Lounge Audio LCR III Phono Preamp- Build and Review Thread - The Doorway Giant Killer?

First few albums in. We are definitely going through some break in time.

The good? Very good, full and rich sounding, with a big soundstage. Dynamics have kicked in, in a big way. The bad? Some edge, some coarseness on leading edges. Hasn't shown that lovely, ethereal quality of good phono yet. But I was promised at least 30 hours of break in before it starts coming to life.

More to come.
 
More impressions? This guy is VERY honest! It just seems to get out of the way and let the music through.

The image is starting to come to life. Both in width and depth.

Tonal accuracy is excellent. Every instrument sounds just the way it should.
 
Sorry to keep asking but I really am a bit curious about a previous statement you made about this being close in build to the gold? Is this lcr mk III different than one would normally order?
 
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Sorry to keep asking but I really am a bit curious about a previous statement you made about this being close in build to the gold? Is this lcr mk III different than one would normally order?

You know, I've gone about 10 different times to answer your question! When I get home later, I'll dig up the details.
 
Thank you and sorry to be a pest. Believe it or not but your impressions on this Phono pre are of great interest to me. I am really about ready to pull the trigger on one along with a Copla as my next phono stage to replace the Vincent Pho 8 I am currently using.

I had an iFi iPhono2 that I liked very much but my buddy whom I lent it to has basically purchased it from me, without my knowing that I was selling it. Something about not wanting to break in his own. Were good friends and I am okay with it for the most part..... he is paying me back in full.

So before going through the pains of breaking in another iFi, maybe this phono stage is just the ticket for my next step? I still wished it came in silver though .
 
Thank you and sorry to be a pest. Believe it or not but your impressions on this Phono pre are of great interest to me. I am really about ready to pull the trigger on one along with a Copla as my next phono stage to replace the Vincent Pho 8 I am currently using.

I had an iFi iPhono2 that I liked very much but my buddy whom I lent it to has basically purchased it from me, without my knowing that I was selling it. Something about not wanting to break in his own. Were good friends and I am okay with it for the most part..... he is paying me back in full.

So before going through the pains of breaking in another iFi, maybe this phono stage is just the ticket for my next step? I still wished it came in silver though .

I'm also eager to hear @Prime Minister 's listening impressions of this phono stage.

Also curious, when you get to hear one, how it compares to the broken in iFi iPhone2? Which power supply did you use?
 
I never got around to buying an upgraded power supply. That was certainly next on my track with it and there is no doubt that I will end up with such a combo again at some point. I can say that the iFi sent a sutherland 20/20 packing. While the sutherland was very very good, the iFi was almost as good and at the time I felt that I could use the funds recouped better elsewhere in the system. I also believe that with an upgraded power supply, the iFi would close the already very small gap with the sutherland unit maybe even surpassing it.
 
Ok, right from the horses mouth:

"We can add Teflon caps and a silver wire ground buss which will give you more frequency extension, a more liquid midrange and PRAT (pass, rhythm and timing). This will get it closer to the work we did for the LCR Gold."

"We decided to upgrade the 604 metal resistor to Caddod foil resistors. Also, Robert inserted 2 inches of silver wire for the audio ground."

Damn. I thought there was one more thing too, but I can't find it right now. I'll add it when I find it.
 
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That was certainly next on my track with it and there is no doubt that I will end up with such a combo again at some point. I also believe that with an upgraded power supply, the iFi would close the already very small gap with the sutherland unit maybe even surpassing it.
When you do, I absolutely insist you try a "JSSG" ground shunt on the stock iPower's negative ring/barrel DC output plug. It looks like this:

PA281071.jpg

An absolutely transformative tweak in the digital realm for any SMPS, the iPower is actually quite good with it's 1µV of noise within the audio band, but this ground shunt solves another problem inherent to these SMPS units called AC leakage current.

I need for someone else to try this and ideally it would be on a SMPS used on an analog component, as there are now literally 10s if not 100s of positive reports on this in the domain of digital components. No doubt it will also work on a phono stage and I can even see where that might be the very best such application, given the sensitive low noise environment.

Apologies if this amounts to a thread hi-jack, no more on this here.
 
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More impressions? This guy is VERY honest! It just seems to get out of the way and let the music through.

The image is starting to come to life. Both in width and depth.

Tonal accuracy is excellent. Every instrument sounds just the way it should.
Glad to hear things are coming together. Looking forward to hearing it eventually.
 
Not much to report yet. I'm giving it as much time as possible to keep breaking in. Definitely much better then how it started out. MUCH better. I hope to have some impressions for you all by the weekend.
 
I must confess that after enquiring further about the mods made to the device with the folks at Lounge Audio whom were very responsive, that I am a little less enthused. It would seem that the mods to the phono pre add $200 to the price. Making it closer in price to the very capable iFi iPhono2 and further from say the mani and other mentioned stage. Not sure how, or if that changes my calculus on purchasing thos unit as I was planning on purchasing the Copla as well.
 
Maybe I am being a bit hasty with my above statement, but I will leave it as it reflects my thinking at that moment. I do like the fact that there is an upgrade option available for the unit. I feel that it is inherently a good thing to have options. But I am wondering if the comparison being made is for a $300 unit or a $500 dollar unit. At that price point, the comparisons change. Add to the fact that if you run Moving coils the Copla or a SUT would be required and you are now in the territory of some serious competition. Also, does this knock it out of the Doorway category?
 
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