The Cavalli Liquid Carbon

Have found a couple positive reports here at SBAF of the Liquid Carbon and HD800. Has anyone tried it with the HD800S and thoughts on that?

I may or may not be able to jump on the next available round of EC Black Widow but am trying to gauge whether it makes sense to go with HD800S if I just stick with my LC (+ Gungnir Multibit).

 

this is just one man's opinion, but i think if you like what you're hearing with the carbon +800, you'll also like the carbon +800S. those headphones are more similar than they are different, at least with mods!

 

Just to clarify, I have not yet heard the 800 or 800S, only read about very few mentioning using it with Liquid Carbon.

 

I haven't heard a headphone I don't like on the Liquid Carbon. My 800 sounds very good.

 

http://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/12642-cavalli-audio-liquid-carbon/

This thread is probably worth reading, if you're thinking of buying one. I know people here like cavalli, so you may feel differently.

 

http://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/11655-mike-mercer-review-cavalli-liquid-gold/?page=4

Here's another fun one to read.

Personally, i'm not touching a cavalli with a 10 foot pole. As usual, make up your own mind.

I think head-case is pretty good place to go to when you want a technical tear down of audio brands.. People like to say it is biased, but i've read threads where even spritzer was skewered, tbf, he did defend himself quite well.

 

I'm personally not concerned about my LC at all, and further comforted by the lifetime warranty added on top of that. I feel Alex has been quite open about his issues, and basically said he added the lifetime based on his issues with the company used to assemble the boards.

I hope people take what the "hobbyist electrical engineers" say with a grain of salt. The person in the head-case post might know what they are talking about, or might be confusing the phase splitter for single ended input, with there not being a fully discrete design. I sure don't know, but I would think it would be a bad business practice, if Alex tried to hide something like that.

Is the LC a magical unicorn end-game amp for 1/8 the price? Of course not. But one should consider the positive feedback as well. And so far, positive feedback is all I have for this little guy...

 

You have a point but that 'hobbyist electrical engineer' designed the GSX-Mk2 which was the THE SS amp at Innerfidelity's Big Sound 2015 according to Tyll and Bob Katz and we know that Tyll has heard everything there is to hear.

Most of Cavalli's amps are praised to the skies by extremely suspect reviewers.

I also see that the Head-Case folk have nothing bad to say about Schiit or ECP Audio. I agree that there seems to be some personal hatred going on which I don't care for.....I prefer to talk about products and companies, I don't agree with personal attacks.

 

I have knowledge of this circuit design and this is just more smoke from individuals with ill intent masked as a public service. I have to admit the sustained hatred towards Alex is admirable, most people would have burnt out and moved on..dB

 

Thanks for sharing that. But maybe that makes that post more concerning.

Am I the only one that finds that entire post, which could have been useful to some, extremely unprofessional, maybe to the point of being a bit childish? I don't think @Marvey would dare do anything like that to a Woo amp? And he's quite an opinionated fella. And of course bias comes hugely in to play...

 

The GSX MK2 was based on the "Dynalo designed by Kevin Gilmore,it was refined and made commercially by Headamp."

One of the reasons i posted those threads here is because i think this is the only other headfi site that can give constructive technical criticism against their points.

 

Kevin doesn't like Alex. Anyone who has been around this hobby for more than a few years knows that. No need to keep beating a dead horse.

Do you guys actually have technical criticisms of the HC teardown? If so, I'd love to hear them so that I can have as much information as possible and come to my own conclusions.

 

Had read that entertaining thread prior to purchasing the Liquid Carbon. Didn't scare me away from trying his entry-level amp, which suited my transportable needs. Am happy with it. Not ready to jump up to his more expensive offerings...I'm not at a point where I feel the need to improve that part of the chain.

 

This.
Everyone knows about KG's opinion of Cavalli amps, they all have probably noticed his tirades against Alex. They all have been duly warned and are perfectly aware of the pitfalls on that particular road.

Who cares?
Like you mentioned this has been discussed to death and people have already made up their mind and chosen sides. Even though I have never heard a commercial Cavalli amp, the fact that Alex managed to sell a 1000 of these amps, for me is a tell-tale sign of an average buyer's opinion regarding the two camps.

 

My bad, this is the thread I had read prior to getting the LC: http://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/11304-cavalli-audio-liquid-lightning/

Just read the referenced LC thread on HeadCase. Sure, I have even more reservations now of any future Cavalli products, but at the same time doesn't make me enjoy the LC any less much less want to get rid of it. Unless it malfunctions. Nice to have that "lifetime" warranty assuming he stays in business.

 

Bah, and here I was hoping a 700$ balanced amp was a real deal. Nonetheless, it still sounds pretty good to me, but I'm not an expert in this domain. Even if we were to assume the facts mentioned in that thread are 100% accurate, is there actually any piece under 1k which kinda ticks so many boxes ? I'm just wondering if we actually have any good alternatives to start off with. After reading SBAF threads regularly, I think we can all agree most of the "budget" stuff has been debunked and each of 'em probably has its downsides. There is no jack of all trades. So the real question would be whether it's worth its price - compared to what I'd heard from few cheaper alternatives like the matrix pieces or portables, this one still sounds better to my ears.

 

I would venture to guess it's one of the best available transportables at its price tier. Whether it's a "truly balanced" implementation seems to be up for debate (by those more knowledgeable than me), but at the same time it'd be hard to believe that HeadCase would objectively evaluate its performance (and not its build quality) without the extreme bias they have against Cavalli (whether rightly or wrongly).

I think @Marvey likes the more expensive Cavalli amps, not sure about his specific opinion on the Liquid Carbon as it compares to amps in similar class and form-factor.

 

The question is: does KG and Headamp has special relationship?