Monolith 133304 Liquid Spark Headphone Amplifier - by Alex Cavalli with RCA Input, Single 1/4 Output 1.3Watt@50R, 108Db

I have been buying headphone amps since the Creek OBH11 came out,in 2003, (which was a disaster)...and have graduated to the O2, (meh)... and from that to the Cavalli Massdrop CTH tube hybrid (sweet and smooth tube-like warmth)...a few DAC/amps of various brands..and on to the Schiit Jotunheim (still a reference for me)...until I decided to check out the latest versions of amps that sell for around $100.00. I bought the Schiit Magni 3+...the Schiit Heresey....and the Cavalli designed Liquid Spark prodced by Monoprice.I am amazed by what fine quality now comes in these small packages!!As a long time speaker designer and builder, I love hearing music through different systems, and comparing the sound of different transducers and components in the payback chain. so...I conducted extensive listening, on each amp, with three headphones of my choice, The Audeze 2 Closed, The Sennheiser Amperior, and the Audeze LCD X, to a wide variety of music from CDs after all the headphone amps had burned in for about 100 hours.I compared five headphone amps, the two small Schiit amps, (Heresy & Magni3+)... (the two Alex Cavalli amps, (the CTH & the Liquid Spark)...and my long-time standard, the Schiit Jotunheim, which is by far the most costly of these amps, using a Schiit Bifrost DAC fed S/PDIF optically from a Yamaha CD changer. Three amps were simultaneously connected on identical cables, (from WBC), to that wonderful DAC.I realize this is not a scientific study with double blind tests. I realize I have personal biases concerning sonic preferences, and music, as does everyone. I have a home recording studio with good gear, and I record mix, and master both acoustic and electronic music. I have been doing this for decades (5) and still have good hearing (so grateful!), for a guy my age. That said my ears roll off at 14Khz now...but it happens so gradually, you think you still hear everything (lol). I do like to ask others of their opinions on sound, and read a lot of reviews on equipment, (and see and hear them)....yep ...hooked.:-)Cutting to the chase, purely subjectively, here are my findings;1) Jotunheim barely retains first place, but only wins in its balanced mode, which is unfair due to the fact the other amps are not balanced, and are a fraction of Jotunheim's price. If I were to rate these amps strictly in S.E mode the Jotunheim would tie witrh the Liquid Spark on these headphones. If your cans are not efficient or harder to drive, the Jotunheim would rule here with its huge power, even in SE mode.2) Liquid Spark, when using the cans I had, and comparing all SE, ties the Jotunheim! It excels in detail presentation, resolution, sound staging and space, lack of grain or glare, solid punch, low bass, airy highs, and musical presentation in general in all music types. I think this amp would pair well with headphones with well balanced frequency responses. Bass shy, overly bright headphones ,(I won't mention names), might sound best with the Cavalli CTH, with its warm smooth character and broad imaging.3) Schiit Magni 3+ is a winner I could be entirely happy to live with as my only amp, if I hadn't heard and lived with the Liquid Spark, that is. The Schiit has a slightly warmer and ever-so-slightly smoother sound signature that is powerful and dynamic, but not as refined or transparent as the MonolithTo sum up, the best of these four amps, used single ended, is the Liquid Spark, hands down. Follow the directions for use that come with it, and be patient with burn-in , and give this amp time to mellow (and it does beautifully). It will reward you with superb sound. The Liquid Spark runs quite warm, as does the Schiit Magni 3+, but the Heresy doesn't. That is all I wish to say about the Heresy. It left me cold.

I've been doing reviews on my purchases for the past 2 hours lol so I'm a little burnt out and will finish this one quick. This amp (for the price) truly deserves a well thought out and lengthy review but I'm to tired. So here this goes. Short and sweet. This is Hands down the best amp on the market for under $140. It's only competitors are the schiit magni 3 and JDS Labs atom.Power:1) schiit magni 32) liquid spark3) atomBuild:1) schiit magni 32) liquid spark3) atomSound quality:1) JDS Labs atom2) liquid spark (very close to atom. I'm talking fractions close. Not even that noticable of a difference but measurements show atom is slightly better)3) schiit magni 3 (there is a higher noticable difference in sound quality compared to the other 2. This amp is all power and build quality for the price but lacks a very clean sound)If you have headphones that require a nuclear reactor to power lol and your on a real budget then the schiit magni 3 "might be" your best choice and that's a slight "might be." The liquid spark is not to far behind the magni 3 in power but miles ahead in clean sound quality. It's a tight race for best budget amp between the liquid spark and JDS Labs atom. With the liquid spark having more power, considerably better build quality and only a fraction of lesser quality clean sound I have to give the best budget amp award to the liquid spark. This is truly a very impressive amp for the price that drives almost all headphones without problem. I can't gush enough about what you are getting for the price here. Absolutely superb. To be perfectly honest though you can't really go wrong with any of the three. If your looking to buy a $100 amp then my guess is your just an average every day consumer/listener who isnt going to be a snob about your equipment and with that being the case all three of the amps I mentioned are fantastic choices and comes down to what your needs are. It comes down to this. If your looking for the Absolute cleanest sound and your not focused on power and build because you have very efficient headphones and your careful with your equipment then get the jds Labs atom. If your not worried about very clean sound and you want heavy power and great build quality then get the schiit magni 3. If your looking to meet somewhere in the middle and have the best of both worlds then get this the liquid spark. Hoped this help make you a decision on which to buy. Take care and enjoy my fellow audio fanatics.