Has anyone heard the lamm 2.2 hybrid amplifier


Hello,

I was wondering if anyone heard the lamm 2.2 hybrid amplifier and what was their thoughts?

Has anyone heard the lamm 2.2 paired with the wilson watt puppy 7 speakers?

I am currently running the wp7 with emmlabs transport and dac/preamp and rowland 302 amplifier.

I know the lamms are great amplifiers but wondering if would work well in my configuration especially for stuff like radiohead or other rock material. I know the lamm is 200 watts and my rowland is 300 watts and that lamm's are not known for bass slamm. So this would only work if I gained in the midrange enough?

Mike
128x128karmapolice

Showing 1 response by kurt_tank

My friend has the M2.2s, and they sound great! He uses the M2.2s (220 wpc BTW), with his Avalon Eidolons, which are a bit more difficult to drive than your WP7s, as I remember.

They have very, very good bass response, without being boomy at all. (Your statement that they are not known for bass slam has me puzzled actually. Where did you hear that, BTW?) It produces the best bass response I have heard from my friend's Eidolons. He too was looking for great bass response, and his search included owning the following amps: Rowland 501s, Classe CA-401, VTL MB-450s, Manley Neoclassic 250s, Bat 150s, Kora Cosmos. He finally found it in the Lamms.)
The bass response is both deep and quick. It has very detailed bass response when listening to cello or bass, and even bass guitar in rock music. I really like how they sound reproducing bass on some of my Jazz records. (You can close your eyes and just visualize the bass strings vibrating in front of you.)
The treble is also incredible, as it has decay the likes of which I have not heard before, not even in his past amplifiers.
Finally, the mid-range has just a touch of that mid-range magic that tubes impart, especially in the vocals. (Not too much, as to be too euphonic, but just enough to impart that liquid sound to vocals.)
The soundstaging and imaging are both spot on as well.

In fact, the Lamms sounded so good in his system, that I bought their predecessor, the M2.1s (200 wpc). (Used, as I could not afford the M2.2s new.) I use them with my Revel Studios, and they are a definite improvement over my Mark Levinson No. 23. (BTW, the Lamms are very powerful, more so than my Levinson, even though they are rated the same wattage. I assume the separate power supplies of the monoblocks account for this. If you are worried that they will run out of power, DON'T. I feel I could have easily used the M1.1s (100 wpc), and not given up much. The M1.1 and M1.2 are both pure Class A amps, unlike the M2.1 and M2.2 which are only partially Class A. - The M2.1 is pure Class A up to 36 wpc, and the M2.2 up to 41 wpc. After that, they both go to class A/B. This also means that they run slightly cooler than the pure class A amps, although they still run a bit hot, but not so hot that you can't keep your hand on the amp.)

FYI, I too listen to mostly rock. (both new and old rock, including Interpol, Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay, as well as classic rock like, Hendrix, The Doors, etc..
(But NOT Radiohead - Yuch! Sorry, but I don't like that guy's voice.) However, I will listen to fair amount of jazz. (My friend listens mostly to Classical, but with a fair amount of jazz thrown in as well. Both he and I feel that classical is the most difficult type of music to reproduce correctly.) Apparently, these amps will handle anything you care to throw at them.

As you can tell, I too have found the last amplifiers I will ever own.
Hope this helps! Good Luck in your search.