Holo Audio KTE LCR-1 Impressions

Discussion in 'Vinyl Nutjob World: Turntable and Related Gear' started by oneguy, Jun 9, 2021.

  1. lehmanhill

    lehmanhill Almost "Made"

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    Exactly!

    My take is that the current is minimal in the signal path. A single 24 AWG solid core wire would be more than enough.

    The rhodium T-copper RCA's seems like a good choice. As an alternative to WBT, I like the KLE. Still low mass and silver over copper.

    https://www.partsconnexion.com/KLEI-86829.html

    Have fun with whatever you choose.
     
  2. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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  3. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    I've been waiting for that to go live for months (I was ready to buy a spring 2 right as they went out of stock in Feb). But I ended up not pulling the trigger on the 3. The KTE w/ preamp was $3500 shipped (180 shipping :eek:).

    At almost $1k more than the spring 2 kte, I decided I have better places to spend that money.
     
  4. oneguy

    oneguy Acquaintance

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    $3,700 plus shipping after pre-order introductory price so basically the May level 1 price but you are getting a preamp FWIW. Which brings up another point. Assuming the reasons listed on the Spring V3 page for price increase applies to all Holo products then the May will eventually go up by 30% so $6,500 plus shipping for the May KTE! On a positive note, it may do wonders for the resale value of product bought pre-price increase.
     
  5. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    wow... $3700+shipping? they've now priced themselves out of my consideration (which I'm sure they don't care about... they probably have more than enough orders for the small size that they are).
     
  6. lehmanhill

    lehmanhill Almost "Made"

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    Just read a Michael Fremer blog post in Gramaphone Musings. He talked about the huge increase in demand for audio equipment and high end through the pandemic and continuing now. For example, Audio Technica was backordered almost 18,000 units for one of their entry level turntables. Rega's turntable business was up 40% and Pro-Ject is building a new plant. Part of the feathering the nest movement that came with the lockdown.

    That got me to thinking about Kitsune's price increases. Their business model involves identifying small makers in asia, making an exclusive sales agreement with them, improving marketing for the products, and selling them through their website.

    None of us knows how long this audio boom will continue. It would certainly be difficult and risky to quickly increase volume given the size of the small companies making stuff for Kitsune. Since they can't increase volume, raising prices makes their products more exclusive and may be the best business model for Kitsune in this market. That doesn't mean that somebody like me won't remain pissed off, but at least I can understand the move.

    The big question will be what do they do when the boom is over. Do they lower prices to regain the value or just keep on with high prices. IMHO, the latter could mean the death of the little companies that supply Kitsune.
     
  7. oneguy

    oneguy Acquaintance

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    [​IMG]
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    Listening now and blown away by this step up compared to my Emotiva XPS-1 powered by an LH Labs LPS-4. I wish I had something else in this price category to compare it to but I don’t. I’d say it’s not lateral move in any category from what I was using and I’m completely happy with the purchase. It brings out the Ortofon 2M Bronze cart well.

    Setup for this listening session: 2M Bronze, Sol, KTE LCR-1, KGGG, SR-009S

    What it excels at: detail retrieval, wide but natural sound stage, and instrument separation. The XPS-1 has a rather flat (2-D) presentation by comparison. Vocals are more forward in the LCR-1 which kind of reminds me of when I switched from the L700 to the 009S. The L700 wasn’t bad but the 009S just offered so much more. The LCR-1 is very engaging. Very oddly, I notice the pops in music less with the LCR-1. With the XPS-1 they were much more intrusive taking you out of the moment when they occur.

    What I don’t like: as mentioned in previous posts, I think recent price increase sucks but short of that I can’t find anything I don’t like about this phono preamp.
     
  8. lehmanhill

    lehmanhill Almost "Made"

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    Congrats! It is a really nice looking unit too. As you said earlier, you never see these, Valab or Kitsune, for sale used and the way they sound must be the reason they are a keeper.

    Enjoy!
     
  9. oneguy

    oneguy Acquaintance

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    Thanks! I’m looking forward to how it will evolve during burn in!
     
  10. lehmanhill

    lehmanhill Almost "Made"

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    Since I can't quite get happy with the new pricing on the Holo LCR-1, I have been thinking about alternatives. I have already pulled the trigger on an Elac ppa-2, but I keep wondering how to get a taste of the LR RIAA EQ without a ballistic budget. Complicating things is that my low output cartridge is a Soundsmith Zephyr Star that I have been told on the highest authority (David Slagle) is fussy about step up transformers due to the Star's higher inductance. So I need to provide the first gain stage without trannies.

    The most likely off-the-shelf candidate might be the Lounge LCRTube. That seems to be able to handle both MM and MC carts with first stage gain from tubes. But being a DIY geek, I was intrigued by the Pete Millett LR phono. It is only MM, so I would have to provide my own step up stage, but it is an interesting design.

    I know that some SBAF members built the Millett LR phono. If they are around, how did that stage hold up over time? I don't want to highjack this thread, so please go back to the old Millett thread and update your experience with the Millett.
     
  11. oneguy

    oneguy Acquaintance

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    May KTE only ended up with an increase of 12%
     
  12. andred

    andred New

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    reviving this thread to see if there are more recent experiences with KTE LCR-1 to share? thanks
     

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