Liquid glass then? Although Iām not sure if that was truly balanced and it uses 6sn7
I donāt think so. Dr. Cavalli has specifically stated that the LP design was his balanced version of a Liquid Crimson way back in the day and never came to fruition until the Monolith deal.
Yeah the lp is closer to the crimson, sorry totally misread what you posted lol, just ignore that
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are there other balanced tube amps that compete with the LP and have a similar price point?
There are other balanced hybrids like the lp, but you really arenāt going to get a quality transformer coupled tube amp with balanced outputs at this price. There is the tor roger which is a solid amp for the money (really hard to find a transformer coupled amp that sounds decent at 500 bucks) but itās not balanced. Or keep your eye out for an eddie current zdt jr or sw51 for transformer coupled under 500. In terms of tube hybrids, something like the xduoo ta20 would technically be a liquid plat competitor. Thereās also the lyr 3 but thatās not balanced like the plat
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Balanced tube amps arenāt generally as desirable, though many higher priced topologically unbalanced tube amps will have balanced out if they have an output transformer because they get it for āfreeā assuming the transformer can support it.
Push/Pull tube amps cancel out the desirable second harmonic distortion at the same time thy cancel out the other noise, so they donāt sound like the more generally desirable SET amps.
Push Pull Tube architectures are still relatively common in Speaker power amps.
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@M0N @Polygonhell so what youāre saying is that the LP fills a niche where itās pretty much the only contender as itās kinda unique in itās design / implementation.
I mean itās not all that special design wise, but itās a well designed balanced hybrid which you typically donāt find at this price point that has a pretty great tuning
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I have a SW51+ coming. Canāt wait
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Niceeeeee thatās a pretty sweet amp for sure 
BTW, Tor has a balanced tube amp for a grand. Only 450mw though (itās a tube! lol). No idea if tiās any good.
Iāve been lookingā¦ they have the Liquid Crimson, the Liquid Carbon and the Liquid Goldā¦ you got blurbs on what the nuances are between the threesome?
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Itās been a while since I had to think of all of them lol. The main amps to get from him are the liquid fire, liquid glass, liquid crimson, and the liquid gold. I personally would omit the carbon even though itās solid, itās more of a budget design from him. They all generally have a really enjoyable house sound, warmer smoother thick but with lots of control, well defined space, without sacrificing detail or clarity, a sweeter and dense sound for sure. Also to be clear here, when I say liquid gold, I donāt mean the monoprice liquid gold x, I mean the og cavalli liquid gold (LAU)
To start off with the crimson, it is the most forward and fun of the cavalli imo, itās kinda in your face with things, it has lots of energy to everything, a bit sweetened sounding but also somewhat more neutral, with a pretty wide and spacious stage, might lack a bit of depth but handles most headphones pretty well. Generally the energetic and forward fun liquid amp, works pretty great with planar
The liquid glass is somewhat dependent on the tubes for what sound it has, and you can tilt it many different ways lol. Generally it is a bit more laid back, a bit smoother and less in your face, stage isnāt as wide as the crimson but it might have more depth and better organic placement, timbre might be more on point as well, but it doesnāt have the punch and control as the crimson does. Still pretty technically capable, a bit less than the crimson though but in exchange for a more organic and enveloping sound depending on the tubes. Still has enough power for most headphones though and might slightly favor dynamics or more efficient planar
The fire is on the smoother more laid back and softer sounding side of things, it has control but itās prob the most relaxed of the bunch, not super technical but generally just makes most dynamics pretty pleasant, kinda favors higher impedance as well imo, not on the same tier of performance as the gold, crimson, or glass
The gold has the most slam, control, and technical performance out of the cavalli amps imo, itās a bit on the relaxed leaning at times (not as relaxed as the fire or glass with some tubes, but not as forward as the crimson can be), it might be the widest and most spacious sounding amp, but depth isnāt as good as the glass but itās a bit better than the crimson. Timbre prob 2nd best only to the glass with a tube thatās good in that. Generally favors power hungry headphones imo.
Those short blurbs most likely werenāt helpful, so let me do something I hate doing instead lol
From highest to lowest preforming imo (with the glass experiences being averaged across different types of tubes):
Dynamics:
Gold>Crimson>Glass>Fire
Detail:
Gold>Crimson=Glass>Fire
Timbre:
Glass>Gold>Crimson>Fire
Smoothness (this could be a good or bad thing depending on your view lol):
Fire>Glass>Gold>Crimson
Spaciousness:
Gold>Crimson>Glass>Fire
Placement accuracy in that space:
Glass>Gold>Crimson>Fire
Least coloration/transparency I guess:
Gold>Crimson>Glass>Fire
Slam/Impact:
Gold>Crimson>Glass>Fire
In the end it will really come down to the headphones and the dac you have for which one is right for you, but I can def say the gold, crimson, and glass are really really great. The fire is pretty nice but it honestly kinda lags behind the other 3 in terms of capability and refinement (but if you have the headphones for it they do come up used for a much more reasonable price)
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Just to be complete he also made an electrostatic amp (2 of them), the Liquid Lightning 1 and 2.
Tbh, I wasnāt impressed by the lightning when I heard it, I think his traditional amps are much more worthwhile (not sure which version I heard though)
The Liquid Fire does interest meā¦but I rarely see any for sale and they go quick when they are on the market.
Admittedly any of the cavalli stuff tends to sell fairly quick lol
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This help a lot actually. In the rare occasion when the stars align and there one for sale with the appropriate funds in my bank account to pull the trigger, one can wish.
I know you said that those OG amps were head and shoulders above the Liquid Platinum, but would the carbon then be the closest match? Based on your summary Iād thing the most sought after would be the Crimson and the Gold, but everyone has their preference. Itās just that theyāre so damned rare in the wild.
Itās been awhile but I actually would rank the platinum higher than the carbon imo, but the carbon better than the drop carbon. The carbon was always nice, but personally I think the monoprice plat ends up being a higher technical performer, although a bit different signature than the carbon
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So after re-capping my MLP with Wurth Elektroniks Capacitors, the improvements were substantial enough for me to take it a step further.
I installed Elna Silmic II Capacitors today, and the improvements were even more drastic this time. No noise floor whatsoever. Greater detail and more natural sounding. Just a great sounding amp now. The single ended output sounds much better now as well.
It should be noted that the Elna Silmic II (the 3 jumbo 470uf 63v caps) were too tall vertically for them to fit in the chassis/case . I had to lay them horizontally and run the leads longer in order to mount them to fit inside the chassis.
I also, received my Matsushita PCC88 tubes and a pair of socket savers today. The Matsushita PCC88 tubes sound by far the absolute best in the MLP. They sound much more linear. They really bring out the treble clarity without doing it in a way that would make them bright or harsh. The bass is tight and punchy. The mids are not as aggressive sounding as the other tubes ive tried on the MLP. I have no desire at all to further tube roll the MLP. Thatās how good they sound.
Also, the socket savers raising the level at which the tubes sit has caused some of the heat to dissipate away from the chassis and into the open air, which is always a good thing.
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