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LCR phono stages we know about

Lately, I have become enthralled with LCR phono stages, based on some personal listening experiences and on the fact that many designers I respect are involved in LCR phono design. However, I don't really feel that I have a complete picture re what's out there in terms of commercial products. If you own or have heard an LCR phono stage and have an opinion, please name the product and feel free to render an opinion of it, compared to other phono stages of any type with which you are familiar. Thanks.
lewm

Showing 2 responses by thekong

thekong
203 posts
 
Hi Lewm,

Nearly a year back, we did a phono shootout, including a Thomas Mayer LCR phono, please see some of the write up in the following thread (mainly in the 2nd and 3rd page from the most recent)

http://www.1pekingroad.com/zaspx/replies.aspx?PageNo=2&topicsno=4&subjectno=1849&uppersubjectno=1849&sortby=updatedate&orderby=desc
thekong
203 posts
 
Hi Lewm,

Yes, the shootout was meant to get a feel on the basic characters of the units rather than serious comparison, which you really can’t do in a short time. If I understand correctly, you can order the complete phono from Thomas Mayer, with the option of supplying him with your own LCR module, or take the one he has. My friend’s unit used the Tango module.

I also agree that the SUT has great effect on the sonic, and it take considerable experimentation to match a cartridge to the SUT / phono. Since most of the other units in the shootout had built-in MC gain, we didn't prepare too many SUTs for the Thomas Mayer, which was unfortunate.

Regarding LCR, both the Thomas Mayer and a DIY SS unit that my friend built have a very polite, refine, relax and musical presentation, which make you just want to enjoy the music. It is in contrast to some of the modern phonos which give you the “in your face” resolution and dynamics. I am not sure whether this is a common character of LCR phonos, and I am very interested to audition the Allnic LCR models.
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