Lamm + Wadia. A Good match?

I do not have experoence with the combo you mention I have had 4 different Wadia's currently the 581se I have tried a few different pre's in the past and did not like any of them. leave out the pre and use the money for better wires.

System matching would include an amp with (1) balanced inputs, (2) a sound that is round, full, and dynamic, (3) resolution and transparency to allow the detail and speed to come through. An inappropriate match could result in the Wadia being lean and dry. One also should avoid matching with something slow and syruppy.

Not having heard the combination, the description of the Lamm appears appropriate. The greater consideration may be how the Lamm interacts with your speakers.

A preamp is system and user dependent. There is no consensus.

Rob

I do Chris. If you like the Wadia and really want to mate it with the LAMM M1.2 Reference, then add a LAMM LL2 or L2 Reference preamp to your list. Both can be had at reasonable prices used and they would improve the sound over direct connection from the Wadia to the LAMM amps.

Also, you should audition the LAMM amps in your system if you can. Trust your own ears with the combination. If you cannot do an in home audition, you might want to travel to a LAMM dealer with your Wadia and audition with and without a preamp.

Have Fun!

You will have to jumper the Wadia down big time, the Lamm's have high sensitivity so 1 volt or less gets full volume. The Wadia has way high volt output 4+volts. The Wadia's volume is done in the digital domain so you will be bit shaving by reducing the volume So that is why you have to jumper the output down. I am not sure if you can get the player down to 1 volt. This was how Wadia's up to the 861's worked, I can't speak for the 581 and newer models.

I had a lot of problems finding a preamp to drive my Lamm M1.1 because of this. Be-careful with your first connection.

Although Wadia's output settings on the 5 and 7 series are not stated in the manual, the 9 series is adjustable from 0.5 to 4 volts. I believe the 8 series was adjustable down to 0.25 volts. This should be sufficient to optimize the listening volume to over 80.