Luxury & Precision LP6 Review

Luxury & Precision LP6

The Hifiman Susvara to me is one of the best headphones in the world and it’s notorious for its driveability. I myself usually listen to it from the balanced output of the Auris Audio Nirvana. Again I didn’t really expected the Susvara to perform from the LP6 directly but all I had to do was turn up the volume. Bass comes out with body, impact and authority. It goes really deep and has excellent layering, detail and speed. The treble section is energetic, fast, clear, extended and precise and it’s what gives the Susvara its lively character in combination with the detailed, spacious and natural mids. The voices in this combo sound slightly more forward but it just works. I’m impressed by the LP6’s driving ability.

 

[responsivevoice_button]

 

The Sennheiser HD800 is always a difficult headphone when it comes to synergy and driveability. It’s crucial to amplify it in the proper way but so far the LP6 hasn’t let me down yet. At the same time I do prefer the HD800 on warmer sounding (tube) amps such as the LaFigaro 339 OTL, so this was going to be an interesting test. I was listening to the HD800 earlier this week when it was hooked up to one of my older amps in balanced mode and it didn’t please me at all. The LP6 and HD800 combo however does: Bass is full and has good impact, the mids are rich and just smooth enough and the treble energetic and extended. The LP6 gives the HD800 what it needs to get that sublime HD800 bass, while the LP6’s natural and smooth mids make the HD800 musical. The treble section is perfectly in control and while it of course still is extended and highly energetic, it has this layer of softness over it, making it sound more natural. I feared for the worst, but the combo is just very impressive. I was quite disappointed the HD800 didn’t please me earlier this week, but this combo has restored my faith in the HD800.

The Kennerton Audio Thror’s comfort with the old headband system might not be the very best, but I really do like how it sounds. Thror scales up nicely with a good amp but it’s not like it needs huge power to sound its best. With the LP6 it sounds very airy and spacious with mids to die for. The voices are sweet and natural even though they’re slightly upfront. The bass section is full and fast and the LP6 is always in control. Bass depth, layering and detail is excellent. The treble section is energetic and it sometimes was a little too sharp, but that’s the only negative thing I can say about this combo.

Luxury & Precision LP6

Luxury & Precision LP6

Sound conclusion

I have spent countless hours in my main office listening to the LP6 with many more full sized headphones connected to it. In the end there’s only one conclusion to make: The LP6 is an excellent partner for all full-sized headphones as it drives them to their full potential, making sure they sound as they should sound wherever you are. The LP6 doesn’t only deliver the power your headphones need but it also feeds them with all the detail it can extract. And to top it off, it makes every headphone sound musical. What’s not to like?

Comparisons

None of the players in this comparison were specifically built to drive full-sized headphones, but they do all have a 2.5mm or 4.4mm balanced output. And as the LP6 is made for full-sized headphones, let’s put the other DAPs to the test with the HEDD headphone!

First off is my favorite all-round player, the Astell&Kern SP2000. I did not expect it to perform well with the HEDD, but to my surprise it did really well. It easily reaches good volume levels and there’s punchy, full, tight bass. The mids are the typical AK mids as we all know and it manages to do everything right. Even the treble section is energetic and dynamic, though not he furthest extended. A nice surprise! IS it close to the performance of the LP6? Yes and no. No: the LP6 sounds fuller especially in the mids, goes lower and has bigger bass body. Yes: When it comes to technicalities, layering and dynamics, both these players shine.

The Sony WM1Z is a lot of people’s favorite DAP and it isn’t difficult to understand why if you’ve ever listened to it. The HEDD connected to the 4.4mm output is pushing the WMAZ to its limits however, and in order to get to my normal listening volume the volume has to go up to like 95% of what it can do in low gain and 70% in high gain. It does manage to give the HEDD a reasonable amount of volume and body but the bass, general presence and impact here is lacking. The mids sound quite nice as well as the treble, but the HEDD just doesn’t get the mid fulness and richness  the Sony normally excels at. The WM1Z clearly has reached its limits here and the HEDD unfortunately sounds nowhere near how it sounds from a good dedicated amp or the LP6. Too bad, but it wasn’t built to drive this kind of headphone either.

The Luxury & Precision’s own L6 on the latest firmware in balanced mode and on high gain does a reasonable job, but it’s a bit the same story as the WM1Z. The overall body and presence is missing, as well as the bass impact. The mids, vocals and treble section here are very clear and they actually really nice. So this L6 leaves me with mixed feelings: yes it sounds nice with great mids, no the fulness and bass presence is not there. The HEDD sounds a lot better on the big brother but there’s no shame there.

Unfortunately I don’t have the Hifiman R2R2000 here with me to compare it to the LP6. From what I have heard listening to the R2R2000 at shows, it also sounded extremely good. I however doubt it will be able to power and drive the HEDD as the LP6 is doing. Maybe one day we’ll get to test it.

Luxury & Precision LP6

Luxury & Precision LP6

Conclusion

The LP6 and LP6ti DAPs are technical marvels and Luxury & Precision has managed to deliver sublime sounding, full size headphone powering DAPs. If you have big pockets and you don’t care about Android usability, streaming or network play but only want the best possible sound on the market from a DAP, then the LP6 is your ideal match.

Priced at $4,399USD, the LP6 is very expensive but the sound quality is extraordinary. The R2R DAC inside the LP6 is of a very high level so you can also use this DAP as dedicated DAC in your home system. Maybe that makes the price a little more acceptable.

Luxury & Precision’s newest DAP will have a full Android FW and UI and if they manage to keep the sound quality at the same level as we’re used to from them, they for sure will have a very strong contender on the DAP market.

Even though this LP6 DAP is oh so expensive, it deserves a spot on our Best DAP and recommended buy list as it sounds incredible and because it can drive full-sized headphones as if they were toys.

Really impressive.

4.3/5 - (73 votes)
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedin

Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

7 Comments

  • Reply February 18, 2020

    Varun

    Its quite expensive.

    • Reply February 18, 2020

      Lieven

      It is but there’s always a market for high end products

  • Reply March 8, 2020

    Jim

    When you say free of charge, do you mean that they gift you this piece of HiFi equipment
    in exchange for reviewing it? Or do you have to return it when the review is over?

    Spent last night reading through this great Website.

    Thanks for your contribution to this wonderful hobby!

    Jim

    • Reply March 9, 2020

      Linus

      Hi Jim,
      I hope it’s okay if I chime in here.
      Your question is good, and actually raised many times in the past. I think there is some confusion about it going around.

      We do get most of the gear for free from the manufacturers for our reviews, BUT everything they send still remains their sole property. You can think of us as an external storage space for multiple manufacturers. They leave the gear with us so we can feature it in other future reviews which might be relevant. Let’s say a DAP manufacturer sends their latest product to get a full review and they don’t ask for it back just right after the review. We then use this DAP in other DAP reviews for comparisons, so the readers can get a better understanding of how product A compares to product B. The brands of course also want to know how their products fare up against the competition, so they can work on future products to make them better.

      Btw, every manufacturer can come at any time and request the samples back. No questions asked.

      Also, thanks for your nice comment. It’s always great to see people enjoy our work. 🙂

  • Reply June 17, 2020

    nicopas

    Hi, thanks for all your reviews, it’s always a pleasure to read them.

    For those very high end DAP, I am wondering how to they compare to what seems as the reference of transportable: Chord’s Hugo 2?

    Regards

  • Reply June 19, 2020

    Suraj

    Hey Lieven, Thanks for the entire review of Precision LP 6. As it is so expensive, hope one I will acquired it.

  • Reply September 10, 2020

    Harold in Italy

    Thank you for your review, but it seems incomplete. You identify several DAP’s that you state were designed for IEMs and not headphones, yet you compare the LP6 to these DAP’s with headphones only. You state that the LP6 is good with IEM’s but give no comparison. It’s like you compared apples to an orange.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.