Another thing, the amp looks bigger in the picture. It’s a very good size actually. And build quality is stellar.
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I am aware of the matching DAC, but not really interested as I have a Schiit Gungnir Multibit. I bet it sounds really good though.
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Stock as shipping
Massdrop can post me a MTCH for $24, $199 total.
But Monoprice can’t post a similar item, from a closer location, for less than $150.
@ProfFalkin But everything else here is excellent. Will be a hard sell for the wife. I’ll give it a go though.
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Anyone heard the MCTH?
Its only $199 posted to Australia. Worth the coin? I guess will it be up to driving the Verite and imparting some tubey flavour?
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@SenyorC received one last Friday.
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I’d say the price is right. I got mine when I was almost entirely new to the hobby and stepping up from the Fulla 2. I’d wanted something that, in theory, was reasonably versatile and that would do a decent job of keeping up when upgrading to superior headphones. Here’s how that worked out in practice: the versatility panned out as I’d hoped since the MCTH pairs well with my HD 6XX and my TH-X00 Ebony; the price-to-performance ratio proved to be excellent, and I suspect I’d have to spend quite a bit to get a significant improvement on the sound of this amp when paired with my Focal Clear. The two go together beautifully. And apparently the MCTH benefits from a linear power supply, although I’m just reporting here what I’ve read elsewhere.
But here’s the catch: the MCTH isn’t all that tubey. I think you’d need to check forum impressions before buying this amp specifically for the Vérité. To be clear: I’m not saying it would be a poor pairing; I simply don’t know. I’m just suggesting that the MCTH, as a tube hybrid, may not impart as much of the tubey sound as you’re looking for (my frame of reference here is the ZDT Jr.). It is a great amp for the price, though.
Finally, as someone who daydreams about getting a Vérité someday, I’d be keen to hear how well the MCTH pairs with the ZMFs; I’ve seen suggestions that the Asgard 3 plays nicely with the Vérité. That might be another option for you in your price range, postage permitting…
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I have only put about 10 or 12 hours on the MCTH so far and only with the HD6XX so I will reserve final judgement for a while yet.
However, so far, I think it is well worth the money, even if I only pair it with the HD6XX.
As @Tchoupitoulas said, it is not a night and day difference against a SS (the Atom in my case currently) but it does seem to have a ton more power (at least it feels that way) and gives the HD6XX a “something” that I had not yet experienced before with them.
Again, these are just initial impressions, I will have a more established opinion over the next couple of weeks. Also, I do not have much tube experience, my other hybrid is the P20 which I like with certain headphones but I am not overly fond of with the HD6XX.
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Thanks for the thoughts
I don’t know what I’m doing.
Any of these little ones like Bravo V2 / Garage1217 worth the Perspex their printed on?
I can’t comment on them as I have never tried them.
I think that the Loxjie P20 is definitely worth its price but you really need to use its balanced output for it to sound decent, so that depends on what headphones you have and how easy they are to use balanced. I am not overly fond of it with the HD6XX as I find it too dark and lacking detail, even with multiple tube swaps. However it does get a lot of praise with the HD600 which is a bit brighter. Maybe check out the Loxjie P20 thread on here for more opinions on it.
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Trying to roll everything into one reply (and then to non-Liquid Platinum threads). I used to own the MCTH and still own the Loxjie P20. I usually favor neutral headphones (e.g., mainly use HD-600, Aeon Flow Closed, and Clear; previously Elex and have a recently dead set of HE-560s).
After buying balanced cables for everything that could take them, I tested the MCTH and P20 back to back. Major take-aways below (you can also see my old comments via search).
MCTH:
- Mine added unstable background noise. Silent or quiet passages kind of sounded like the faint swish-swish of a pressure washer on concrete. This isn’t a ‘negative’ if one likes the resulting output.
- Mine added a bit of sparkle or sizzle in the transitions.
- With the factory tube, it was less energetic, resolving, and clear on the high end than the P20.
Loxjie P20 (always on balanced):
- The factory tubes were wooly and always made themselves a center of attention.
- GE Triple Mica tubes retain some bass/warmth and the softer high end, but affect the high end far less than the MCTH. I’ve literally forgotten that I’m using the P20 when using HD-600s.
- The P20 has an extremely clean solid-state section. It’s in the ballpark of the THX amps. No swish-swish and excellent clarity/separation.
I sold my MCTH long ago because I was never using it.
I’m currently using the Focal Clears with the P20, as they get edgy and nervous on a THX AAA 789. In contrast, I preferred the Elex on the 789 because they need all the noise control they can get. The Elex will stab clean through your brain if you look at them funny. The HD-600s sound good (within their technical limits) on any balanced source.
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I guess someone with know how and power could/should move the last few replies over to the P20 thread (including this one).
Surprisingly, my P20 gets the most use with IEMs lately. I am finding that there is no background noise that I can hear, and I don’t know if output impedance is changing the tonality of the IEMs or if it is the tubes (I think I have the triple mica in there at the moment) but the outcome is very pleasing on some of my IEMs.
Today I have been particularly enjoying the BL03 on the Loxjie, while listening to acoustic covers.
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I’m certainly not in a rush to start rolling tubes on this amp after roughly a week of usage, but I found this site.
If I’m not mistaken, this is the stock tube:
So if I want to move towards the warm side – while not spending much – this one seems like an obvious candidate to me:
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
PS. At this point of the journey I won’t even start looking at NOS options.
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Deal on this amp:
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For some reason I was hopeful the shipping had reduced too. Nope. Still 155 USD shipping.
I contacted Monoprice and their response was “oh, we sorry, maybe try one of the marketplaces like eBay or Amazon for our products”.
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As a point of reference, I could post a full case of wonderful Australian beer and steaks to anywhere in the states for much less than 155 USD.
I’m bored tonight. Measured the power consumption of my LP with a Kill A Watt: 30W. Little power hungry, don’t y’all think?
To be clear. Not that I’m worried about it, OK? 
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I enjoy the MCTH I got mine on a fairly good sale price so for the money it’s a good alternative at my work station to the SMSL SP200 THX amp. It’s sounds good with my Aeolus, Ananda, 6XX, pretty decent with the Aeon 2C as well. I bit more relaxed in the treble and a little warmer in the low end.
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Hi @jb77,
Couldn’t help but notice in your profile header you have some kind of socket and a smaller tube sitting on top of a LP. Would you mind sharing what is this configuration and, the most important, if that is your favorite one?
Stock tubes are still rockin’ on mine and I have no complaints whatsoever. Just wondering/planning what to try next with this hybrid amp.
Thanks much!
Hi Fabio @frkasper,
Sure, those are my favorite tubes for the LP. They are available at Tubemonger. Here is the direct link
I would also highly recommend socket savers for the LP as it makes tube rolling so much easer. If you plan on tube rolling that is, if your looking for a more “one and done” then it would be up to convince the socket savers provide vs. The cost and if you deem it worth it.
I do have socket savers in my LP, which is why you see the adapter base of the “Mini Mullard’s” as with out the socket savers they tubes would barely be visible, the socket savers also make removing the tubes so much easier.
Tubemonger has the socket saver I use as well
Hope this helps
If you have any more questions just let me know, also here is a link to my review of the “Mini Mullard’s”
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Noted. Thanks for the info.
My only worry for now is not the price (of each tube) nor how to install them. On the contrary, how to remove them without disassembling the amp.
Cheers.