Guys,
It's interesting to see this thread come back to life. There is no question, I would love to have the opportunity to hear both amps side by side with whatever Kharma speakers I may finally decide on. Even better, I would love to audition them both in my own room (once it is finished). Having auditioned equipment for sometime now, I realize how important synergy can be between the amp, speakers, and my source. I was amazed how different three SOTA amps could sound using the same pair of Kharma and emm labs gear. So, I agree now matter how great a review or unbiased opinion is, it will never equal listening for yourself with your own associated equipment in your own room. However, the reality is that it is not possible to listen to both amps with the Kharma speakers(either in Canada where I live, or even in the US) at any one dealer (as Cello would suggest). While I know certain dealers will offer the potential of a trial of the Lamm, it is still a hassle to ship the amp to Canada, and deal with customs for auditioning, never mind trying to arrange getting both to listen to. (I imagine you would have to pay taxes, duties, brokerage fees as if you were buying it to bring it across the border) And it still means committing to the other components in order to do your home auditioning (i.e. speakers and source). At this point, further trips for auditioning are really out of the question as well. (Cello, I am not sure where you were suggesting driving for 4 to 6 hours, but I am not aware of any US dealer that carries all 3 lines).
Nothwithstanding everything Brian say's which I understand (and would agree with), all I was hoping for someone to tell me their own experience in comparing the sonics of the Tenor hybrids vs. the Lamm M1.2 hybrid. I am more than familiar with the sound of the Tenor in combination with the Kharma, and yet, I am curious as to similarities and differences between the Lamm and Tenor. Given that the design is quite different between these two amps, I suspect that there may be large differences in how they sound. For example, the big differences in the number of tubes that each uses makes me wonder how these two differ (esp with respect to the mid and upper range). I am not that naive to realize that there may be undisclosed biases and conflicts of interest in any response. Interestingly, I have been told that Kharma uses 1) Tenor vs. 2) Lamm amps in voicing their speakers. Anyways, I am still curious to see if anyone is willing to answer my original question.
Finally, I realize that my approach is not ideal, that I may have made a differet decision if I had the opportunity to do a direct A/B comparison, but given the quality of both I am not sure I can make that big a mistake with either !
