Micro - I'll first respond by quoting myself from three Lamm component reviews across12 years. I gathered these as I contemplated responding to you. What I found in my writings is a (somewhat) remarkable consistency that speaks to your question. For those tired of my self-quotes, skip this to below the line that marks them off, or bypass this post.
Soundstage 2009: "Straight from the box, first LP, first CD, the Lamm LL2.1 Deluxe delivered an immediate connection to my music, rivaling the best I’ve heard in terms of listening enjoyment. Was it perfect? No -- and I’ll talk about some of that. Were musicians in the room with me? No. Rather, the LL2.1 was both disarming and engaging; it connected my heart and my brain through my ear. On first hearing, I let out an audible
Ahhh . . . I knew it and felt it: This one was
very right."
"Hear the tremolo violins at the start of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony, as performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the thoughtful direction of Karl Böhm (CD, Deutsche Grammophon 419 858-2). The LL2.1 conjured these strings as gossamer delicacies, light as air. Yet they were substantial, possessed of a shifting tonal density of expression that served as the perfect foil for the cellos carving the opening theme. Bruckner paints with a sweeping lyrical brush, and hearing his music through the LL2.1 enhanced my appreciation for this work. The Lamm line stage didn’t emphasize outlined image specificity, although if I concentrated -- breaking the gestalt, as it were -- instrumental images were clear, and the movement of musical lines across sections was easy to follow.
"Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay the Lamm LL2.1 Deluxe is to say that, after I came to know it, I didn’t want to review it -- I just wanted to hear music through it. By the end of my listening sessions, the audiophile words tended to fall away."
The Audio Beat 2015 "From track one, I found the M1.2 Reference engaging, lifelike, and disarming. The amp caused me immediately to connect to my music, rivaling the best I’ve heard in terms of overall enjoyment. I kept putting down my reviewer’s notepad and losing myself in the sound. Just one more tune, just one more shot of musical heroin -- I’ll just hear this one and get down to business. Hours vanished."
"If you ask him about assessing sound quality, Vladimir will tell you first that "
It is important ... to know how the real orchestra sounds. We choose a reference point based on live music and compare to this point," then, once so prepared, "
the problem of sound-quality assessment is almost completely solved in the first 10-15 seconds of listening at the intuitive level."
The experience we have listening to music at that "intuitive level" is rooted in primitive limbic functions of awareness -- deep in our lizard brain. McGill University scientists observed that consonance and dissonance will light up the limbic systems responsible for pleasurable and negative emotions appropriately. The non-cognitive experience of music can trigger areas in the brain sufficient to cause the release of endorphins; when they reach the limbic system’s opioid receptors, feelings of satisfaction ensue."
Positive Feedback 202O "The Lamm LP2.1 is a big picture phono stage. It does not have an analytical cast that pulls perception into audiophilic focus on this or that sonic feature. Its sound is integrative, holistic, if you will. Holistic—that's a rather fuzzy word—it reflects my listening experience as more than a bundle of audiophile adjectives. Consider this: if you break a piece of music into brief phrases, the basic elements are dynamics, timing, and tonality. Take any of those away and the phrase is gone. The sound of the LP2.1 does not encourage doing this. Its focus is the whole musical presentation, which is no focus at all."
Francisco: "
We can say the same about many other brands having different sound signatures, if properly used. Our mind will focus on what we train it to focus."
We have a will and can be intentional. I agree we can direct our mind, that we can choose to focus. However, drawing on direct experiential evidence I
disagree that this is what happened to me when I first heard the above Lamm components. It was not intentional; it was not a "preference" or a choice.
Something personal. I believe I have the ability to observe myself while I am engaged in an activity. I can observe and be aware of my thoughts and emotive reactions while I have them - either concurrently or upon reflection. Doing so is often not something I choose to do. I speculate that most of us can do this.
As part of my reviewing habit, when I first listen to a new component in my system my intent is to listen to music, my intent is not to go looking for anything specific. I want to have an undirected initial experience, then try to observe my reactions and impressions for that first and subsequent two or three listening sessions - before analysis. Now it can be relatively easy for that component (in my system) to swerve my music listening experience and cause me to think about some sonic characteristic. For example, peaky or screechy high notes from trumpets or violins will do it. It's an easy test - do you get to listen to music or does the gear make you think about itself.
Francisco: "
it would be interesting to analyses why you think that Lamm "facilitate the perception" in terms of sonic signature."
Without needing to rely on memory, what I find in my own published writings is a consistent reaction to each reviewed Lamm component. (I have similar experiences with other Lamm components in my notes, but as yet unpublished.)
My experience or reaction was not a function of preference. Contra your hypothesis I'm describing these components as causative agents - my reaction to them was not a choice or a product of "training." So yes, Lamm components "facilitate the perception."
minor: You claim something to the effect that "many other brands" facilitate similar experience. First, back that up by listing four or five (many) other brands of electronics that cause something similar. You use the somewhat weasily phrase "if used properly." It's weasily because one can always fall back to saying "well the expected response did not occur because it was not used properly." Have conviction in your response.
