Lamm ML 2.1 SET vs ASR Emitter II, DartZel

The one downside to all the latest craze about these Solid State amps is the ability to tube roll and tailor a set of amps to your particular system and room. Also the ability to improve your system over time with cost effective tube upgrades.

The unfairness of most reviewers on insisting on using the Manufacturer’s supplied tubes (usually inferior "cheap" tubes), when they toss out the "cheap" power cords supplied with most solid state amps and replace them with $2000 cords reeks of Hypocrisy. Tubed amps should be reviewed and compared using the best NOS tubes available. In my experience there is no comparision in the sound between the same amps using a fine set of NOS tubes and the stock ones. If we are trying to achieve the "Absolute Sound" wouldn't this make sense?

What ever happened to all the tube fans and "the way they process signal like a waterfall" and all those dirty junctions in a SS amp. This business is so full of cr***.

Remember when you buy a darTZeel or ASR they will always sound the same, and if your system changes to bad (i.e. speaker or source upgrades) your "stuck" with it.

Sorry for the rant of a bottlehead.

Oneobgn: The Lamms are great amps, which brings me to the whole essence of tubed amplifiers - they produce sound in halographic way. The initial sources which produced the sound are reproduced in full three demensional way, not like staggered layers of cardboard cutouts.

I have not heard the ASRs or the DartZel, but I have owned some very good SS amps and pre-amps. They initially sounded very good, but as the months wore on, they lost their "effect". I have never gotten bored of my tubed amps, if I want to make things interesting out comes the box of NOSs and a little rolling "freshes" the sound. Humans adapt to the sound of their system, and after a while get bored.

Let's see what people are saying about these amps in three years. If they keep their value or get tossed for the latest and greatest. If as I expect happens, you'll be able to buy these for a fraction of what the "waiting list" folks are paying. Track the price of a pair of Tungsol 6SN7 roundplates over the last three years - they've doubled!

Enjoy your Lamms

Oneobgn: Thanks for the post. I'm sure old HP is still listening to those 'Canes using the $2 Chinese drivers and those soft Value Art Kt-88s. I would like to see him review them with Cryo'd EHs and a nice set of NOS 6sn7s - he will fall out of his plastic chair. A certainly fairer match to the $27000 ASRs - even with the cost of the tube upgrades - the amps would cost less then the cords powering them. BTW - don't use the Thor for the 'Canes they like the Richard Grays much better, but that's for another thread.

We'll see what the value of these amps are in three years -when people get bored with them. We adapt to the sound of our systems - like a drug adddict. That's why we have upgradeitis - with tube amps - the cost/hassle is much less. In fact, a periodic tube roll, makes for interesting subtile changes. Like drinking different fine wines - all good but in different ways.

Tubes rock
Cheers!

Sorry for the redundant posts - but it took the 'Gon a day to post my reply Oneobgn - thought it had slipped into the eithernet - Apologies to all.