but closer to blue-white.
 
 

 

[sachu]

Quote:

Any idea what Cavalli chose for volume control? Is it a pot or a stepper?

From what little i know, the pre=production version featured in this review apparently has a stepper in it, but the production will almost surely have a potentiometer.
 
Decent write up Pras. Looking forward to hearing the amp myself soon.
 
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

From what little i know, the pre=production version featured in this review apparently has a stepper in it, but the production will almost surely have a potentiometer.
 
Decent write up Pras. Looking forward to hearing the amp myself soon.

Unless they shell out for an RK50, that's disappointing. The performance of a typical pot is mediocre at best. The KGSS cost half as much, but Headamp didn't skimp on the volume controls. Admittedly DACT SAs are not my favorite, but they are probably still better than 99% of the pots out there.