Cavalli Audio Liquid Lightning

[The Monkey]

It's pretty obvious to any experienced tech that someone went over many of the original solder joints on the Cavalli amp to make it look bad. 

 

 

 

So you're saying this is a case of sabotage?

[spritzer]

It's pretty obvious to any experienced tech that someone went over many of the original solder joints on the Cavalli amp to make it look bad. 

 

I suppose this post will be hypocritically deleted.

 

Nothing was touched up or altered, I'm not even sure how one would do that as my solder joints are quite clearly different from what was on the board.  I would need to find what ever solder was used and then desolder it all without any damage.  Any experienced tech would know this makes less than no sense. 

 

First off we have the issue of the tiny lands around the components.  They are miniscule so soldering something like the TO-92 units is very hard to do, let alone any rework needed.  Same thing for the 1/4W resistors, almost impossible to do any work on them without lifting the traces. 

 

Also to curtail any thought that the crappy soldering is due to the RoHS, see this:

 

 

Brand new Stax SRM-007t which is RoHS compliant.  The soldering is perfect as it is always on the Stax units. 

[Hopstretch]

So you're saying this is a case of sabotage?

 

Obligatory.

 

[The Monkey]

I still love that video so much...Vic Colfari as Bobby, "The Rookie".  lol.

[ktm]

It's pretty obvious to any experienced tech that someone went over many of the original solder joints on the Cavalli amp to make it look bad. 

 

I suppose this post will be hypocritically deleted.

Really? Ever look at some NAD gear of the past? There are a lot of crappy solder jobs out there. With all the far east

hack shops, it's all too common. But in premium priced gear, you'd expect a lot better than this.

[tjkurita]

It's pretty obvious to any experienced tech that someone went over many of the original solder joints on the Cavalli amp to make it look bad. 

 

I suppose this post will be hypocritically deleted.

 

The bad soldering wasn't the only problem with the amp.  Leaving aside the hacked soldering, I think the experienced techs in this thread pointed out any number of additional problems with the build quality and execution. 

[DefQon]

because of the way it implies anal sex?

 

Somewhat close to this but yes. A past personal experience gone bad which is why I find it mentally disturbing.

 

@Oldie's comment: Not sure if serious. If you think spritzers/KG's intentions are to sabotage Cavali Audio's reputation and business, think again. 

[jwzhan]

 A past personal experience gone bad which is why I find it mentally disturbing.

 

 

[spritzer]

@Oldie's comment: Not sure if serious. If you think spritzers/KG's intentions are to sabotage Cavali Audio's reputation and business, think again. 

 

That is indeed it.  There are plenty of halfwits that claim this is all some personal vendetta of mine but I've done the same for Woo Audio products, RSA, King Sound, Stax and even Headamp.  Some of these may not like me but at least they haven't sent the paid shills to try and bully me, not that I can be bullied or intimidated.  That said, the actions of fanboys in general are not good as people are stuck with barely functioning gear and just supposed to suck it up.  Tow the party line which is led by people who haven't got a clue.  It's all quite sad... 

 

As it stands now we've turned the LL into something useful.  The circuit is still exactly the same but improved with better components, proper assembly technique, some basic common sense and an actual analysis of the circuits.  We don't try to bend some cheap parts off Mouser to our will, we just use what's best for the job. 

 

The sound now is much improved and I'd compare to a modded 727.  Doesn't have the sheer presence of a KGSSHV let alone the BHSE but bass and treble anomalies are gone and now the amp is linear.  Far less distortion and now the bloody thing is safe to use.  Easy to service too as there are only 4 wires soldered in at both ends and they are the outputs.  Easy as pie to remove them from the output socket PCB's. 

 

Now I would actually feel comfortable to sell the amp on but I'm not going to.  Nice to have in all the "post pics of your rig" photo's... 

[wink]

Perhaps, in oldie's case, senility is indicated...........

[grawk]

more likely he's just showing his loyalty to the cavalli cause

[Augsburger]

Indeed, but why here?  Much like trying to sell Scientology to Al-Qaeda, very likely to get ones ass kicked in the process.

[roadtonowhere08]

I very much would like to see that, Augsburger.  Could be quite entertaining.

[eggil]

X2

DefQon, how many beers did you have before you posted that comment? 

[DefQon]

No beers man I'm sober for the next few weeks to prepare for my finals needa keep the mind clean and straight.

As for that quote lets just say that she was fucking too tight and I went overboard a bit.

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

It might be the same board, but it's no Liquid Lightning anymore. No melting cables, no risk of electric shock - that takes both the liquid and the lightning out of it. 

[roadtonowhere08]

No beers man I'm sober for the next few weeks to prepare for my finals needa keep the mind clean and straight.

As for that quote lets just say that she was fucking too tight and I went overboard a bit.

 

I could have done without that mental image...

[oldies]

That is indeed it.  There are plenty of halfwits that claim this is all some personal vendetta of mine but I've done the same for Woo Audio products, RSA, King Sound, Stax and even Headamp.  Some of these may not like me but

Saying you do this to many companies does not make it the right thing to do. If you're truly attempting to help, why not contact the manufacturer directly and offer advice. Your sense of truth and professionalism is a bit skewed spritzer. I mean common man, who the hell opens up an amp and posts what you post. You spent a month of your life talking about this minor project in open forum in an attempt to come across as some self proclaimed expert and at the same time attempt to discredit the manufacturer, you said it yourself in the first post. So you swapped a few parts in an existing amp- Your'e a damn hero man!

 

I take it you could care less if others are hurt in the process. It's all about you anyway, isn't it?

[roadtonowhere08]

Alex, is that you?

[grawk]

it comes down to:  protect the companies or protect the consumers.  

[roadtonowhere08]

I am truly at a loss as to why spritzer would get any crap for doing what he does other than from the shill brigade.  It is very obvious what his intentions are, and grawk nailed it.

[CarlSeibert]

Excuse me. I see this often and it drives me nuts.  In what alternate universe is it proper or normal, or some sort of entitlement, that somebody who needs to be called out should be given an opportunity to work it out privately?

 

Maybe Snowden should have directly contacted the NSA and "offered his advice"?

 

If I do something wrong, will the cops call me up and "offer advice"?

 

That is just not how the world fucking works.

 

If it were to turn out that Alex is as right as rain here and Birgir is full of it, that would all come out in due course.

[The Monkey]

Excuse me. I see this often and it drives me nuts.  In what alternate universe is it proper or normal, or some sort of entitlement, that somebody who needs to be called out should be given an opportunity to work it out privately?

 

Maybe Snowden should have directly contacted the NSA and "offered his advice"?

 

If I do something wrong, will the cops call me up and "offer advice"?

 

That is just not how the world fucking works.

 

If it were to turn out that Alex is as right as rain here and Birgir is full of it, that would all come out in due course.

 

^This, 1000 times, this.  That line of thinking is truly absurd.  Their thinking is basically thus: "If you really wanted to help, you would keep it a big secret."

 

Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

[Pars]

^ Nailed it. Too much of this behind the scenes wink wind nod nod say no more shit going on. Maybe instead of sending shit to shills to blow more sunshine up orifices, invest in a unit to someone knowledgeable like Kevin or Birgir to look it over and evaluate it and provide feedback. I think both of them have already offered way more than enough constructive help regarding the Exstata (assuming I have the story straight and remembered it correctly), which apparently fell upon deaf ears.

 

It's pretty obvious to any experienced tech that someone went over many of the original solder joints on the Cavalli amp to make it look bad. 

 

I suppose this post will be hypocritically deleted.

I must have misread this the first time because I didn't really think much of it, but alleging that Birger (or someone) went over the solder joints on this to make them appear bad is ludicrous, and has been pointed out, normally, an experienced tech (and I am one) would be adding solder to joints. Many of the joints appear to have too little solder, and poorly flowed.

Edited October 23, 2013 by Pars

[wink]

Fair dinkum, oldie, since when does it become a crime to expose second-rate workmanship on a second-rate circuit that's housed in a good looking case and charged an arm and a leg for the privelege of owning it..?? Would you be happy to own one, having paid full price for it, and then shown the level of workmanship inside? If so, then you don't have enough smarts to see what's going on. If not, then you would be backing Birgir's expose - and you'd be free to let Alex know what you think of his product's design and build quality control.