Agreed that the gain is out of this world loud. I have a liquid gold and needed to use a Schiit Sys at about 11:00 to tune it down. I plugged my HiFi Man HE6se V2 and am loving it. The smoothness of the gold pairs with the sometimes sharp HE6se with its 84 db sensitivity.
I know I am late to the party on this, but I will contribute anyway. I have owned this amp for 2 years now and I absolutely love it. I run mine in the balanced configuration exclusively. The stock tubes sound very good, but I replaced the stock tubes with a matched set of Gold Lions and frankly never looked back. I didn't think the roll would have a big impact because it is a hybrid design, but the difference was huge with the Gold Lions installed. In my experience, they take this amp to another level. Yes, the volume gain issue is there with this amp, but once you learn where this occurs, you can work the amp easily to not have that be an issue, as the gain pot allows for very precise adjustment with no channel balance problems. The issue you experienced never happened here. My current favorite headphone pairing with this amp is the HiFIMAN HE1000 V2 Stealth. The Senn HD660 S with Dekoni Lambskin replacement pads comes in a fairly close second, followed by the Focal Radiance. I don't bother using any other headphone on this amp because there is no need. These three provide a rich, immersive experience that I very much enjoy to this day.
I don't prefer to, no. To get the full potential of the amp it is best to go XLR, so you want to make sure your DAC can go balanced out. It's definitely not as engaging going from the SE RCAs. It can still sound OK if you must go rca, but really you buy this amp for the full potential of the balanced power. Better dynamics and such, especially for harder to drive headphones.
I'm curious to know if any of you have a favorite headphone that pairs well with this AMP? Or even another combo altogether that you love?
Agreed that the gain is out of this world loud. I have a liquid gold and needed to use a Schiit Sys at about 11:00 to tune it down. I plugged my HiFi Man HE6se V2 and am loving it. The smoothness of the gold pairs with the sometimes sharp HE6se with its 84 db sensitivity.
Dope!
I know I am late to the party on this, but I will contribute anyway. I have owned this amp for 2 years now and I absolutely love it. I run mine in the balanced configuration exclusively. The stock tubes sound very good, but I replaced the stock tubes with a matched set of Gold Lions and frankly never looked back. I didn't think the roll would have a big impact because it is a hybrid design, but the difference was huge with the Gold Lions installed. In my experience, they take this amp to another level. Yes, the volume gain issue is there with this amp, but once you learn where this occurs, you can work the amp easily to not have that be an issue, as the gain pot allows for very precise adjustment with no channel balance problems. The issue you experienced never happened here.
My current favorite headphone pairing with this amp is the HiFIMAN HE1000 V2 Stealth. The Senn HD660 S with Dekoni Lambskin replacement pads comes in a fairly close second, followed by the Focal Radiance. I don't bother using any other headphone on this amp because there is no need. These three provide a rich, immersive experience that I very much enjoy to this day.
Sexy b roll haha dig it!
Would you clarify, did you not like using the RCA from your DAC to the Liquid Platinum? Was it audibly much worse or unengaging?
I don't prefer to, no. To get the full potential of the amp it is best to go XLR, so you want to make sure your DAC can go balanced out. It's definitely not as engaging going from the SE RCAs. It can still sound OK if you must go rca, but really you buy this amp for the full potential of the balanced power. Better dynamics and such, especially for harder to drive headphones.
Do you still have this amp or is it long gone? Good vídeo, by the way.
Unfortunately I did part ways with it a while back. Thank you for the comment!