Monoprice via eBay has
Monolith Liquid Spark Headphone Amplifier by Alex Cavalli (33304) on sale for
$32.49.
Shipping is free.
Thanks to Community Member
BrianZ9975 for finding this deal.
Alternatively, you can buy more for an additional discount:
- Qty 2 $61.72 ($30.87 each)
- Qty 3 $91.62 ($30.54 each)
- Qty 4 $120.84 ($30.22 each)
Monoprice via Target also has
Monolith Liquid Spark Headphone Amplifier by Alex Cavalli (33304) on sale for
$32.49.
Shipping is free w/ redcard or on orders $35+.
Specs:
- Dimensions: 4.6" x 3.7" x 1.5" (117 x 94 x 38 mm)
- Weight: 9.6 oz. (271g)
- Headphone Output: Unbalanced stereo 1/4" TRS jack
- Preamp Output: Unbalanced stereo RCA jacks
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 108dB (ref. 1 Vrms input / 2 Vrms output @ 1kHz)
- Crosstalk: –73dB (ref. 1 Vrms input / 2 Vrms output @ 10kHz)
- Output Impedance: < 0.1 ohms
- Gain: +3dB or +6dB
- Input: Unbalanced stereo RCA
- Output Protection: Delay and offset protection
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Top Comments
Here's the audiosciencereview for this amp from 2018: https://www.audioscienc
Hopefully at some point slickdeals fixed their link shortening breaking links to audiosciencereview, if slickdeals broke the link either manually replace the garbage characters with slashes, or just google "monoprice liquid spark audiosciencereview".
This is an unbalanced headphone amplifier with rca inputs (and rca premp outputs) on the back, you will need a dac with unbalanced outputs to connect to this amp. Most high quality dacs will cost more than twice the cost of this headphone amp, the best value option I'm aware of (but I'm sort of out of date on the current market, so do your own research) is the SMSL SU-1 for ~$80 or less on sale. This is obviously a bit of a mismatch with a $32 headphone amp, so if you don't already have a dac I'd recommend the alternative I'll get into below.
Alternatively, for those on a very tight budget, I've heard good things about using the ~$8 apple usb-c to 3.5mm adapter dongle with a 3.5mm to rca cable (~$5) as a dac. The audio chain would look like this: computer's usb port -> apple usb to 3.5mm dongle -> 3.5mm to rca cable -> rca inputs of the liquid spark amp -> headphones. The apple dongle will only be able to output up to 1vrms, and there's always the potential for issues when using a janky setup like that. Ground loops are also always a possibility with unbalanced audio setups. Make sure to get the US version of the apple dongle, the EU version is limited to only .5vrms output. You could technically do the same thing with your motherboards audio output, though that'll typically be of extremely poor quality and I don't recommend it.
The ebay listing indicates that for: "Other Monoprice Branded products: 1 year replacement warranty only", so purcharing this amp from ebay has a worse warranty than the 3 year replacement warranty directly from monoprice's website. Cancellations are not permitted on the ebay orders, but there are 30 day returns.
Overall, at $32.49 this is a excellent value budget headphone amp for those who already have a dac or are willing to use a 3.5mm output to rca. When you add the cost of the liquid spark amp and a decent desktop dac together it's already over $110, and at that point you can get a much higher quality dac/amp combo unit for ~$50 more. Therefore, if you would be purchasing a proper desktop dac to go along with this headphone amp, I'd recommend instead to look into purchasing a high quality dac/amp combo unit in the $150-$200 range.
69 Comments
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Smsl killed it with the su1 dac, hoping to see some opa2828 parelled based headphone amps soon as I prefer the sound to the opa1656 like the schiit deal posted.
Conclusions
While there are a few oddities here, this is the first Alex Cavalli design that I have tested with competent performance and at hugely bargain price of just $99 including shipping. It joins two other good products, the JDS Labs O2 and Schiit Magni 3. The O2 has more of a textbook performance but slightly less power. The other two have more of a boutique performance with their distortion rise at low load impedances.
Listening tests show the three in dead heat with essentially nothing differentiating them.
So I say base your purchase decision on company reputation, form factor, looks, availability, etc.
For now, the Monoprice Liquid Spark gets my recommendation.
https://www.audioscienc
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https://www.audioscienc
Here's the audiosciencereview for this amp from 2018: https://www.audioscienc
Hopefully at some point slickdeals fixed their link shortening breaking links to audiosciencereview, if slickdeals broke the link either manually replace the garbage characters with slashes, or just google "monoprice liquid spark audiosciencereview".
This is an unbalanced headphone amplifier with rca inputs (and rca premp outputs) on the back, you will need a dac with unbalanced outputs to connect to this amp. Most high quality dacs will cost more than twice the cost of this headphone amp, the best value option I'm aware of (but I'm sort of out of date on the current market, so do your own research) is the SMSL SU-1 for ~$80 or less on sale. This is obviously a bit of a mismatch with a $32 headphone amp, so if you don't already have a dac I'd recommend the alternative I'll get into below.
Alternatively, for those on a very tight budget, I've heard good things about using the ~$8 apple usb-c to 3.5mm adapter dongle with a 3.5mm to rca cable (~$5) as a dac. The audio chain would look like this: computer's usb port -> apple usb to 3.5mm dongle -> 3.5mm to rca cable -> rca inputs of the liquid spark amp -> headphones. The apple dongle will only be able to output up to 1vrms, and there's always the potential for issues when using a janky setup like that. Ground loops are also always a possibility with unbalanced audio setups. Make sure to get the US version of the apple dongle, the EU version is limited to only .5vrms output. You could technically do the same thing with your motherboards audio output, though that'll typically be of extremely poor quality and I don't recommend it.
The ebay listing indicates that for: "Other Monoprice Branded products: 1 year replacement warranty only", so purcharing this amp from ebay has a worse warranty than the 3 year replacement warranty directly from monoprice's website. Cancellations are not permitted on the ebay orders, but there are 30 day returns.
Overall, at $32.49 this is a excellent value budget headphone amp for those who already have a dac or are willing to use a 3.5mm output to rca. When you add the cost of the liquid spark amp and a decent desktop dac together it's already over $110, and at that point you can get a much higher quality dac/amp combo unit for ~$50 more. Therefore, if you would be purchasing a proper desktop dac to go along with this headphone amp, I'd recommend instead to look into purchasing a high quality dac/amp combo unit in the $150-$200 range.
(also, while this will not power bookshelf speakers, it *will* provide more headroom and tactility to powered speaker sets with an rca in)
Here's the audiosciencereview for this amp from 2018: https://www.audioscienc
Hopefully at some point slickdeals fixed their link shortening breaking links to audiosciencereview, if slickdeals broke the link either manually replace the garbage characters with slashes, or just google "monoprice liquid spark audiosciencereview".
This is an unbalanced headphone amplifier with rca inputs (and rca premp outputs) on the back, you will need a dac with unbalanced outputs to connect to this amp. Most high quality dacs will cost more than twice the cost of this headphone amp, the best value option I'm aware of (but I'm sort of out of date on the current market, so do your own research) is the SMSL SU-1 for ~$80 or less on sale. This is obviously a bit of a mismatch with a $32 headphone amp, so if you don't already have a dac I'd recommend the alternative I'll get into below.
Alternatively, for those on a very tight budget, I've heard good things about using the ~$8 apple usb-c to 3.5mm adapter dongle with a 3.5mm to rca cable (~$5) as a dac. The audio chain would look like this: computer's usb port -> apple usb to 3.5mm dongle -> 3.5mm to rca cable -> rca inputs of the liquid spark amp -> headphones. The apple dongle will only be able to output up to 1vrms, and there's always the potential for issues when using a janky setup like that. Ground loops are also always a possibility with unbalanced audio setups. Make sure to get the US version of the apple dongle, the EU version is limited to only .5vrms output. You could technically do the same thing with your motherboards audio output, though that'll typically be of extremely poor quality and I don't recommend it.
The ebay listing indicates that for: "Other Monoprice Branded products: 1 year replacement warranty only", so purcharing this amp from ebay has a worse warranty than the 3 year replacement warranty directly from monoprice's website. Cancellations are not permitted on the ebay orders, but there are 30 day returns.
Overall, at $32.49 this is a excellent value budget headphone amp for those who already have a dac or are willing to use a 3.5mm output to rca. When you add the cost of the liquid spark amp and a decent desktop dac together it's already over $110, and at that point you can get a much higher quality dac/amp combo unit for ~$50 more. Therefore, if you would be purchasing a proper desktop dac to go along with this headphone amp, I'd recommend instead to look into purchasing a high quality dac/amp combo unit in the $150-$200 range.
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"5.1 channel, 192kHz/24-bit Hi-Res audio with a 300ohm headphone amp for detailed, immersive sound with punchy, defined bass
Realtek ALC1220X codec delivers a crystal clear 116dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)"
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