Natural Sound
- Thread starter PeterA
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Peter, I like the sound and I like the timing of livable Spring weather for you.
After listening through the new videos I went in search of recorded evidence that last momentary fizzle of Sublimity. With your room playing such an outsized part now I don't care to cross examine. Fretting about long past variables seems antithetical anyways to your obvious contentment.
Thanks for following through on the request.
After listening through the new videos I went in search of recorded evidence that last momentary fizzle of Sublimity. With your room playing such an outsized part now I don't care to cross examine. Fretting about long past variables seems antithetical anyways to your obvious contentment.
Thanks for following through on the request.
Here are three more videos made today:
Art Pepper + Eleven
Scheherazade
Beethoven, Piano Sonata
Art Pepper + Eleven
Scheherazade
Beethoven, Piano Sonata
Thank you Howie. I'm fascinated that one can hear such differences from such simple iPhone videos. Could I ask you to elaborate on how you think the system has improved and what you think accounts for the differences? I have not posted videos of the final iteration of the former system when I had the Lamm M1.1 hybrid amps driving the Magico Q3 speakers. Those speakers never sounded that good before the full Lamm chain and I suspect I could have happily lived with that system, but I really wanted to try the SET/corner horn combination, and my wife wanted some semblance of her room back.
The new system is still settling in and I'm sure that David will find a few ways to fine tune the system further when he visits in June. I am very curious to learn what he thinks when he hears the actual system in the room. Perhaps he will simply declare I'm done and want to go sailing.
The corner horns truly are a Pareto optimal solution for you!
I don't recall your mention of Lamm in the past or Lamm electronics within your Boston group, except vaguely recalling Ian had a Lamm linestage was it (?) but did not like it. I understand you were strongly committed to Pass for many years and made upgrades there not too long ago. So it is quite something to read your comment that your Q3 never sounded better than with the M1.1 monoblocks. Did you have prior experience with Lamm before going to Davids? Did you try the LP2.1 and LL1.1 Sig with your Pass amps and Q3? Your wholesale change to all Lamm was sudden and dramatic... not that I don't understand why you would do that.
Yes, although I have not tried it without the hold-down engaged. With the rubber lips around the perimeter of the platter and at the record label, the LP sits above the synthetic suede mat and is just not very flat. With this level of engineering excellence, I just assume that Micro Seiki figured it out for best sound, and I should listen to the table as designed. Perhaps I will try it just to see.
You are most welcome, Rando. There was no doubt that I would post some videos. It was just a matter of time.
I must say the Lamm electronics have been on straight for two weeks and the room is very pleasant. The Pass amps if left on for the weekend heated up the room in the winter, became a bit uncomfortable in the spring, and near unbearable in the summer. I should have no such issues with the Lamm tubes except for perhaps a couple of warmest weeks in July or August. I'll just shut the system down until I am listening, although I suspect I will be spending the warmest days out on the water sailing.
The last fizzle of Sublimity was with the Magico speakers and the Lamm M1.1 amps. That was a very nice combination and the new owner of the speakers is expressing an interest in those very nice Class A 100 watt hybrid amps. They have been sent back to Utah. I have fond memories of what once was and with no regrets. It led me to here and I am now sitting on the park bench enjoying the view in tranquil splendor, not unlike the vistas I saw at Bryce Canyon in Utah.
I don't recall your mention of Lamm in the past or Lamm electronics within your Boston group, except vaguely recalling Ian had a Lamm linestage was it (?) but did not like it. I understand you were strongly committed to Pass for many years and made upgrades there not too long ago. So it is quite something to read your comment that your Q3 never sounded better than with the M1.1 monoblocks. Did you have prior experience with Lamm before going to Davids? Did you try the LP2.1 and LL1.1 Sig with your Pass amps and Q3? Your wholesale change to all Lamm was sudden and dramatic... not that I don't understand why you would do that.
Yes, Ian did have a Lamm preamp and amplifier for a while. I think it was the two box pre and perhaps the ML1 or M1.1 amp. He had Wilson speakers at the time. He tried many combinations of electronics in those days. I think the Lamm got him interested in tubes. I distinctly remember that for me, a pair of Pass amps made those Wilsons come alive and I happened to prefer that combination, though I was likely biased.
I did try the LP2.1 and LL1.1 Sig with my Pass amps on the Q3. It was good, but the M1.1 was better. An audio buddy who is also a drummer came to hear my system and we did that specific comparison. It was clear to both of us that the full Lamm chain was superior. It was more open, clean, and dynamic with better tone. In a word, more natural.
It is fair to say the Boston group has little experience with Lamm. That is now going to change. Ian and Al are coming over later today for music and dinner. Al requested seven specific LPs. It promises to be an interesting evening.
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Many people feel the ML2 was a superior amp to those other 2 which followed. I owned the ML 2.1 and loved it.
Would you really expect a reviewer to say the newer version is not the best?
Vlad said that there is only one difference between the ML2 and ML2.1, better quality binding posts. He said it sounds the same. The ML2.2 was a new design based on findings from the ML3. He told me this at a CES show a few years ago.
The same way I would not expect Vladimir Lamm to design an inferior new version . Or I expect the ML3 to sound better than the ML2...
But IMHO if the reviewer finds he prefers the old model he simply omits any direct comparison statement. I do not think that he would lie to misguide his writers. I believe it is his opinion.
I am no wordsmith but to me the differences even on your iphone are immediate and obvious. I find it difficult to describe but to me there is a certain coherence in the sound that was comparatively missing before, and I am exaggerating here of course. There is no obvious emphasis in any area. In a way it reminds me of the difference between listening to live music with and without amplification. Compare an opera singer or quartet at close quarters and it never sounds screechy or fake. Go listen to a hotel lobby band and it is the opposite. The sound is not realistic and they would never sound like that without the microphone. The music is your new videos just flows as one. Often when we demo set ups we get impressed by that voice that jumps out at you and whilst illuminating, it brings with it fatigue. You smile when you hear that super clear voice but you get tired after a few songs and go do something else. It's all BS. Another way to look at it is your system seems to have evolved as part of the same organism whereas many others are a bit Frankenstein and you can feel the tension between the parts that just don't go well together. Your system has realism in spades now and perhaps that is what is meant by natural sound.
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This may be the most understated benefit impacting atmosphere and assessment of your system tonight. By now you should be well into new territory at these local meetings.
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