For all LAMM source gear
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Just going to continue off these conversations:
Something I forgot to mention, is that I actually think the power amps sound better directly out of the wall rather than on the P20, seems somewhat restricted on the P20 honestly, didn’t get as much of the same sense with the preamps as I did the power amps, but it’s an interesting thing to note, so I’ve moved those to their own dedicated wall plug sockets and things improved. I will also move the preamp power over as well once things are rearranged, and then the ps will cover the rest of the system (basically all the digital stuff)
I also hooked up the Mysphere 3.1 up to the 16 ohm taps, and god damn is it impressive, easily elevates it to by far and away best sound I’ve heard from a headphone (that includes the shangri la and he90 as well), but I have yet to try any other headphones, honestly instead of listening to the speakers recently I’ve just been listening to the damn mysphere instead lol
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I’ve read time and again that high current amps do best this way so it’s interesting to hear it from you. I’m still speakerless but it’s the first thing I was going to try when my 2 ch is finally complete. Nick at LTA also recommended to do it that way if I was happy with what was coming out of my wall.
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BTW, beautiful.
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So I actually thought my previous gear was better on the P20’s, but this is the first time I’ve had an amp that sounded markedly better out of the wall and not on the p20s so was somewhat a surprise, esp considering it’s a lot lower power designs
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apparently it has more to do with how much current how quickly they need versus the amount of power they put out. Not going to pretend to know any more than that… simply parroting what he said to me as the reason why.
Amps are still the only thing I’ve been able to hear a difference in when changing power cables. I’m sure everyone’s experience is different. So there’s clearly more sensitivity, or need or voodoo to them? lol
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The attention to detail in the circuit and the minimalism show someone cared.
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and not a molex connector in sight!
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Since I’ve gotten these I’ve honestly probably put more time on them with headphones than speakers at this point (but I had to know after hearing the mysphere lol), but I can safely say, on this specific setup, the mysphere 3.1 can indeed scale higher than the susvara can. That being said, I can use the mysphere directly off the 16 ohm taps, where I need to use a resistor box to use the susvara so that very well could be why, but still, it happened lol, the mysphere have fully surpassed the susvara on this setup (for the most part at least). While the susvara directly off tap show a bit more technical ability in some areas it feels weird and constrained in others, the box somewhat equalized that and also is a bit more piece of mind (I’m not worried about the 3.1 because that load is already like a speaker and matches ideally with the operating range, the susvara does not and I don’t know how the amps will react long term to being operated outside the designed range)
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I think I’ve been able to identify some key characteristics about this pre power combo that I love the most:
The bass - it’s so god damn good, it’s so clean and insanely controlled but extremely well weighted and tangible, it can slam with authority while being the most nuanced that I’ve heard, it’s so incredibly balanced that I just haven’t heard bass this tactile and convincing, flat out
The dynamics - again, best I’ve heard, both the most macrodynamic and microdynamic I’ve heard but in a way that doesn’t feel like it colors the presentation at all or feels exaggerated, it will adapt itself so well to the recording it’s quite insane. I just have not heard such range and dynamic capability in any other amp that I’ve had. It’s able to maintain this during the most complex passages or the most simple performances, really just wow
The silence of the lamms - Blackest and most vacant background I have ever heard, I honestly feel this must be contributing to a whole lot with this amp, because this really is a massive stand out
The overall spatial recreation - Somewhat building on the above, it is truly nuts how convincing of a space this can put you in, no comparisons to anything else I’ve heard, it’s just the most capable yet most organic stage I’ve come across
The midrange - I have never heard such a balance of raw resolution, control, dynamics, timbre, tonal density, speed, separation, etc etc etc, the most complete sounding midrange I’ve heard
The energy & incisiveness - This is truly the best amp I have heard in this category, it’s so insanely direct and tangible that I really have no words to describe what it does here
The texture - again best I’ve ever heard by a long shot, there’s an incredible amount and presented in an incredibly convincing way
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This deserves a rim shot. lol
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So slight update while getting things set in, I ended up getting some SRA Ohio Class XL+2 for the ML3 in specific, and man was I missing out lol. I was previously just using 4 big blocks of solid maple, and it’s really quite interesting on the difference in sound they make. This isn’t the best comparison since I didn’t do it with verity (rip), but been getting the PI 2 setup and it’s to the point where the differences were extremely noticeable.
First off, with the SRA there’s an overall shift in tonality going from a slightly more richer and smoother neutral to something that feels more dead on neutral, but honestly I’m not fully convinced it’s tonality and actually more due to presentation shift, but for now it feels like it also includes tonality. The most notable improvements for me are in overall space and presentation, and also overall bass and the amount of texture, tangibility, resolution, whatever. Space as a whole is a decent bit larger feeling than before, but just as accurate as it was before if not even more accurate, and doesn’t feel exaggerated. Bass overall is just a stark improvement. That along with the silence thing but again, really these made a bigger difference than I was expecting lol. Will have to continue listening for more. I don’t have too much experience with the speakers yet, they are burned in and placed where I like them (for now), and given a week or so with the maple then just a few days ago putting in the SRA, it’s one of those that feel like a no brainer for amps of this class now lol, without them the amps really just feel fuzzy/blurred in comparison
Also, I think the Lamm are taking pretty well to the Voxativ, but it’s hard not really having what the Verity did, but will give them a few months to see if I can live with them after the Verity. Will also test with the 3 other speaker amps I have in house right now and see how that goes. If they mesh better with any of the other amps, the vox leaves, cause the lamm sure ain’t
Still using blocks for the preamp (and stacking them so perhaps not the best idea either) but the SRA would take up too much space for the preamp so going to be looking into alternatives there. Same with the Totaldac and the rest of the digital frontend, although I’ll likely rather get a sublime before I touch the digital side of things for isolation stuff. Considering SRA for my other amps, but just for fun might look into other options there
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Sounds like some naval ship naming scheme. I also see they are dangerously close to me. I have a few things to address before I am in that class of isolation, but it is good to know. Maybe i can get a demo one day.
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They’re made specifically for each component so it’s not really a universal thing, you tell them what amp you’re going to use with it and what you’re setting it on, and they make it for you, but they might have universal models for demo who knows lol
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Ngl man, I’m more tempted by this class of isolation than I am by that class of cables. Tjose things a third the price I was expecting if not even less (3-5k ea from what I can find)
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For how good they are, I’m really surprised about the price as well. I already needed 4 of them for the amps alone which was quite a lot, but that’s only because I needed 4 lol. Really only downside to them is that there’s no way I could really do this for other than amps on the floor, because way too large for a desk (specifically pretty tall), can’t stack, and so on, so you better have a lot of floorspace lol. So makes it a hard sell for use with a preamp or dac tbh
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Ah damn. Are they super big? There is a Pic of one that is the exact size of the component so I was kinda hoping they would be custom sized as well.
The overall size and weight will differ so no problem there since you get mostly exact size of the component, but height wise just eyeballing it the platform itself is like 3-4in thick, and then with the spikes that’s likely adding another 3in, so they’re pretty tall. If you’re putting them on a floor it’s likely fine, but on a desk they end up being pretty thick/tall where it takes up more space than I’d want on a desk or rack. Basically, on a floor they’re fine, but for a desk or rack I’d say that’s likely a no go. Sorry for the confusion
Also, apparently from those I’ve talked to they feel like SRA are better suited for amps than source components, have yet to confirm for myself
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Since lamm apparently somehow has a more confusing product line than even peak TD, i figured i woukd post the chart i had to make to understand it myself
| Tier | Solid State Amp | Tube Amp | Pre | Phono |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | M2.1 Reference | LL2.1 | LP 2.1 | |
| M2.2 | ML 2.2 | L2.1 Reference | ||
| TOTL | ML3 Signature | LL1.1 Signature | LP1 Signature |
Basically, for amps, bigger number better, but for everything else, lower is better. And no, I cant figure out any rhyme or reason to how they use ‘reference’
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Maybe the numbers correspond to when they were designed. The better ones with lower numbers may have been designed earlier, 100% me guessing.