Description

KTE LCR-1 MK5  – MC / MM / MI / MF – LCR RIAA Phono Stage

If you are serious analog audiophile then its quite possible that you may have a dream to have a LCR RIAA phono stage and know these can be very expensive. Typically the price is too much for many as well as they are quite rare to find. For LCR RIAA EQ it is so difficult to build and they require inductors that are extremely expensive, and frankly are considered a lost art to make them of this quality. Kuo-Wei, our engineer, has developed these LCR RIAA EQ chokes and are custom made to our specification. These use 80% high nickel content Permalloy cores and chokes. It has incredibly low DCR and capacitance. Each choke has 2 layers of electro magnetic “EMI” shielding to assure very low interference.

Kevin Valab’s “Kuo-Wei” has extensive experience in phono stage design and LCR choke building experience. He has teamed with KitsuneHiFi to further tune and get the very most out of a Phono Stage. Total of 21 revisions have been designed/built and now what you see is our workout in past 20+ years. Kuo-Wei’s original design was inspired by the totally passive and extremely expensive Japanese-made Tango EQ-600P LCR RIAA module, which was itself a recreation of the original Pultec/Western Electric phono-equalizer circuit. the LCR-1 Mk5 is one of the very few available phono stages of its kind on the market today. It’s truly unique! We have not cut any corners by using, inexpensive op-amps, which are most popular within most phono stages today!! But instead, we chose to use a discrete, four-transistor “diamond” impedance converter. no opamps! Sound quality is the highest priority with the LCR-1 MK5. 

This is our 2024 MK5/version of LCR-1 RIAA phono. We are quite proud of this version of the LCR1, as it has improvements in the low end bass region.  We have made some improvements in the RIAA EQ chokes, specifically with the wire windings. now wirh improved loadings and also with optimized trace paths for ultra sensitive MC carts. now with discrete bipolar voltage regulation. 

There are TWO versions of the KTE LCR-1 MK5:   

the entry level version is the LCR-1 MK5 Copper – @ 1498usd

the top tier level version is the LCR-1 MK5 WBT SE – @ 2398usd

The MK5 will have a very very limited edition release called the MK5 WBT which is with Silver litz wire and with upgraded RCA connectors from WBT. PURE silver WBT Rca connectors. These will be limited a very small batches each year. And actually the most in demand model we sell! Reserve yours now!

New full discrete circuit design which works at higher voltage to drive LCR equalization and followed by discrete class-A circuit as output stage, all transistors were carefully matched, and full DC design.

The New LCR inductors we are using are 3 times larger than early models of the LCR1, but have only 1/3 of the inner resistance. These cost significantly more but will be worthy investment for new LCR EQ and get perfect linear curve and ultra low distortion! They deliver music with significantly more detail and especially have very good micro dynamics. the MK5 has improve low end bass response. Total authority.

No capacitors in signal path and No-feedback LCR EQ circuit.

This is indeed KitsuneHiFi’s best implementation of the LCR-1 and is based on intensive investment and research and development. MK4 and MK5 is exclusive to KitsuneHiFi. You will not find it elsewhere.

Separate power supply design to eliminate EMI and vibration from power transformer. So this phono stage is incredibly quiet. No audible noise even with 100db level with speakers. How’s it sound? While it’s the best Phono we have ever heard, our customers almost always will tell us the same. And better than many other phono stages 5x to 10x it’s price! It’s incredibly dynamic and pulls details out of analog vinyl that most phono stages cannot achieve. Staging is incredibly deep and wide with excellent separation. Foot tapping worthy.

It is full of components that are quite high in cost and implementation. You can see and appreciate the photos on this phono stage. All parts are carefully chosen,  Dale resistors, Valab wound LCR RIAA EQ chokes (80% Nickel Permalloy),Sparko fully discrete bi-polar Voltage regulators, Panasonic and SIC-Safco, Nichicon, Vishay capacitors and more. OCC internal wiring for signaling. Almost no budget concerns, we use best sounding and most reliable parts based on our experience.

Each KTE LCR-1 MK5 Phono stage is fitted with a discrete bi-polar voltage regulation that has -125db PSRR and about <10uV output noise/ripple. This in turn allows the phono stage to deliver super detailed sound stage and micro dynamics. And of course excellent SNR. LCR (inductor-capacitor-resistor) RIAA correction sound the most corporeal.

Most importantly, we use expensive choke based LCR RIAA Equalization instead of conventional RC RIAA. In conventional RC RIAA circuit, music signals are ‘digested’ in resistor-capacitor filter for it’s large value resistor in circuit. While in LCR RIAA, almost all music details preserved! You can easily hear more music details and subtle nuanced that would otherwise be lost in most other phono stage circuits. So if you use LCR RIAA, your analog system can easily output ultra high resolution like a top end digital audio system and of course, very natural analog sound.  Must be heard to appreciate! LCR RIAA phonos all sold at incredibly high prices. We developed this product to deliver a reasonable price to the most demanding analog audiophile. We believe there is no compromises in sound quality and the KTE LCR-1 MK5 pairs perfectly with high end cartridges/turn tables. NOTE: AC power cable is NOT included, and recommend user chooses their own high quality Audio Grade power cable. 

Specification:

Adjustable Gain : 100X (40db) 、 400X (52 db)、 800X (58db) 、1000X (60db) 、1250X (62db) 、1500X (64db) 、1800X (65db) 、2100X (67db) 、2400X (68db) 、2800X (69db) 、3000X (70db) 、3600X (71db) 、4000X (72db)

Adjustable Impedance :  47k, 33K, 495Ω, 390Ω, 220Ω, 100Ω, 83Ω, 79Ω, 68Ω, 18Ω, 17Ω, 15Ω, 14Ω

Spec : Class-A FET , DC coupled, LCR-RIAA Equalized, Custom wound EQ Chokes w/ high 80% nickel Permalloy cores and Annealed wiring (matched/hand picked/hand wound to perfection) 

Power Supply : 30VA 24V R-Core power transformer (LCR1 MK5 Copper version), offering massive dynamics and more than enough power than it consumes. 6N OCC Copper internal wire for signaling (S model uses 4N silver wiring). Dual Chassis Design. Fully Discrete 24v voltage regulation for ULTRA LOW <10uV RMA output noise @20Hz-20Khz and -124dB PSRR. (WBT model has flat-wire O-type 100VAC transformer, with much improved performance and efficiency , as well as incredibly low noise)  the flat wire O-type transformer is used in KTE May, KTE Serene and KTE Bliss HoloAudio products.

Frequency Response : 20Hz-50kHz +/- 1db

THD : 0.008%

(SNR) Signal/ Noise ratio : 106 dB on MM/ 97 dB/MC

Nominal THD+N : <0.1% ( DC coupled circuit is very critical for the RIAA EQ circuit and listening to this phono amp tells the real story – The first gen design was 0.5% and our current generation is significantly better!)

Input Capacitance : 110pF

Input Impedance : 14 to 47k

Channel Separation : >90dB

Maximum Output Voltage : Approximately 300mV, however depends on cartridge and gain settings too 

Includes Accessories : DC power cable** from Chassis 1 to Chassis 2. This MUST be plugged in first before plugging in an AC Power Cable (not included). 

**High quality DC connectors that are CNC machined and auto locking.

note: this unit is NOT designed to be stacked on top of other gear, and not to be stacked on top of itself either. They are to be side by side or on different shelves in an audio rack. The main unit (with RCA in/out) is very sensitive to EMI/RF. So if it was on top of a transformer, DAC, amp etc. it can pickup feedback, hum etc. Keep away about 4-6inch from other gear for optimal performance. (should get it’s own shelf).  unit’s side by side should be about 2-3inch apart.

The KTE LCR-1 MK5 WBT SE model is shown below:

The KTE LCR-1 MK5 Copper is shown below: