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Monoprice Cavalli Liquid Spark initial impression

mi-fu

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I received the Monoprice Liquid Spark yesterday. Usually I don't buy anything without measurement or proven quality. However, it seems that Cavilli is a well respected name in the subjective audio world. And for $99 bucks, I think it is okay to take a little bit of risk. As I have no measuring equipment, nor do I have the knowledge of it, I can only talk about my impression: :D

- The build quality is decent. It feels solid and the look is not bad. It doesn't look like a cheap Made-in-China product. The volume knob is also smooth.

- With my headphones, I don't find any audible channel imbalance, unless at the extremely near silent level. I don't have IEMs with me here to test though.

- I run it with Sony MDR-V6 and Sennheiser HD 6XX. Both produce good results (subjectively). It has more than enough power for HD 6XX. I only turned the volume knob to around 10-11 o'clock level for HD 6XX, and around 9 o'clock level for MDR-V6 - both at low gain (3x) mode. (Note: I don't listen to music at loud level.)

- When I compared it with RME ADI-2 DAC (using the same DAC, but switching between the Monoprice Amp and ADI-2 headphone out), it seems to me that the Monoprice has quite some coloration (or distortion) to the music. It sounds good though, nothing irritating. I guess whether it is euphoric or not is a matter of personal taste. I still prefer the sound of ADI-2, nonetheless.

- It also seems to me that some clarity is lost while using the Monoprice amp. And maybe a bit more noise too? It doesn't sound "as clean" with ADI-2. I think we may need to wait for Amir's measurement to verify this.

- I like pairing it with Topping D50, as there is no headphone amp of the DAC. Both of them share similar dimension. It also sounds well to my ears.

- One negative though: It doesn't sound good when paired with my Philips SHP-9500. Seems a bit noisy? I don't know. Maybe some measurement data will shed light on it.

Hope it helps!
 

Sythrix

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One negative though: It doesn't sound good when paired with my Philips SHP-9500. Seems a bit noisy? I don't know.

Interesting. Do you have any less sensitive headphones to test? Do you hear a hiss when they are plugged in and there's no music?
 

derp1n

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Kal Rubinson

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What is it?
 

SIY

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Alex Cavalli has been designing headphone amps based on the White cathode follower. I think this is his attempt to use discrete solid state in a similar topology.
 
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mi-fu

mi-fu

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Interesting. Do you have any less sensitive headphones to test? Do you hear a hiss when they are plugged in and there's no music?

Unfortunately, I only have these three pairs of headphones with me here. But I don't hear a hiss when there is no music.

The problem with SHP-9500 is that the music sounds a bit "coarse" with the Monoprice amp. But it doesn't exhibit the same problem with ADI-2.
 
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mi-fu

mi-fu

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Alex Cavalli has been designing headphone amps based on the White cathode follower. I think this is his attempt to use discrete solid state in a similar topology.

Thanks for the info. I don't know much about this. I just googled it. Now I learnt something :D

I read some other forums that people claim the Cavalli amp has a "tube-like" sound. I am new to audio, so clearly I have absolutely no clue what they are talking about. :p

But I do have a Bottlehead Crack tube amp. If the Crack has a typical "tube" sound, I think the Cavalli / Monoprice amp doesn't really sound the same / similar.
 

Headphonaholic

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Interesting, mine should be arriving today. I too have the SHP9500 so I'll see if I can hear something similar. Wish I owned the Adi-2 dac myself... but I have a bunch of headphones I can test with! I'll run it with my Topping d50. I'll share my impressions tomorrow probably.
 

Headphonaholic

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I'm lucky enough to live close enough to work that I can swing by and grab the box while on my lunch break. I got the spark setup at work right now with my Topping d10. Fit and finish is nice! It looks nice and has a lot of power. So far it sounds good, no channel imbalance, no popping or clicking when going to high gain either. The power brick for it is quite large in comparison to the rather compact amp. It's a touch larger than Objective 2. Tomorrow I'll try to do some critical listening on it.
 

Headphonaholic

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Alright, I found some time to get a bit of an a/b going. I didn't feel like breaking out my Minidsp EARS rig to perfectly level match or even measure but I feel good in my ability to level match by ear. I have the Topping D50 going to my JDS Labs o2 and the Spark through a splitter with each outputting into a little Sescom a/b switch box. I wish I had my Littlelabs Monotor to test with but I won't be getting that back from Littlelabs until next week so I'll have to wait until then to do more testing. I would have compared against the Liquid Carbon X but I didn't think that would be necessarily any better of a comparison (and I'm getting it ready to send to Amir!).

I had planned on writing this bit differently but ultimately the results changed how it is composed. So I listened with the following headphones:
  • Mrspeakers Aeon Flow closed
  • Phillips SHP9500
  • Hifiman Edition X v2
  • Sennheiser HD6XX
The results? I could not hear any differences. I did quick and slow switching and nothing. As far as my ears can tell this thing is identical to my o2. Now I sadly don't have a fancy Adi-2 dac to test with... I can dream... buut the o2 is a good competitor I think. My JDS labs version cost more than the Spark and I feel the Spark on equal footing. Like earlier observations there is no humming, ticking or anything that shouldn't be heard. It's a good result since the work power is a bit sketchy.

Also, for those that are curious I was listening at work with my Fostex T60rp (a notoriously power hungry headphone) and it drove them just fine.

So yeah, I like this little thing. It performs well to my ears so I look forward to it's measurements by Amir! For $100 even if it's not perfect I wouldn't feel like I got ripped off.
 
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mi-fu

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Alright, I found some time to get a bit of an a/b going. I didn't feel like breaking out my Minidsp EARS rig to perfectly level match or even measure but I feel good in my ability to level match by ear. I have the Topping D50 going to my JDS Labs o2 and the Spark through a splitter with each outputting into a little Sescom a/b switch box. I wish I had my Littlelabs Monotor to test with but I won't be getting that back from Littlelabs until next week so I'll have to wait until then to do more testing. I would have compared against the Liquid Carbon X but I didn't think that would be necessarily any better of a comparison (and I'm getting it ready to send to Amir!).

I had planned on writing this bit differently but ultimately the results changed how it is composed. So I listened with the following headphones:
  • Mrspeakers Aeon Flow closed
  • Phillips SHP9500
  • Hifiman Edition X v2
  • Sennheiser HD6XX
The results? I could not hear any differences. I did quick and slow switching and nothing. As far as my ears can tell this thing is identical to my o2. Now I sadly don't have a fancy Adi-2 dac to test with... I can dream... buut the o2 is a good competitor I think. My JDS labs version cost more than the Spark and I feel the Spark on equal footing. Like earlier observations there is no humming, ticking or anything that shouldn't be heard. It's a good result since the work power is a bit sketchy.

Also, for those that are curious I was listening at work with my Fostex T60rp (a notoriously power hungry headphone) and it drove them just fine.

So yeah, I like this little thing. It performs well to my ears so I look forward to it's measurements by Amir! For $100 even if it's not perfect I wouldn't feel like I got ripped off.

Thanks for sharing! As I don't have a switching box, your impressions probably are even more accurate.

Actually I did consider buying the JDS O2, because I want to get an small amp with low impedance for D50. Eventually I went for Topping NX4 DSD, but it is still shipping to me. So I couldn't test it altogether.

O2 and Liquid Spark are at similar price point - I wish Amir will compare them later. Though NX4 DSD is a bit more expensive, around 140 on Massdrop, it comes with a DAC. so probably are in the same category as well.

I just listened to Liquid Spark, paired with Topping D10 and Senn HD6XX after dinner tonight. It was quite enjoyable. For a total cost less than $400, I really can't ask for more :D
 

Headphonaholic

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You're welcome! Your observations maybe valid since I don't have quite the gear you do either. From Amir's review of the NX4 that seems like a solid pick for sure. Yeah I'm enjoying that combo as well :)

Hopefully the Spark measures well so you won't have to worry about not getting an o2 :p
 
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