Valab LCR-1 Mk2 Mk3

@shawnes

I had already read in the past comments on those forums, I wanted to understand here if there were new owners, but I believe that nobody knows this pre phono.

I can't help with impressions of this phono - sorry - I'm also interested in the Valab.
Maybe you have seen this?
 http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/LCR-RIAA-shootout.htm 

He only builds a few every month. Another Canuck Audiomart poster just ordered one and Kevin, Valab’s owner, told him that parts availability are somewhat limited hence the low production volume.

I've been running a Valab LCR-1 Mk2 for a couple of years now and haven't once thought of using something different. It's one of those components which is perfectly transparent and as such will never be the bottleneck in a system.
That said I do prefer using a Hashimoto HM-7 SUT with my AT ART9 rather than the built in gain settings. Sounds fuller and more natural to my ears.

I have one of the MkIV's from Kitsune HiFi, best improvement to my analog deck yet.  Looks great and first rate build quality for under 5K to boot.