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PS Audio LCC - Active / Passive preamp

dividebytube

dividebytube

Well-Known Member
I needed something simple and small to work with my recently aquired McIntosh amplifier MC250 (that is until I can scrape the money together for a mac preamp). Saw this for sale and decided to pick it up:

psllcmr0.jpg


pslcc2pe2.jpg


doing a little googling, appears to be a mid to late 70s piece, with switchable active gain or you can use it as a passive preamp. Weirdness. Apparently it could be coupled with their phono stage and even share a common rack space.

http://www.psaudio.com/articles/history.asp
 
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Hey, decided to give this thread a resuscitation.

I have the PS Audio model III phono stage in a common rackplate with the above LCC. I am using them seperately at the moment. But I'm very surprised no one chimed in here...They are very well built and sound excellent. I spoke with the founder of PS Audio and found this out:

Both units utilize all class-a gain stages, the Phono pre has a passive RIAA de-emphasis circuit accurate to +/- 0.1dB, capacitive loading options, MC stage, and these units were sold in 1979-80.

Dividebytube, are those German oil filled caps (the metal, yellow ones)? I see no need to replace the caps in mine especially since it sounds so nice.

The main use for my LCC at this time is as a passive pre into my Pro-Ject Head Box II amplifier and Grado cans. It is useful since I have active if needed and can use more than one sourse with the cans-amp.

Anyone else have one of these?
 
I'm a fan of PS Audio gear, from their interesting amps to their DACs.

Don't feel so bad- interesting companies like PS Audio, PSE, EAD, Holman, Audio Alchemy, Arcam, Dunlap Clarke, and so on- they get less press than the ubiquitous Japanese and mainstream American brands.

Doesn't make them bad- just not common or much heard of.
 
I think it's kida cute. It's a cool concept to have the option of passive or active preamplification. I'd like to have one to do some A/B experiments with. How does it sound compared to other preamps?
 
Zenith or Divideby, could you please share some info with me about your PS Audio PS-3. I just bought one from the 'bay, but it hasen't arrived just yet. The seller stated that the power cord was missing and it was a "plug-in" type. I've not seen 1 pic of a PS3 with a plug type cord. I suspect it may just be an AC cord that's been cut too short ( although from the blurry auction pic it did indeed look like a silver type plug connector). Anyway, I'm going to pair it with a Yamaha PX-3 and a Denon DL-160 MC cart going into a nice and fat Denon reciever. Anything I should know about it? Do you guys have any pics of the inside? I'm gonna have to find a power cord for mine but I'm a bit vexed about the pic I saw. If it is indeed a plug in type then it would have to have been used with an outboard type "brick" power supply - which ofcourse means that it must have been modded at some point. I fail to see why anyone would go thru such length to remove an entire power section from this phono stage ( if possible ). I guess I'll find out in a few days when it arrives.

Jimmy
 
dividebytube said:
doing a little googling, appears to be a mid to late 70s piece, with switchable active gain or you can use it as a passive preamp. Weirdness. [/URL]
Click to expand...

Its not weird. I can think of 2 other preamps that combined passive and active line stages, Pass Labs Aleph P and Adcom GFP750 preamps, and there may be others.
 
Still using the "III" phono stage on MM duty in my system and no matter what cart I use with it, the sound is consistently solid. Has the warmth you'd expect from a vintage piece but not at the risk of losing transparency. Probably my favorite piece of gear.
 
Wish I could find one of these LCC/III combos, I'd like to try one. They're pretty scarce though which leads me to believe, based also on the above comments, that they didn't make a ton of them but those they made are held onto so they must be good.
 
maybe, but those four Frako caps (the gold ones) have to go... ticking time bombs, each and every one of them.

John
 
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