Strange title, so here's the backstory:

I have a Taboo mk 3 UFO that I love. It was purchased used, when I got curious how much better the Decware sound for headphones could get from my old CSP2+. Since it was used, there were decisions the original owner made that I wouldn't have made: dual 3 pin XLR balanced jacks instead of 2 4 pin XLR balanced headphone jacks, scuffing the beautiful black finish on the base, and mistreating the rectifier tube input slot so that it's now fairly loose. In addition, a man can only take so much of Lon talking about the 25th Anniversary mods before he loses his resolve

So I packed up the Taboo yesterday and sent it back to Steve for 25th Anniversary mods, swapping 3 pin XLRs to 4 pin XLRs, any other tweaks he thinks would benefit the sound, and some minor fixes to the tube base/paint.  During the course of that boxing, I realized that I was putting more and more packing materials into the box and tweaking the packing because I was sentimental. I clearly value the Taboo as the centerpiece of my rig that all other components revolve around and I hope it comes back nice and safe.

To hold me over for the ~3 weeks I won't have the Taboo, I purchased a Monolith Liquid Platinum as a temporary amp. I've long been curious about it given its low price and exceptional reviews. There's also a part of me that wonders how a piece of kit like the Taboo, hand built in the US with care and integrity, stacks up against a Cavalli designed tube headphone amp where the production has been optimized to the Nth degree in China for efficiency. The LP was also a natural fit to try since I have so many 6922s from rolling them in Decware amps.

So it arrived yesterday afternoon. I connected it to my DAC, slotted in some of my favorite 1975 Reflektor 6922s and warmed it up for a few hours. Impressions caveated that the LP isn't burned in, and that those Reflektors, while some of my favorite 6922s, are not the equal of everything I'm running in the Taboo:
- LP has power for days. I think 3.6W for channel and you feel it. The mushy volume pot actually makes it hard to get the volume exactly where I want it.
- It weighs 1/8 of the Taboo. Feels like a box of plastic.
- The bass is noticeably more bloated and has less slam.
- There's just less emphasis, less substance, on all notes.
- Imaging is not close to the equal of Taboo with Lucid Mode engaged.
- It's more laid back sounding, less involving. Sometimes it feels like I'm waiting a moment for the next section of music to arrive.
- It's less resolving, less separation between notes.

When I type all those up, it makes it sound like the LP is terrible and it's not at all. It's probably 80-85% of a Taboo, but you miss just a little bit in all those areas and it adds up to make music less involving. I also wonder whether my wife would think the difference is that broad. Lastly, I'll mention again that it hasn't been burned in and Monolith recommends 100-150 hours at all so there's a good possibility it gets better as time goes on.

Thanks,
Richard

I don't think that Uncle Lon is a shill. I think he probably provides information to folks who have already made up their mind to buy something DECWARE.

Hear, hear! You got that right.

After rolling the dice and selling off most of my previous system, which included a Rogue push pull amp and Martin Logan  electro stats, I went all IN on Decware-Omega combination and am committed to never, ever looking back.

Thanks man! I actually can't imagine it sounding better than it already does so if it really can, I'll be thrilled. Steve likened it to the jump from HD to 4k.

As for the term 'Shill', the definition is:
"an accomplice of a hawker, gambler, or swindler who acts as an enthusiastic customer to entice or encourage others."

... and I don't think that applies to anyone on this forum. There's no feigned enthusiasm here