Monolith Liquid Platinum Headphone Amplifier - Designed by Alex Cavalli | 3.6 Watts Per Channel, Fully Balanced Amp

--Introducion--I've had the LP for a couple of weeks now. My sound impressions will be brief as my main goal here is simply to add another data point for those that may still be on the fence.I was on the fence myself. I don't trust Monoprice since this is their first foray into serious headamps. I was expecting multiple reports of shoddy build quality or exploding amps and it kept me from pulling the trigger at first. A huge thanks to the few trusted audiophiles that took the time to talk with me and push me over the edge.One caveat to my impressions is that moving up from the Schiit Lyr 3 meant that my DAC (Schiit Gungnir Multibit A2) was also going from SE use to balanced use. That means that any improvements I hear may be a mix of the amp itself and also utilizing the Gumby more appropriately. There's no way for me to reliably distinguish between the two.All listening is Gumby A2 (USB V)-->LP-->HD650 (stock).--Packaging--I ordered from Monoprice and their packaging of the amp is atrocious. A huge box with two pitiful packing bubbles, which means the amp is bouncing around all over the place during shipping. On the plus side, I was quite impressed with the amp box itself. It feels appropriate for a $700 (or $770 now, I suppose) amp. There's a nice bag for the amp itself, and everything is well packed inside custom-cut foam. I know, who cares, right? It's all about the sound. I only mention this, because value is the big question here. $700 is a lot for someone like myself and I want to feel like the money was well spent. Monoprice has done well here...it feels like a luxury product.--Build Quality--I thought this was a hideous amp when the prototype pics were released. In person, though, it's quite nice. Everything feels solid, and the case is well-aligned. The dark gray on the front plate blends into the black body nicely, and makes the whole thing look very sleek. I have no idea why the left and right balanced inputs are switched on the amp. I originally plugged them in incorrectly and was shocked when I heard the channels switched. But, hey...I always tell my students to take the time to read before answering a question and yet I was apparently incapable of reading the L & R printed above the sockets. So, that's on me. The construction is all metal, there's a good weight to it, and again...it feels like a $700 amp should. This does not feel like a cheap toy.--Tubes--The tube sockets are very tight, which makes installing the tubes fairly difficult the first time aorund. The right tube took some force, but went in without too much difficulty. The left tube felt like I was pressing against a brick wall. I finally realized the tube pins were just a tad crooked, and things went more smoothly after straightening them out a bit. However, things loosen up a little each time you swap the tubes out and after 3 or so swaps everything is fine. Tubes still take a little work to remove, but it's a non-issue. Tubes go in very easily at this point.While the stock tubes are perfectly usable, this amp responds very well to tube rolling. The stock tubes are nice and clean sounding, but lean a bit on the dry side. After rolling some NOS Amperex tubes to add some warmth, the sound is now dialed in perfectly to my preference.--Sound--This is a step up from the Lyr in nearly every way. This isn't a criticism of the Lyr, which I enjoyed quite a bit.The LP isn't aggressive, but the improvement in dynamics from the Lyr are obvious. The stage is also improved, especially in width. Instruments have their own spot in the mix, and the sound is very immersive. Once again, I don't think the soundstage of the Lyr is bad. In fact, I think it's pretty decent relative to some other Schiit offerings. The LP is simply better.Everything sounds very natural and easy, without crossing over into the realm of boring. Clean sound, but not clinical.The sound, in one word?Convincing.Enough said.--Misc.--GAIN - This appears to be the big issue people have with this amp, but it's a non-issue for me personally. There is no gain switch, so you're stuck with 5x gain (14db). I'm typically somewhere between 9-11 on the dial and it's smooth and accurate enough that I don't have any problem getting the volume exactly where I want it. This about the same experience I had with the Vali 2 and Lyr 3 on high gain. Of course, YMMV. I'm only using the HD650, so more sensitive headphones will have less play on the volume knob. If this is an issue for you, then it is worth your time to look into passive preamps or other attenuation methods. I realize this is an extra expense, but the sound of the amp makes it worth it.HEAT - Yep, it runs hot. So what? It's a non-issue.--Conclusion--This amp seems like a bargain to me. I've owned a ton of amps in the $500 and under category and I questioned whether this would be a clear step up.It is.Remember, this is a re-design of the Liquid Crimson which went for around $1500. The Liquid Platinum sounds nearly as good for half the price.Yes, reliability is a question that remains to be answered, but with a 5-year warranty it doesn't feel like much of a risk.--Final Conclusion--Upgraditis Status: Cured.

The stack looks and sounds great. I put these together and then switched to a few different daily driver stacks and I thought there was something wrong with my headphones, since everything else sounded worse :) Use latex gloves or hand in a plastic bag when handling the tubes to keep the oil on your skin from getting on it, since they get warm as a lightbulb. 30 second warmup time before green power light comes on. No burn in time needed on this model. Tube savers are good if you plan a lot of tube rolling. The Gear-It cables are studio quality and match nicely, available on Amazon too. Asio4all works great on the matching DAC for DSD playback and bit perfect. See the last two photos for an idea of my experience with audio gear. This amplifier is best on the balanced side, but it has a very low (1) output impedance so it's great for planars which have low ohm ratings. The Hifiman Audivina and Edition XS sound especially good. It accepts 6DJ8 type tubes to try changing the sound easily (recommend tube savers, a set it like $4 here). Any balanced DAC will be fine, but the matched pair sounds especially smooth, since the AKM4499 chip in the LP DAC has a long rolloff filter which really does smooth part the harsh part of the treble range. It's one of those amplifiers that really impresses when you go back to a solid state one, and immediately notice what you're missing. The amplifier doesn't run hot, but as you can see, the tubes are like light bulbs, and get about as hot as a very low wattage one. The single end doesn't have as much power as the balanced output, but it's still enough for most stuff and nice for IEM's. I just had time to try the Truthear Zero (blue), Seeaudio Yume, and Sennheiser IE600 and all sounded great. Can't go wrong with any of those, and they don't really need a major amp like this, but do sound better than plugged into a phone or Apple adapter by far. If you want to get into tube rolling, but have the benefits of a hybrid amp, it's the way to go. Now I only want to use the planar magnetic headphones on this stack, everything else sounds flat with them.

Sounded great for the 2 days it worked. Then a plume of smoke rose out of it and it shut down. Can't get replacements meaning my money is now tied up for the 30+ days it takes to get the return processed. A return which CAN'T buy me another amp, as I got it on sale.Garbage experience. Then amazon lost the replacement I tried to buy. Absolute garbage experience. Long story short the amp sounds great... if it's working. If its not, expect to be put through the absolute ringer. Don't buy here or from any sellers here. Go elsewhere.

Very solid-feeling, sounds great with a super low noise floor. I haven’t done too much A/B testing with my other gear, so I can’t say how the tubes affect the sound exactly.The only problem I have with it is that it’s not exactly pretty… but that’s subjective I guess.

As the title says, do not buy the liquid platinum unless your headphones are high impedance (HD6XX for example) or your DAC has a volume control. This is a very high powered headphone amp so your headphones will get loud very quickly.Otherwise this is a 5 star amp. I did not find too much of a difference when changing the stock tubes but your mileage may vary. But the amp is silky smooth, good low end, superb mids, and detailed treble.

Stop reading and buy it. Bottom line. I’ve been an audiophile for over twenty years and this amp is the best value, best bang for the buck I’ve ever owned. Ever. Period. Btw my amp was delivered less than an hour ago. That’s how good it is. It took less than four seconds of listening for me to arrive at the aforementioned conclusion. No break in, no A B sampling, no doubt, this amp will never leave my possession. Tidal MQA, MacBook Pro, meridian explorer 2, McIntosh headphones, audioquest interconnects.

Amplificateur très performant. Jolie look. Il est capable de délivrer une superbe puissance. Le son est légèrement plus feutré qu'un modèle avec THX AAA Technology. Super produit!

Nota: hasta ahorita solo lo he probado SE por que no cuento con cables XLR pero planeo actualizar la reseña una vez que me lleguen los cables balanceados (el amp está diseñado para uso balanceado principalmente.)Hermoso amp. Lo uso para darle vida a unos HD660S y les da un sonido que no pensé poder conseguir con ningún otro dispositivo. La claridad, color y definición del LP son maravillosas, no se siente estéril y da una tonalidad muy agradable con los tubos stock. En un futuro cercano planeo probarlo con otros tubos para experimentar más sabores en la música. Para que el amplificador empiece a dar más de sí, los componentes tienen que calentarse tantito pero esto toma alrededor de 5-10 minutos en mi experiencia.

This amp oozes power and musicality and is amazing with my LCD-X. If you are on the fence just do it.

Incroyable son provenant de cet amplificateur. Je suis satisfait à 100%

Amplifier had a lot of power but lacked emotions and sounded a little too dry