BS Cavalli LL Concerns

http://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/11304-cavalli-audio-liquid-lightning/?page=1

Well, his response is less than satisfactory, his reply is somewhere in there, page 5 or 6. That was in 2013, im not sure how things are in 2015, but i know for sure i am never buying his stuff new.

For me personally, the real/intrinsic value for an item is its secondhand value (As an objective measure). And, the secondhand value on his stuff is atrocious.

Headamp stuff have a reputation for being late and justin has a reputation of not replying to emails asking for updates. But what i will always respect is that, he is upfront with you his lack of response and he only ships when the amp is well and ready, not a hack job that is made as quickly as possibly to fulfill orders.

 

Dear people,

I didn't have a good experience with the GS-X MK2. It sound so rough and sterile with the HD800. Perhaps better fit with more relaxed headphones like the HE-1000 or LCD series.

I think the Audio-gd Master 9 with higher bias is what the GS-X MK2 should sound like. It's also much cheaper.

For SS amp, I still like AMB Beta22 the best with the HD800, very smooth and tube-like but still detailed. It's DIY only though.

Regards,
Jeremiah

 

Less than satisfactory? What? He goes through every point succinctly. From an modern engineering perspective I can find no fault. Suppose it's not satisfactory if you have agenda dragging the guy's name through the mud.

Secondhand market value is determined by a lot of things. For example, if you have a concerted effort by a group of hobbyists to really slam a product the secondhand value is going to go down...wink wink. You could argue that pirates did exactly that (deservedly or undeservedly) with the HD700. Not a coincidence that Sennheiser was regularly dropping down the price of that headphone to HD6xx levels and that folks were offloading them for around the same. Doesn't diminish the product's intrinsic value, quality, functionality though. There weren't any HD700's exploding or electrocuting people because of us saying it sounded like ass. The idea that the "real" value of a product is in how much you can flip it for says more about your values and why you're in this hobby.

Please, we don't want Headcase spreading their blatant misinformation over here. "Hack job to fullfill orders"...jeez...From the sound of it the Cavalli's gear goes through a lot more standardized testing than any of Justin's "hand-made" stuff. In what world does that make Cavalli's gear a "hack job"....

 

Kevin Gilmore praised something not designed by himself?

 

FWIW It's also clear from Alex's Liquid Carbon thread that he's learned quite a bit of lessons about managing his supply chains and ensuring consistent results since 2013. He was wholly transparent about the problems that lead to the current manufacturing delay and why it was important that he resolve them.

I like both Justin's and Alex's work. I've never owned a product of Alex's, but my trusty ol' Gilmore Lite was the headphone amp I've owned the longest. Justin was extremely helpful when I needed informational assistance with replacing its PSU. (Re: the Headamp GS-X mkII, it's a great amp with a lot of phones but I hated it with the HD800.)

All that said: that Liquid Lightning Thread is an example of profound dickery. That's the internet echo chamber there that allows people to treat each other like user names and data points and not like individuals, worthy of empathy and capable of communication. If you think about people as people and deal with them as such, it's obvious that there were plenty of numerous, far more productive ways to bring up criticisms of the Liquid Lightning without forming an internet brute squad to clear out the Thieves' Forest.

It's like looking into a distorted mirror, and in a way validates the transition from Changstar to SBAF if for nothing else than to avoid becoming or acting more like that.

 

Already does, IMO.

 

Headcase could be described as a a step too far from changstar, it's on the hydrogen audio level of crazy.

 

My favorite part of the HeadCase thread is when someone writes (in a pretty neutral way) that HeadCase, like all other enthusiast forums (e.g. CS, HF, cars, coffee, alcohol, etc) is not free from lemming-type behavior and like 5 users jump down that person's throat. One even posts the most echo-chamber-like platitude of all (paraphrased): "We are not lemmings. We are just better informed than YOU."

There is one thing I will plan on doing when I get my hands on the Gungnir Multibit and Liquid Carbon: open them up for a look-see.

 

i just read through that whole thread, wow, kevin gilmore is an asshole.

 

He has a pretty big hard on for ECP and Schiit. He also liked the singlepower stuff before mikhail started hacking stuff together just to sell.

Did i mention he really liked the Ayre pre-amps, Pete Millet's Teton and Pinnacle?

I never knew why head-case had a big hard on against changstar, or their love for jh audio (eww), but one defining thread i notice in there, is they never criticize things of good value and good design(at least in terms of amps).

If you could read circuit schematics, you would understand why some people really respected kevin and birgir.

But thats not the forum for me, as i am quite frankly, "Not of the group" since the meat of that forum is electrostatic diy and i am not a diy person. I was actually banned from it for a tirade on jh audio and their shitty siren series.

Do drop us some close-ups. id like to see the insides of new cavalli amps =)

 

His points were succinct if it was a USD1000 electrostatic amp, not a USD4.8k amp. Even if you don't read schematics, you can see from that thread the pictures of the boards, workmanship and the solder work, all of which are sub-par, even for a 1k amp.

Considering how hard head-case chase away people that they do not like, their influence on cavalli is much less than you think even when compared to changstar. If people only saw them on head-fi, they'd only just know them as people who are really knowledgeable about electrostatics.

For the short term, yes. The truth always comes out given time. Considering Cavalli is still around, he must have gotten his shit handled.

Remember Ray Samuels, nobody know who that guy is anymore. That 12th wallet gouging pos portable amp/dac must have done it.

I won't deny the echobox effect you said though, things did get a little out of hand, until n_maher stepped in around page 6.

 

And you can recognize some of the people on that thread that post on CS/SBAF as well. Best thing I get out of threads like that are data points.

 

1) He handled the point about dull solders by saying it was due to mercury free solder, fair enough. However, he failed to address the point where, the solders were not done well, there was literally too little or too much. Try taking a closer look on some of the pictures.

2) Yes, kind of like how a second hand tyre functions quite well for its purpose compared to a new one. Have you seen how thin that board is and how far out the traces protruded. That board is going to need to handle voltages around 600v, not 200v. If you have the decency to charge megabucks for an amp, do it properly. Since when was "good enough" the standard for top dollar items.

3) Try looking through it again if you have the time.

I have not even gone into the other areas like resistors rated for 200v placed in paths where current of 600v flows through.

Try going through the rest of the thread, its not too long. As Spritzer said on the first page, do note he has his biases. Having said that, the pictures speaks for themselves, for me at least.

The first part is an ad hominem attack. C'mon.

Btw, its a very big jump from a phd in physics to electrical engineering for audio equipment. It might as well have been a phd in biology.

No offence, but do you mind pointing me to a diy forum where alex is respected? I honestly cant find one.

KG's stuff is pirated in china like nobody's business, take a look at taobao. Have you not heard of Headamp? BHSE (which was built by trying to make a T2 only knowing that it runs with 4 EL34 tubes)? T2 DIY? The GSX MK2? I'd like to see any amp maker here level a decent negative technical critique against his mature designs.

Do note that the LL2 was essentially a EXstata (a failed gilmore design) with CCS.

And who still buys Cavalli stuff (the top shelf ones) anyway? You cant even sell a secondhand LaU for 2.85k despite the thing being sold for 6k (if im not mistaken) when it first came out, its 4k for a new one now.

 

Lot of pent up rage today.

 

hello,

yes, this certainly seems to be the case.

 

I may be wrong, but I don't recall any of the Headamp stuff being certified with any regulatory body like Cavalli's any everyone else has.