Okay. Where do I start?

The Liquid Gold (or "LAu" for short --- periodic table, folks) is the latest offering from Cavalli Audio: a solid state dynamic headphone amp that packs quite a bit of power into a single chassis. It's got pretty much everything you'd need in terms in inputs and outputs, two gain settings toggled via switch in the front, and it sports Cavalli's new more robust build quality. It also costs $6,450 making it one of the most expensive solid state headphone amps you can buy, something that has no doubt caused eyebrows to be raised up like so many questioning caterpillars.

Rewinding for a spell. This is an amp that I've been interested in for some time now. Back when Cavalli Audio first launched, the two amps on the tips of most tongues were the Liquid Fire and Liquid Gold: the ubiquitous tube and solid state offering respectively. While the former went into production, the latter was put on the back burner and soon passed from the minds of most folks. Most folks, that is, except for me; it took up residency inside my brain and refused to leave. Since that time both the LAu and I have changed, but I think it's safe to say the amp's metamorphosis has been the more extreme between the two of us. It's basically a whole new amp. My interest in it has remained constant, however.

A few months ago I had a chance to try the prototype for the LAu along with fellow pirates dBel and Tari. What I heard was no doubt very impressive, and the three of us pretty much agreed it was one of the best solid state dynamic amp we had heard. You can read our impressions in this thread here on Changstar. I jumped at the chance to audition the preproduction version, not only because of the obvious cosmetic differences but also because Alex assured me it was even better than what I had heard before. It seems the LAu still wasn't done evolving.

I've had the preproduction version here for a few days now. No doubt in my mind: it's better than the prototype I heard. A lot better. This amp has knocked my socks off.

Let's start off with the most immediate stuff. The LAu looks right at home next to the LL2, as the two are pretty similar in appearance despite the size difference. Aesthetically this is a very handsome amp. I'm not so sure I'd call it "luxurious" though; that sort of descriptor connotes an almost over-the-top quality, one more at home with gold plating that reacts to the oils in your hands and leather made from an endangered goat's scrotum. The LAu on the other hand has a more purposeful, no-nonsense look to it that gets wedded to a substantial overall build. Understated? No. This amp is stealthy but also intimidating, demanding that you notice its stealthiness. Basically Cavalli's new look is the Batman of the headphone amp world.

As mentioned above, the LAu has balanced and single ended inputs and outputs. On the outputs there are both 4-pin XLR and 3-pin XLR sockets. The preproduction model has two separate 1/4" jacks, but I believe the production amps will have combo jacks with the 3-pin XLRs if I'm not mistaken.

One very important thing to note is that this amp is built to be quite powerful; to my understanding the main goal of the amp is to power harder loads such as planar magnetics. With that in mind, I'm not sure I'd recommend the LAu for those who are primarily wanting to run highly sensitive low impedance stuff like Grados, Audio-Technicas, etc. In particular I'm finding that the single ended outp uts have too much hiss with these types of headphones. In balanced mode however the hiss is largely canceled out, and on the low gain setting of 4x sensitive headphones are much quieter.

A good thing too because this amp sounds exceptional with just about everything I've thrown at it thus far, not just planar magnetics. At the end of the day however the LAu is pretty much made for orthos. Really as far as I'm concerned this is THE dedicated headphone amp for them now. As hyperbolic as it must sound, I've honestly never heard my LCD-3 and HE-6 sound as good as they have on this thing. It's all about control: the LAu grabs hold of these transducers and continues to hold on for dear life. At the same time it doesn't leave much of its own mark on them, instead allowing the unique properties of each to come through. In other words the LAu does very little to mask a transducer's flaws, but it does whip it into shape.

In typical Cavalli fashion, the LAu sounds effortless and musical. This is not a tight-arsed or sterile sounding amp. There's a slight hint of warmth and fullness, but it's by no means "tube-like" in that syrupy Leben way. Quite the contrary. This amp is tube-like in the sense that it's very involving, and like the best tube amps it possesses both a tremendous inner depth and resolution as well as a convincing sense of exterior space. In fact the LAu is more tube-like in this sense than any other solid state dynamic amp I've encountered up until now. This was something noted on the prototype, but on the preproduction unit it's even more pronounced. Listening with the HE-6, the experience pretty much mirrors what I found to be the case with the LL2: you're practically bombarded with layer upon layer of detail.

Admittedly, at $6,450 I have a hard time recommending the amp to just anyone. It's simply out of the realm of possibility for a lot of folks, just as DACs like the Resolution Cantata aren't for everyone. I'll say it sounds better to my ears than the Apex Pinnacle which costs considerably more, but then so do several other amps which cost even less. However none of those other amps can drive planar magnetics this well to my mind. I haven't encountered any speaker amps that can do as good of a job at this price point either. So yeah, if you're able to swing the cost and use orthos primarily, this amp is worth a serious consideration in my humble opinion. Also if you don't want to bother with tubes but want an amp that plays on the level of high-end tube amps, the LAu gets my vote.