Channel D Lino C vs. Sutherland Little Loco

It’s cheap and NOT hard to find, several items available right now, I am thinking to buy another for myself. Retail price was stupid, second hand unit are reasonably priced. I don’t care about production, even if it’s discontinued why should I bother ? $1500 for current-injection phono stage like 47Labs Phono Cube with Power Humpty is bargain! For $2000 they are available more often. Retail was much higher for new unit and I wouldn’t pay such price!

Perhaps my memory if faulty, but I found one or two on Hi-Fi Shark for about $1500, but without Humpty.

I have heard both in the same room. Head to head. Actually it was a Loco. Not the little Loco. Let me put it this way. The Lino is a better built piece of equipment with engineering designed to keep noise out and the music natural. The Lino is pretty neutral. It does not add color. It plays very natural and life like and does it with very low noise. I have had 6 or 7 phono stages at my house. 4 I liked a lot but they were very noisy. Hum and such. 2 I disliked quite a bit, but were incredibly quiet. My reference Allnic H1201 is more quiet than most, and its pretty darn musical. The Lino is more quiet, more natural and dynamic than the Allnic and more quiet. The Loco had a tad more air and life than the Lino. But I would not buy it. It is highly susceptible to RF noise. Hum and radio stations play through it. If your a lucky one in a quiet zone, then its a very nice piece. If you have any noise, you want the Lino 3.3.

I also put a Torus RM20 into the mix and drove the Lino through it. That jumped the air and life up to where the Loco was. As well as picking up the entire suite of equipment plugged into it. The lino gives a deeper view into the music. Its more quiet and clean. The Loco is not as exposing. Loco has a little more life.

In the room I was in, the Torus pushed the Loco a little far. BUT, that room is super hot. Purpose built without a singe damping device outside a carpet. Just some scattering devices on the walls. There is a metallic type slap echo in the room. The room needs a lot of tuning. Foundationally its a very nice room. But the owner needs to do some work to bring it into control. If it were in control, a Lino Channed D 3.3 with a Torus RM20 would be a superior product. Just head to head in a room that has no RF interference, the Loco is a little more romantic and engaging. A little. If your playing in this range of product, I also listened to a Hagerman Trumpet that was very nice. More romantic than the Loco. But it had hum noise in my room. Same for a Lehman Silver Cube. Same for a Rada Precious. There is a Rada for sale from the dealer in the US for dirt cheap. Its probably one of the best tube phono pre I have heard. BUT, it takes a SUT to make it work. And you might have hum issues.  Out of all the phono stages I tried, I bought the Lino 3.3.  

@kingrex Is your LinoC 3.3 the ‘basic’ one input version without any of the options, e.g. mono switch, polarity inversion, MM input....etc? If so, than the 3.3 is almost half price of the Loco. And you have come away saying they are comparable!

I have a LinoC 2.2. And I have been speaking to Rob about upgrading for over a year. And apparently there are some production problems now so he has suspended delivery of new units as well as upgrades. 

Your compare between the 3.3 and other voltage mode phono are very informative, especially your comment on the Rada unit. It was something that I had been interested in, and good to know that you considered it top of the voltage heap. Thanks!

 

The Rada is a SUT with tube gain.  

I have the upgraded resistors and phase, mono, rumble.  It was fun to flip the switches for a while.  I never touch them now.   If you have rumble, address the feedback in your stand.  Phase??  Well, maybe.  It hasn't affected any of my records yet.  Mono.  I guess technically it makes a signal more coreect.  But with a mono record its not a lot different.  The record is already mono.  

 

Thats just my thoughts.  I guess Im saying, on a budget, the additional features are small gains for the money.  The basic foundation of the unit is very high dollar gain.  I'm very happy with it. B