A few days ago I got the chance to see the new LLC and hear Curt's system in Bangkok. The system sounded excellent and I listened to it for over an hour. I wish I could have come here and posted every detail about how the LLC sounds, especially since there are so many people eagerly awaiting people's first impressions. The only way that I could give details about the way the LLC sounds is if I heard it in my own system or if I heard it compared to other preamps that I am familiar with. What I did hear sounded great. Horns and cymbals sounded crisp and lifelike. Bass guitar was clean and effortless. Diana Krall's vocals were possibly the best I have heard. Suffice it to say that the LLC is an excellent preamp and will raise the bar for what we can expect of any < $1000 preamp.
What impressed me most about the LLC were the circuit design and the attention to detail in every aspect of the LLC's layout and construction. I have a degree in EE so Curt and I talked about how it was designed and the tools used to design the LLC. Everything from the parts selection to trace length to component isolation were all thoughtfully taken into consideration. Everything was carefully handcrafted even down to the force it takes to turn the stepped attenuator! It's obvious that a lot of love went into the design of this preamp.
This thing makes my $1000 Quad QC-24 look like a cheap tin can and my Quad was much better constructed than most preamps that I auditioned. At about 25 lbs, the LLC weighs about 2 times as much as my Quad. As with most audio equipment, weight is a good sign of quality and dependability.
Anyway, I don't want this to sound too much like marketing literature. Like I said, I can't comment on the sound much without comparing the LLC directly to something that I am more familiar with. I just want to give my honest opinion of the LLC and my opinion is that the LLC is a steal at the price Curt plans to sell them at. I would be willing to bet that this preamp would compare well to ANY preamp at ANY price.
