Notable Headphone Amps on the Way from Monoprice in Late June

[KG_Jag]

ALEX CAVALLI x MONOPRICE

A big get for Monoprice as they continue to push their Monolith series as something of a premium value, two new products co-branded with Alex Cavalli, with a late June 2018 release estimate.

For an affordable $100, they offer the “Monolith Liquid Spark Headphone Amplifier by Alex Cavalli”, PID 33304. These have RCA on the back, and with a headphone output on the front. In the “Answers” section, a Monoprice “Staff” person said when asked on “output impedance”:

“Less than 0.1 ohms and most likely less than 0.05 ohms”

The other new entry is starting at $700, it is the “Monolith Liquid Platinum Headphone Amplifier by Alex Cavalli” with PID 33305. It is a Balance version of the Cavalli Liquid Crimson. RCA and balanced connections on the back, and headphones outputs on the front.

Links:

http://headphonesnao.com/monoprice-big-bang-ii-of-2018/

and

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33305

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33304

 

[Luckbad]

These aren't just co-branded, they're legitimately designed by Alex Cavalli. He was showing the prototypes at shows prior to his retirement and has confirmed that these are his on Head-Fi.

 

[Dave59]

Positive review for these two amps from Steve Guttenberg today
https://www.cnet.com/news/monoprices-two-spectacular-desktop-headphone-amps/

Anyone heard either of these? wondering how my Sennheiser HD650s would sound with the Monolith Platinum.

 

[Condorsat]

 

[Condorsat]

Received the “Monolith Liquid Spark Headphone Amplifier by Alex Cavalli” last Monday 28 Jan 2019.

Nice .. I'm using it for my Dell PC Headphone rig .. usb> SMSL Sanskrit 6th 32bit/192kHz USB> Spark> Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro.
Very smooth .. slightly warm sounding amp. .. The SMSL never sounded better to me. 990's (250 ohm impedance) at the 11 o'clock position. Spark set to low gain .. loud but not too loud .. good listening level for me.

Points of comparison .. my other headphone amps are the original Schiit Magni 1 & Vali 1.
To me and on my rig the sonic signature is closer to the Vali (not exactly the same) than Magni with more oomph.

Very pleasant sounding headphone amp is my initial impression.