High end amp - my last step

Dmurfet: Skip the Krell/Wilson Combo it's dynamic but not musical...... I've heard way to many combo's that sounded really bad.

I owned Lamm M1.1's with my WP7's and they were amazing in the mids but the low low bass was missing or the mid bass was exaggerated. They are extremely musical. The give off tons of heat, the would heat my room 10 degree F in about 10 minutes. Not good when you live in the desert here in Phoenix, AZ. Plus when I sent them back for a checkup they only accept air so $1000 in shipping two crates was great fun!
I listened to the S400 on WP7's and WOW it's pretty amazing and suddenly my lamms sounded dark on the top end because of the air of the VTL's. My dealer had a pair of Theta Citadel (tall long monoblocks with tons of current) and I was asking about the S400 and eventually going to the Maxx's. He said that the S400 would run out of steam if I went with maxxes and that I should listen to the Theta (I already listened to the rowland 201,501,301's, 9t's modified). Wow suddenly I had the air of the VTL and amazing bass authority but with a more realistic midrange (I miss that warmth no matter how wrong it was for the presentation!) Theta has a 5 year warranty and the transformer (or other parts) are modulelar so they can be shipped back wtithout sending the whole amp. The VTL has that also, plus you can hook a computer to the VTL to see the hours on each tube..and the autobias is computer controlled (good or bad, since I work with computers a ton).

So I went with the Theta Citadels as the best compromise that allowed me to listen to limitless dynamics and the soft touch of depth and soundstage. Plus as an Added bonus they run idle 80watt so they are always hot, no more warmup for my system, just click and listen! I'm rediscovering my music collection.

The Lamm's only took 30-40 minutes for full warm up which is really short. I also owned Lamm M2.1 and i would probably gone M2.2's for the extra power, because my system completely opened up with dynamics after inserting the Theta Citadels in after having the Lamms.

Lamms are not fully balanced so save your money and use Single ended, the Theta is fully balanced and did benifit from using balanced connections.

Enjoy.
Chris

Dmurfet: I ran balanced cables to the Lamm but it was a waste, if you read his litature he doesn't believe balanced is required. I tried using a CJ pre single ended and ended up with a ground hum, but with the balanced cables and my Rowland or placette active there was no groundhum (was run single ended) they were grounded pretty good.

I've heard the high end Meridian's and make sure you can go get a listen as I thought they were amazingly dynamic (incredible for movies) but left me a little sterile and missing emotion.

Let me put it this way I don't believe there is good synergy between Wilson Speakers and Krell, both are revealing and dynamic and there can be too much of a good thing (Can make your system sound clinical). I can't speak for the Evolution series.

Lamm would be the opposite of Krell, Midrange that you can dive into, mid bass that hits you up, rolled off lower registers versus Krell SLam, and the Krell bright edgy front end. These comments are related to Wilson/Krell combo only I have heard Krell sound ok on Avalon, and I liked the older KSA-250's that were full Class A.

I agree that you would have a ultra clean system with Meridian 8000's and a digital cable. Keep in mind all of these combo's have virtues and deficiencies, and it's a matter of picking which comb will make you most happy.

If you haven't ever owned tubes, make sure you have a good dealer to deal with for help, the nice thing about the VTL is it is modular so if you had a problem you can plug a computer into the serial port and find out what it is, plus everything you want to know about each of the tubes. The powersupplies can be disconnected and shipped separate so should never have to crate the monster up to send back for repairs. The reason I say this is I had to send my Lamm's back in their crates and they only accept air shipment and you can image how much that cost to overnight crates! Something I factored in my next purchase. I've heard the VTL150 stereo on Sophia's and it as magical. I've heard the S400 on WP7's but it was out of my reach $$$ (and would power the Maxx II's my next goal) and so I went with the Theta's. The S400 does automatic tube biasing while you listen so it will be the least possible tube maintenance of any tube amp.

I've heard good things about the Dartzeel, and the new pass models.