Lounge Audio Phono Pre Amp

I am amazed at the reduction in ear fatigue as well.......it's fun to enjoy the music and get caught up in it as opposed to listening for defects in the system........almost done with 24 hours and continuing to open up!

 

I am so happy people are finding and enjoying this stage. Mine has been in place for about 2 months, and it continues to make me smile. Moronix has big things planned for the future, I can't wait to hear the new products he has his hand in producing down the road.

 

I would think the High Output version of a Dynavector cartridge would be a great match

 

Great to hear the positive comments still being posted about The Lounge. I went back to check the "conversation" I started with Robert when I purchased mine and was surprised that I have had mine for over three years now. It doesn't seem like it has been that long. From day one mine made a huge difference in what I hear from my modest system and three years later it is still providing me with a great deal of listening pleasure. I know Robert has continually looked for ways to improve The Lounge so I can only imagine how good the current version must sound.

If you are on the edge...take the plunge.

First rate product and first class customer service!

 

Mine arrived today, really enjoying it so far. Looking forward to hearing it after some burn in time!

 

Mines been nothing but great with every cartridge I've thrown at it. 2M Blue, AT-150MLX and now a Cartridge Man Music Maker Classic, which is sounding sublime.

 

I've been loving the Lounge so much in my office system that I moved it upstairs into my main system. I was curious how much of an improvement it would be over the phono stage in my rega Mira. I was blown away by how the Lounge revealed the degree to which the Mira's phono stage was the limiting factor in that system. Now I have a dilemma because I don't want to take the Lounge out of my main system, but I need something better than my old Cambridge audio 540p for the office system. Maybe I should just buy a second lounge lcr...

 

If you love the Lounge sound, a second one makes a lot of sense if it fits within your budget. I'm still loving mine, and I came from a Cambridge Audio 640p.

 

Check out the Parks Audio Budgie in the For Sale section. Another great choice

 

As tempted as I was to get another Lounge, I couldn't resist trying out something different. A nearby store had a used Lehmann Black Cube Statement, which was well priced and has MC and variable loading capabilities. I'm looking forward to testing it out to see whether it or the Lounge works best in my main system.

 

Looking forward to your observations. Please post them when you've done some listening.

 

After having done some listening yesterday and today, the Lounge is staying in my main system and the Black Cube Statement will be used with my office system.

A bit of background: I was using the built-in phono stage on the Rega Mira in my main system. I was happy with the sound except when playing two or three "problem" albums. These albums, when turned up to a room filling, fairly loud volume exhibited occasional distortion or harshness (clipping?) during certain passages. One example is the Yes album Fragile (I haven't sorted out exactly which pressing since the Discogs page for this album is pretty overstuffed, but it is a US issue with PORKY in the deadwax and ST-A-712367-MO on the label). On that album, some of the organ parts during Cans and Brahms and the last part of the final track sounded pretty harsh at high volume.

When I brought the Lounge up from my office system it immediately resolved any issues when used with the Line 1 input on the Mira. When I tested the Black Cube Statement in my main system into the same input, it exhibited the similar harshness as the built in phono stage of the Mira at high volume.

I don't want to make too many sweeping statements since my main system is in my living room which isn't treated for audio and has limited options for speaker placement. So I can't say that one preamp is necessarily better than the other, just that the Lounge seems to be a better fit for my main system. I just listened to Fragile on the office system with the Black Cube Statement and it sounded fine, but the office system is a much more controlled environment where I listen with headphones 99% of the time.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

I don't think there is any problem with the Mira since it sounds wonderful with the Lounge. Perhaps it is some type of mismatch? The Exact I use on my Planar 3 is a pretty high output cartridge.

All dip switches on the Black Cube Statement are in the off position, which is listed in the manual as being the appropriate setting for MM and high output MM.

I'm not dissatisfied with the Black Cube Statement since it performs very well in my office system and it allows me the option of experimenting with MC cartridges in the future.

The Black Cube Statement is more sensitive to positioning than the Lounge.

I could have tried messing around with the various adjustable settings on the Black Cube Statement, but it works well with the MM defaults in my office system, and life is too short to keep futzing around with my main system when the Lounge works great in it.

 

If you could go back would you buy the Black Cube again or another Lounge?

 

Tough to say. I really like that the Black Cube has MC and variable loading capabilities, which I'll likely use in the future. And I like a bit of variety. I guess I'll weasel out of it and say that if I could only keep one, I'd keep the Lounge.

 

Maybe the cube needs some burn in time?

 

That seems like a reasonable possibility. When I tested the Black Cube in the office system, it had been plugged in for longer than when I tested it in the main system. I'll probably do more testing in the future with the main system, but for now I'm just focusing on enjoying music (main system during the day, office system at night) before heading out on a work trip tomorrow afternoon.

 

Thank you for telling me that the product I already spent money on that I love is your first choice .

 

It really is a fantastic phono at that price.

 

Sho nuff. I've never heard vinyl sound so good!

 

Remember, you can always add a Lounge Copla in order to use an MC cartridge, it's what I use in my main system.

I'm headed to NYC for a 3 month project. At my place there I have a U-Turn Orbit Plus and Arcam Solo Music receiver. Since it's such a long gig I decided to ship the Lounge and hear how it sounds in that system. I was using the table's built in Pluto snd also tried a vintage Realistic phono ore which sounded really great.

 

Just picked up a mint used LCR MKIII and I am exceptionally impressed with the lovely sound emanating from this box. I have tried numerous preamps from a Project Phono Box to a recapped Carver C-1 including a few integrated amps, Pioneer SA-1000 is my favorite. This baby is a perfect blend of sound, sound stage, and price and I don't have to replace any parts or disassemble for the switch cleaning ritual.

I did however do one small upgrade. I replaced the regular ol' phillip's screws for some black Allen screws. A whopping $1.50 upgrade but I think it really improves the already good looks.

 

Here are some pics.

 

Just received this Lounge Preamp to replace the built-in in my Yamaha A-S1000 Integrated. Just one question: When someone says "no hum whatsoever" do they mean at normal listening levels, or with the amp turned up all the way with no music playing. There is an increase in noise/hum when turned up compared to the built-in, but I'm obviously never going to play music that loud. Is it just a given that there will be some noise when a phono input is turned up to full volume with no source playing?

 

Play a record at the loudest you are willing to withstand. Lift the tonearm so that the stylus is not incontact with the record. Do you hear hum?

If not, sit back and enjoy your new preamp. If you do hear hum, let's review your grounding.