I know both, own an AS-125, but the direct comparisons I did make (or attend) were AS-125 versus LM-219iA and (another time) LM-805iA versus LM-845 Premium (which is almost an exact equivalent to the LM-219iA except for being two-chassis for the non-Asian market instead of one). Despite the fact that I liked the sound of all of them, my preference by far was in favor of the AS-125 as it sounded so much livelier and immediate, much less "Hi-Fi". Having said that, all Line Magnetic are relatively "tubey" sounding tube amps, something to keep in mind. To me that's not qualitative but about preference, so I guess when one finds one owns and likes one Line Magnetic amp, one knows what to expect in this regard. Has an awful lot to do with the choice of speaker and how loud one turns up the volume, I personally happen find tube amps that exhibit slightly higher harmonic distortion problematic mainly from a certain volume level upwards, and more so for certain types of music. With the right speakers, Line Magnetic products, to me, tend to slightly "beautify" the sound, that's all. That's probably why I like the AS-125, because it shares the family characteristics but sounds more sprightly and engaging.
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
