LKV is a new company working to break into the audio market. The builder/designer (Bill Hutchins), however has been around a long time building for himself for the love of the music and for his daughters who love vinyl and can't always afford the hottest, most expensive item out there. Bill and our mutual friend Ralph Hellmer (Surreal Sound Audio, http://www.surreal-sound.net/) visited me and my system yesterday for 5 solid hours of listening that simply flew by. I say this because one of the positive or negative features of a piece is whether or not your brain gets tired and you have "listener fatigue." We did not. Every album I chose was as rewarding as the last.
My system is listed below the post (I think), so no need to repeat here.
The design and specs for the phono stage under discussion can be found here:
http://www.lkvresearch.com/index.html
First of all, the Phono 2SB comes as two units, the power supply being the second unit. The box is pretty much plain-jane in an attempt to keep costs under control. We plugged the unit into the Hellmer Morph Cords (used exclusively in my system for tremendous sonic benefit.) My system is balanced throughout or modified to accept XLR plugs where necessary, so the back panel of the 2SB was a welcome sight. You choose either XLR or Single Ended for either channel's input or output. This is huge, in my opinion.
The unit has a soft start. While you can get music immediately, it really does take 30 minutes to an hour to fully come alive and as Bill said, for "voltages to stabilze." I say this because the first few sides, while tolerable, we nothing to write home about and bordered on disappointment for all of us, including the designer himself.
As a person who has found better success with tube gear, I wasn't prepared for what this solid state unit delivered. The usual category of "faster" hasn't always proved "better" but in this case, it did. I found the articulation and placement of sound to be exciting, steady and accurate to what I know of timbre. Once the unit warmed (again about an hour), the soundstage grew deeper and more palpable. The unit is quiet as the proverbial mouse. The unit has three separate gain settings (40, 50, 60 db). Bill chose 60db for my MC cart, but after a while I thought I would prefer it at 50, thought we never had the time to do this. The unit has loading setting internally and this is as simple as unscrewing the cover to get to the switches. I load my cart at 100 ohms which suits my tastes and room and I feel offers the best accuracy.
Bass: when the unit first came on, it was thought to be weak in bass (I have massive subs), but once the unit warmed, I actually thought that the music would be better served if I lowered the EQ settings on my subs.
I am not a professional reviewer nor associated with this company (LKV), I do maintain consultant status to Surreal Sound so not wanting to blur my review with how good the Surreals are, I have to say this phono stage hit all my buttons. It was in fact so good that I would like to own this and have it as a second phono stage in my 'A system' so that I can compare and contrast my too large record collection on days I am left alone to do such things.
Now to the price. Let's just say that it does not disappoint either. Audio gear isn't cheap and these days manufacturers seem to want to escalate the price to what "it's worth vs the competition" or some other silly marketing phrase. LKV offers a 30 day free in home trial. Just try it for yourself. Tell Bill "Doug sent you" and hopefully you will be as surprised as I was at how good this unit really is. Once again, I want to stress that this was designed and built by a GUY WHO LOVES MUSIC, all types of music, not a professionally trained engineer who matches voltages to charts and says it's supposed to sound better than the average bear. Bill has a design which not only works, it sings
So, again, the price $2500.00
These two startup audiophiles (Hellmer and Hutchins) will be showing at Newport Beach and Capital Audio Fest this year. Don't miss an opportunity to give their room a listen. $2500 will never go so far in your system as this purchase will. If it doesn't, well you have a 30 day in home trial to find out.
Our musical selections were:
Dead Can Dance, Into the Realm-----room shaking depth to the gongs
Ella and Louis, mono----realism of the voices
Bach:The Four Great Toccatas and Fugues, E. Power Biggs-----great sonic depth to the organ pedals
The Iranian Santur----nothing to compare this to
Sound track to 'The Big Easy' -----great vocals and Zydeco party music
Rickie Lee Jones, Girl and her Volcano, Under the Boardwalk----fast, heart thumping drums
Mozart Serenade no. 11, Grieg Four Lyric Pieces, Chicago Symphony Winds, ----excellent soundstage and delicacy
Cantares de Venezuela, Soledad Bravo----beautiful Latin singing
Soular Energy, Ray Brown Trio-----yes, the piano was in the room
Songbird, Eva Cassidy------what needs to be said about this album which hasn't already be documented over and over again?
Power of the Orchestra, 45 rpm -----Overwhelming
More Bounce with Curtis Counce-----nice small jazz group which IMO didn't live up to the other albums (early in the warmup)
Jazz at the Pawnshop------Much more involving than I had previously experienced
Pines of Rome, UHQR-----THUNDER in the organ pedal work
Villa Lobos Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra Laurindo Almedia----spectacularly big guitar!
Happy listening!
My system is listed below the post (I think), so no need to repeat here.
The design and specs for the phono stage under discussion can be found here:
http://www.lkvresearch.com/index.html
First of all, the Phono 2SB comes as two units, the power supply being the second unit. The box is pretty much plain-jane in an attempt to keep costs under control. We plugged the unit into the Hellmer Morph Cords (used exclusively in my system for tremendous sonic benefit.) My system is balanced throughout or modified to accept XLR plugs where necessary, so the back panel of the 2SB was a welcome sight. You choose either XLR or Single Ended for either channel's input or output. This is huge, in my opinion.
The unit has a soft start. While you can get music immediately, it really does take 30 minutes to an hour to fully come alive and as Bill said, for "voltages to stabilze." I say this because the first few sides, while tolerable, we nothing to write home about and bordered on disappointment for all of us, including the designer himself.
As a person who has found better success with tube gear, I wasn't prepared for what this solid state unit delivered. The usual category of "faster" hasn't always proved "better" but in this case, it did. I found the articulation and placement of sound to be exciting, steady and accurate to what I know of timbre. Once the unit warmed (again about an hour), the soundstage grew deeper and more palpable. The unit is quiet as the proverbial mouse. The unit has three separate gain settings (40, 50, 60 db). Bill chose 60db for my MC cart, but after a while I thought I would prefer it at 50, thought we never had the time to do this. The unit has loading setting internally and this is as simple as unscrewing the cover to get to the switches. I load my cart at 100 ohms which suits my tastes and room and I feel offers the best accuracy.
Bass: when the unit first came on, it was thought to be weak in bass (I have massive subs), but once the unit warmed, I actually thought that the music would be better served if I lowered the EQ settings on my subs.
I am not a professional reviewer nor associated with this company (LKV), I do maintain consultant status to Surreal Sound so not wanting to blur my review with how good the Surreals are, I have to say this phono stage hit all my buttons. It was in fact so good that I would like to own this and have it as a second phono stage in my 'A system' so that I can compare and contrast my too large record collection on days I am left alone to do such things.
Now to the price. Let's just say that it does not disappoint either. Audio gear isn't cheap and these days manufacturers seem to want to escalate the price to what "it's worth vs the competition" or some other silly marketing phrase. LKV offers a 30 day free in home trial. Just try it for yourself. Tell Bill "Doug sent you" and hopefully you will be as surprised as I was at how good this unit really is. Once again, I want to stress that this was designed and built by a GUY WHO LOVES MUSIC, all types of music, not a professionally trained engineer who matches voltages to charts and says it's supposed to sound better than the average bear. Bill has a design which not only works, it sings
So, again, the price $2500.00
These two startup audiophiles (Hellmer and Hutchins) will be showing at Newport Beach and Capital Audio Fest this year. Don't miss an opportunity to give their room a listen. $2500 will never go so far in your system as this purchase will. If it doesn't, well you have a 30 day in home trial to find out.
Our musical selections were:
Dead Can Dance, Into the Realm-----room shaking depth to the gongs
Ella and Louis, mono----realism of the voices
Bach:The Four Great Toccatas and Fugues, E. Power Biggs-----great sonic depth to the organ pedals
The Iranian Santur----nothing to compare this to
Sound track to 'The Big Easy' -----great vocals and Zydeco party music
Rickie Lee Jones, Girl and her Volcano, Under the Boardwalk----fast, heart thumping drums
Mozart Serenade no. 11, Grieg Four Lyric Pieces, Chicago Symphony Winds, ----excellent soundstage and delicacy
Cantares de Venezuela, Soledad Bravo----beautiful Latin singing
Soular Energy, Ray Brown Trio-----yes, the piano was in the room
Songbird, Eva Cassidy------what needs to be said about this album which hasn't already be documented over and over again?
Power of the Orchestra, 45 rpm -----Overwhelming
More Bounce with Curtis Counce-----nice small jazz group which IMO didn't live up to the other albums (early in the warmup)
Jazz at the Pawnshop------Much more involving than I had previously experienced
Pines of Rome, UHQR-----THUNDER in the organ pedal work
Villa Lobos Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra Laurindo Almedia----spectacularly big guitar!
Happy listening!
Last edited:
