LCR phono stages we know about

The revival of this (my) thread enables me to ask a question:  I was reading an old review of the Manley Steelhead, in maybe 6 Moons, maybe from 2004 or 2005.  In that review, Evanna Manley herself describes the Steelhead circuit from input to output, and in those paragraphs she drops the tidbit that the Steelhead contains an LCR RIAA filter.  I have been unable to corroborate that information anywhere else, including on the Manley website.  Does anyone know anything about the Steelhead?

Lewm,

Here is the article you mentioned, http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/manley3/steelhead_3.html

The LCR is in the MM input only, not in the MC.

Please list some affordable tube LCR phono stage.  I am interested in getting one sub 2k.

Dear Ghetto,
Thanks for the information on the Steelhead.  I wonder what they do via the MC inputs that bypasses the LCR corrector.  I do know that the MC inputs feed autoformers, but I thought that was to alter input impedance only.  

There are a few LCR phono stages that meet your cost criterion.  Unfortunately, I cannot rattle off their names with confidence, but the "Cole" is certainly one of them, probably for less than a kilobuck.  Lounge Audio LCR is another, very interesting because it uses LCR in the context of op amp gain blocs.  It gets very favorable reviews.  

That's my Valab LCR-1 phono stage in the LCR riaa shootout your're linking to on Troels site. I found the design so interesting, that I decided to buy one to try it out. Both build quality and sound quality is very good.

I own a Thomas Mayer D3A based LCR phono stage and 10Y line stage. They replaced a Coincident phono stage. The Mayer pieces are more transparent, smoother and have a much more elegant tonal balance. As an added benefit, they are dead quiet even with 80dB gain. No, they are not cheap, but I have no intention of ever selling them for another setup.

I received my Vallab LCR-1 phono stage yesterday . This phono pre is very good . I will comment more after break in .

For long time I searched for a LCR for a good price. I am using now the Ampearl RE-2030 LCR from Andrey Kuchik(ampearltube.com). A very good one, same league as my Nagra VPS. Is my second one. One is build with EC86 and E180F, the other one with 6F12P. The 6F12P sounds a little bit warmer. Both have a tube power supply. Both are MM versions with about 45db gain. No hum, no hiss. I have more hiss with the Nagra VPS. For 700 Euros a bargain.

Thanks for your inputs, Jarrett, engine, and Indie.  Sometime after my last post in 2016, I bought a Manley Steelhead.  It suits my particular needs for (1) multiple phono inputs, (2) MM and MC gain capability, and (3) LCR.  It's LCR through the MM gain stage and uses autoformers to add gain for the MC inputs, so far as I can tell.  Manley are fairly secretive about this circuit, but I got some info from an interview that Evanna Manley gave to 6 Moons Audio, where she described the output stage.  From her description, I was able to tweak the output a bit which has made a positive improvement.  Thomas Mayer seems to make some great stuff, and I envy you, Jarrett.  Indie, what the heck is a 6F12P tube? Is that a Russian designation where maybe some of the letters are moved over from that cyrillic alphabet?
I still have curiosity for the BMC MCCI and for the 47 Labs 4712, which has the lowest input impedance of any I know about, nearly zero.  I'd have to have one in my own system, at this point.  Talk only goes so far.

I have the T.Mayer octal pre with phono. Also a great phono. But the Ampearl 2030 is equal for tenth part of the price.. The 6F12P is this one: 6Ф12П , a triode-pentode.

I have to apologize. The two phono stagas I mentioned, the BMC MCCI, and the 47 labs, are both current driven phono stages, which is an entirely different subject, but I do have interest in that mode of operation for low output moving coil cartridges. However I don’t think either of those is LCR type.
So I guessed correctly, that the 6F12P is in fact a Russian tube designation with Cyrillic converted into English.

@indieroehre thanks for the lead on the Ampearl RE2030. I pulled the trigger on one. However, I see that it's the RE1030 that uses the 6F12P, the RE2030 uses 6S3P and 6J9P in the phono circuit. Andre was nice enough to through in a spare set of tubes as well with the purchase.

@clio09 
with the RE1030  you can only use the Russian type of 6F12P, there is no equivalent. In the LCR RE2030 you can use E180F for the 6J9P. It sounds best with the original russian tubes in my ears. Andrey always sends a complete set for spare. I have both, the RE1030 and the LCR RIAA.

Just wanted to report back to say I finally received my Ampearl RE2030 LCR phono. The shipping took nearly 2 months to get here but after a couple weeks in my system it sounds very nice and it is very quiet as well. Quite a surprise for $800. I upgraded the input/output jacks but other than that it is stock.