Lounge Audio Phono Pre Amp

LCR tubes, I am into it!

 

Looks like the LCR Gold is US$650. I'll be waiting for details and pricing on the LCR Tube, since I'm more interested in a "rich liquid midrange" than "austere and accurate" although I'm sure both products will sound great.

 

I just bought the mk iii and the Copla stepup amp last night. I'm happy with the sound of my Chinook but something about my system/setup just doesn't play nicely with it. So, going to try out the Lounge gear. I've been far less focused/anal on how everything sounds and have just been kicking back and enjoying music lately so hopefully it works as well as advertised and I can recoup a little of what I spent on the Chinook in the first place. Lovely gear, I'm just not needing that level of stuff right now. Should have the Lounge stuff this coming week so I'll give it a bit to settle in and come back and compare it to my old iPhono V2 and now the Chinook.

 

I've got a MKIII and have been thrilled with it.

Other than the headphone jack and volume control, what will I be getting if I decide to upgrade from the MKIII to the Gold? And is there some sort of trade in option for MKIII owners?

Thanks Robert!

 

May be an impedance mismatch with your Anthem. Most tube stuff likes 50k up loads, a lot of SS stuff is a lot lower and the tube component isnt happy. Hope the Lounge works for you. I was seriously considering it, but ended up with a Sutherland. Lot more money though.

 

Picked up the Copla and Lounge at USPS this morning, got home and hooked it up. Bad weekend for it to come since we're out of town today and out and about all day tomorrow (3rd bday party for my kid, should be a lot of fun) but I was able to get one song in. What song did I choose? Audiophile or good ole fashioned rock?

Metallica - Spit Out the Bone

LOL, seriously.

So I picked this because it is well-recorded on vinyl, loud as hell, and frantic as hell. So much going on in this song it's easy for it to just congeal into a wall of sound and for instruments to get lost, the soundstage (being generous here, I know) can shrink at very high volume and instruments can lose their impact.

I am very happy to say the Copla/Lounge passed this test with flying colors. It was forceful, kept up with the barrage of heavy and light sounds without any trouble and everything was intelligible and focused. Beyond all that, it was a lot of fun to just crank it all up and let it eat. I'm not in any way ready to say I prefer it to the Chinook but damn if this isn't some impressive gear for the asking price. Very well done @morinix, thanks for all you do for this community. Can't wait to listen to it more and let it break in a bit.

 

Follow-up now that I have about 8 hours of listening on this combo. And again, to be clear - I am not trying to "one-up" the Chinook. I took a shot at the Chinook since I got a darn good deal on a brand new unit but I think I went a little too upscale for my budget and needs. So, my goal is to find something I want to listen to at about a third/fourth the cost. A tough one, but so far...

I have had to do a little tweaking to my setup which just speaks to how different these stages all sound from each other. Speakers, amp, preamp, cart, table - all unchanged. I just subbed out the Chinook for the Copla/LCR mk III. I had to slightly revamp my low and high-pass settings in my Anthem D2. Sub and mains were both crossed over at 45 Hz previously. For some reason, low at 40 and high at 50 works much better with this combo. I do notice a "thicker" sound with the Lounge combo than from the Manley. Strangely, I notice more bass definition as well. This has been apparently on multiple albums so far but the one I've been waiting for is now playing - Bill Evans, Sunday at the VVG, MoFi OneStep, really, really shows off what this combo can do. This album was sublime with the Chinook. Tonality, definition, soundstage, and dynamics were all there in spades through the Chinook. And the Lounge gear is totally keeping up! Dynamics were what I was worried about here but I am no longer. It's sharp when it needs to be, delicate when it's supposed to be. It's brilliant, no two ways about it. I don't feel I've sacrificed anything but maybe a smidge less image depth. And I'm reaching, there, but that is the only thing I can come up with as a possible benefit from the Chinook. LaFarro sounds just like he's in the room still and Evans piano can lull you to sleep or shock you right out of it depending on the track. And there are several "swells" on this album where it goes from mild to wild either quickly or over time and the Lounge gear has had no issue conveying those dynamics.

I am picking up a bit more obvious surface noise with the Lounge gear but again, that was to be expected given the fact the Chinook has a power stage that a typical power amp might be envious of. So, as far as I understand, this indicates the Lounge gear doesn't quite have the headroom of the Chinook, but I never expected it to, either. At least, that's how I make sense of it in my simple brain. And don't mistake me, it's not offensive at all, just a subtle difference I've noticed.

The only issue I've had at all so far is with another hard rocker - And Justice for All. This album has a dreadful mix as I think many of us know. It was pretty tame through the Chinook but the Lounge brought out some ugliness in the bass, hence my slight tweaks to the crossover settings. That cured it so it's no issue (and I think it's an improvement overall, honestly). I also am finding I like about a 130/140 ohm load on my AT cart as opposed to 100 ohms like I was using at first on the Lounge. Seems to tighten things up just a bit. In any case, listening to albums like Justice, Hardwired, Foo Fighters is incredibly fun through this setup. It was fun before but now, I think I actually prefer that aspect of the Lounge to the Chinook.

Anyway, that's it for now. Very happy and really impressed with what these little devices do in place of a stalwart of a phono stage. At this point, I have no intention of keeping the Chinook, and I can't think of higher praise for Lounge.

 

I don't have the copla (yet) but the lounge gets even better after about 40 hours. I loved it out of the box and it got even better.

 

Love my Lounge. Going to get the Copla after my DL 110 cart wears out and I need to upgrade to a LOMC. Can't fricken wait.

 

The Copla will actually better the performance if your DL110, no need to wait on getting it. It's the cart I was using when I first bought the Copla, I had already been using the Lounge for a while.

 

Just to be totally clear, Copla will work with HOMC carts. This is thanks to DigMyGroove's fantastic discovery. BUT the transimpedance control knob does not have as much effect on the sound as it does with a MC cart like the DL103. Copla does have a great bold sound with the DL110 though; it's my preferred way to listen to the DL110.

 

I'm about a week in now, maybe 20 hours on it. I'm not picking out major differences honestly, but that's fine, I'm sold. In fact, my Chinook just sold in the Classifieds so this is my setup now. I've run through even more really familiar stuff and the absolute biggest thing that jumps out at me is I don't feel the midrange is as forward which, with some genres is absolutely great but hearing them back to back, the slightly more laid-back presentation of the Lounge just makes everything pop on the music I love most. Sounds counterintuitive I know, but that's how I feel. Secondly, bass presence, definition, and just the quantity of it continues to bring a smile to my face. It's nowhere near "too much," it's just so... there. Everything feels like it has more muscle on it now.

 

* bump *

 

I did three videos about LCR Gold. Have you seen them?
Intro


Technical
LCR Gold - Technical Design Explanation

Launch/Applications
LCR Gold Launch July 2017

 

So is it safe to assume that the LCR Gold would not be a good match with higher impedance headphones, such as Sennheiser HD600 or 650?

 

Yes that is safe to say. It does work but it is not optimal when compared to dedicated headphone amps that are targeted towards high impedance headphones.

 

Thanks morinix.

 

Would love to hear more about the LCR Tube when you get it closer to production!

 

I'm working on it every available moment. I will post it on the Lounge Audio facebook page as soon as it is ready for general release.

 

I'll have to pick one up! Cheers!

 

Maybe I didn't dig hard enough but you're the first person I've read online that actually mentioned the quality of the A-S801 phono stage! Reviewers all stated "it had one" or "I don't have a record player, etc" as I was strongly leaning towards purchasing one but the silence from the professional reviewers was a red flag to me when they were waxing so poetically about the rest of the amp.

But I digress...just purchased a mint LCR MkIII tonight that's about 6 months old so no break-in time!

This thread's to blame!

 

The "goofy guy" is a and lost all credibility with me as well recently. I think he's a shill for manufacturers or retailers who send him free stuff. After he was raving about how good one of those $40 sticky roller lp dust removers was, I asked very respectfully on his Youtube channel how it differed from the $3 sticky lint roller you could get from the dollar store. Instead of answering "Good question my very good friend" he just deleted my question!

 

The funny thing about the built in A-s801 phono stage as you describe it is exactly as I would describe it "It has one" It's functional. Sounded fine. The MKIII will dazzle you if that's what you came from. At least that was my experience. I'm very happy with the synergy of my system for now. Mid-range B&W's, great value Yamaha A-s801, Thorens TD 160 with a bronze. Since I bought the Lounge I haven't upgraded a single component. That may be the best compliment I can give the product. For $300, the improvement in sound is a no brainer. The phono pre-amp can make a huge difference in SQ.

Edit: I encourage you to fill out your equipment profile so that others can get an idea of your system. Gives us some background on comparisons etc.

 

Done but system is in flux at the moment. There will some changes over the next couple of months.

 

Just wanting to doublecheck my ears on something. I've been loving the Lounge gear with one exception - since moving away from the Chinook I'm hearing some harshness - bordering on sibilance but I'd say it's closer to IGD than anything. It's also very subtle, almost like a speck of dust is on the stylus (there isn't, I've cleaned the heck out of the thing thinking that was the problem for the last couple weeks). Also, record imperfections seem to pop out more and present themselves less subtly than on the Manley. And I get it, the Manley was built very differently, tube-based, etc... I loaded at 110 ohms with the Manley, if memory serves. With the Lounge, out of the box, I found that around 90 ohms sounded best.

Fast forward to just now and I've got my reissue of Appetite for Destruction on and I was getting the same phenomena on this LP that I've heard on some others. Except this LP is pristine, I've never had any sort of noise issue with it, and I've never heard it get slightly harsh. So anyway, I looked over and realized I still had the Lounge at 90 ohms. I dialed it up to 100 ohms and all of a sudden the issues disappeared yet everything else I enjoyed about the tone, depth, and excellent bass/treble was still present. So, I didn't give up anything but it would appear I was loading it a little too low - does that jive with anyone else's experience when playing with loading? I'm running a Copla, just to be clear, in addition to the LCR Mk III. I'm using an AT-Art9 .5mv LOMC cartridge.

Thanks for any thoughts!