Has anyone heard the new LAMM L2 preamp?

I have not personally heard the new preamp. I do know some people that say the synergy with Lamm equipment is amazing. I have also heard that with other equipment other than Lamm, it is just average. If you plan on keeping the 1.1, you would be making an excellent choice staying with the L2.

The CAT is also quite good. The other preamp you should consider is the Aesthetix Callisto. It too, is quite a bit less expensive ($8000) than the L2 and matches up with everything well. The phono stage is widely considered the very best available and you will probably be hearing big things about the Callisto as well.

What are you currently using? What speakers?

I am currently using the ESP Concert Grand Speakers, Meitner transport and BiDat d to a converter. I am also going to upgrade to the Sony Scd1 player with the Bidat for redbook cd playback. Cables are all FIM and power snakes.
Turntable is a VPI Aries with the Clearaudio Souther tonearm
and Cardas Rerference Heart cartridge.

The big problem for you is the expense of the L2 and the fact that it does not have a phono stage. What are you currently using for a line and phono stage? Would you just keep your current phono stage? Also, how much vinyl do you listen to compared with digital?

If you thought that your M1.1s are great, you're in for an amazing surprise with the L2. Aside from best amplifiers in the world, Lamm also make the best preamps around. They're really light years ahead of everything else. Of course as Manhattan's Lamm dealer I'm very biased, to the point that Lamm is the ONLY electronics we carry!

Forget the Aesthetix junk, unless your idea of fun is to play "find the bad tube" once a week. Friends that have owned them say these things are a NIGHTMARE to deal with. Stick with Lamm preamps when using their amps or you're short-changing yourself.....

DKarmeli, I am looking into the Sonic Frontiers Phono One SE
at the moment. But will consider other phono stages.

Sorry, my last thread was for Jtinn!

I have never enjoyed the SF products. The Aesthetix I/O is one of the best, especially if you use low output cartridges. The CAT also has a fairly nice phono stage already built into the ultimate.

tgraaf, I believe Vladimir is coming out with his own phono stage in the very near future, you might want to look out for this! In the meantime, I've been using the EAR 834P with great success, I believe Vladimir has used this with his electronics in the past and thinks highly of it. It is tube-based of course, and quite inexpensive ;-)

Dkuipers: I am sure everyone knows someone who has had problems with some equipment here and there, but for someone to call it junk is not only irresponsible, but it is also immature. I know someone that had major problems with some Lamm equipment does that make it "junk"? I think not. I know better than condemning an entire line based on one person's problem. Lamm equipment is excellent as is Aesthetix.

Tgraffair: BTW, if you have any questions regarding quality and reliability of the Aesthetix equipment, ask Albert Porter.

The number of people that have stories to tell with the Aesthetix gear is more than one jtinn.....

I have heard the Aesthetix Callisto and I was not impressed. It actually has some harshness in the upper mids which is slight but still evident. Also, I found it to be surprisingly undynamic. I have not heard the Lamm L2, but did hear the L1. I compared my CAT Ultimate to the L1 in a system powered by Lamm amps and I prefered the CAT over the Lamm significantly. I would rate the Aesthetix as the worst of the three, although admittedly no head-to-head comparison was made between it and any of the other two.

another suggestion:

VAC RENAİSSANCE SİGNATURE PREAMP.i already tried calisto,vac is much better.also another king is coming end of this year:JEFF ROWLAND REFERENCE PREAMP(HE İS CHANGİNG COHERENCE).