Thinking about returning my Liquid Platinum. I like it, it sounds nice, I just donāt think I personally notice that huge of a difference between it and my THX 789. Itās slightly warmer to me, but not worth the price difference imo. I donāt have any animosity (except the price drop!) with the THX. Maybe my ears are just broken :*(
For the record, had it on enough playing music to āburn inā but will give it a few more days (return period is at the end of this month if I continue that route). I am running xlr from my SU-8 and XLR to the HD6XX, Blon BL-03, and 177xās. Tried A/Bing as best as I could and volume matching. Using hires FLACs as well. I donāt have a balance cable for the Focal Elegiaās I also picked up recently so I havenāt tried it on the LP as Iāve heard thatās not a fair judgement of the ampās capabilities.
If I was in the return period for the 789, I would probably keep the LP for the 100$ difference, but since the 789 price drop and me being out of the return period, I canāt justify using the LP more than the 500$ towards something else.
So what I would do is I would spend a few days with the unit exclusively, and then after those days go back to the thx, and if you still arenāt feeling it, send it back. I personally wouldnāt bother trying to ab it, just use it as your only amp for a few days imo
That is really too bad. I love my LP and my THX (SP200) comes nowhere close to it.
But we all hear differently. I would definitely second Monās advice to try the LP full time and then flip back.
Do you have any bright or brightish headphones? That is where mine falls down.
The brightest would be the 177x probably. Iāll try using them for the next few days as I can run them balanced on the LP and then switch back as you and M0N suggested and see where that gets me.
On the upside, I LOVE this amp! I have only noticed one weakness that it seems to have and that is high gain. Of course I am using XLR in, so there is higher voltage going in.
Certainly no issue with the Sundaraās or the Elexās. Complete audio bliss.
But when I tried my Meze 99 Classicās (balanced in and balanced out), it did not go very well. With my DAC (SMSL SU-8), I am able to lower the volume. I did have to lower it quite a bit. Like down to a 25 out of a max of 37. And even then I couldnāt go much past 8:00 on the volume dial in low gain.
Still love this amp and it will stay a part of my collection for a long time. But, if you are looking for a one size fits all amp and you have some very efficient headphones you might want to think about it. Maybe talk to some owners on here that have the 'phones that you are planning to use.
So far with this amp I have run my Edition x v2 and my elexā¦These work very well on itā¦
I am waiting on cables for Hawks,58x etc. This thing does have a ton of power for sureā¦ Hit about 10:00 on it onceā¦ a wee bit loud for me and I like loudā¦ hahaā¦Curious as to the others
Iām liking them! Your balanced cable is working flawlessly, good work! haha
I promised an update on the LP. After some more burn in I do hear a bigger difference and it is a preference over the THX, but sadly I just canāt justify the price of both and Iāll never get the same value out of my THX since the price drop than I would with the LP. Iām dropping it off for return tomorrow, donāt hate me LP Gang!
I plan on catching the next Bottlehead Crack sale and will probably get a different hybrid that will over more of a difference (to my ears) in a year or two.
I mean, if you paid full price I would say the same. I actually bought my Liquid plat for $260 one hell of a bargain and the best $260 I could have ever spent. You can find the amp quite often on sale over on Head-Fi and some other sites I tend to see them for around $300 - $400
Thoughts on the Liquid Platinum paired with the Abyss 1266 Phi tc via balanced? Does it have enough power to drive it with authority? Iām definitely going high end pure SS as the primary amp but I like the idea of a tube hybrid as a change of pace.
