Hey all,
As a very happy owner of the Liquid Platinum, I feel there needs to a be thread for it, so here we go. The LP is quite a unique amp, and pairs really well with hard to drive headphones. I use mine with a Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC, with balanced inputs and outputs, and this pairing is quite a fun, yet still resolving listen. The headphones I use with this DAC/Amp pairing are, ZMF Aeolus and Ori, MrSpeakers Alpha Prime, and Sennheiser HD650. All headphones listed sound incredible with this combo, and I am left wanting nothing more. One very important fact about the LP, is that it is quite transparent and revealing of the source/DAC being used with it. There are test measurements available on the other forum, that were done by a very competent tester known as, AtomicBob. The LP test really well, and for the money is hard to beat. Listening with the LP, the first thing that jumps out at you, is the forward mids, and especially the vocals. The singer literally feels like they are standing right in front of you, singing their hearts out. The overall sound is a warm/euphonic midrange, with tight hard hitting bass, and smooth highs. The mids are big and natural sounding, with really good depth and height from front to back. The LP paired with the Gungnir Multibit, has a very immersive and holographic sound, with instruments dancing around your head, while the musician is front and center. The sound field is not necessarily the widest, but because of the depth and height, still feels spacious. Another important topic is the tubes used. The stock tubes are new production Electro Harmonics E88CC, and are a good starting point, but once you roll in some NOS tubes, things get much better. I want to point out, that it is not ānecessaryā to roll tubes with this amp, as that was not what it was designed for, and this is coming from the man who designed the amp, Dr. Cavalli. There has been a somewhat heated discussion of this on the other forum, so I wanted to get that out of the way. Basically, people are saying that hybrid tube amps donāt respond well to tube rolling. However, as an avid tube roller, that owned the Schiit Lyr 3 before getting the LP, I can confidently say tube rolling with a hybrid is still beneficial. Obviously, some hybrids will respond better than others, and some tubes will make a bigger difference as well. I have rolled quite a few different tubes in the LP, and my favorite are the Amperex Bugle Boys ECC88/6DJ8 D Getters, made in Holland from 58ā. Overall, the mids are the star of the show, with vocals and instruments sounding very lifelike and natural, with hard hitting bass, and highs with just enough sparkle. I love this amp, and really only have one complaint. I would have loved, to have a gain switch. The gain of the amp is quite high, and with sensitive headphones the volume gets too loud real quick. As a result of this, many use a passive preamp between the DAC and LP. The headphones I use, donāt require a preamp, as I have plenty of range on the pot, but if I ever decided to get a more sensitive pair of cans, I would most likely add a preamp to the chain. With all this said, I would highly recommend this amp.
Anyone else using the Liquid Platinum? I would love to hear about what DAC, tubes, and headphones you like paired with it.
Liquid Platinum with Bugle Boy 6dj8/ecc88.
