I owned the Lamm L2 for about a year, and I have owned the DCC2 for about 1-1/2 months. I was surprised to find that the DCC2 is extremely competitive with the Lamm. I really did not expect to find a reference quality preamp inside the DCC2, but I was wrong. In some respects, to my ears, the DCC2 improved on the performance of the Lamm L2. The DCC2 is more lithe and slightly more transparent than the Lamm preamp. The DCC2 also offers slightly better bass extension and control. One other consideration is that the Lamm has a slightly dark character. The sound of the DCC2, on the other hand, is not dark. As a result, the DCC2 provides a greater sense of "illumination" of the soundstage in comparison to the Lamm.
Both of these preamps provide excellent, reference quality sound. I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. Of course, the DCC2 offers the advantage of the built-in state-of-the-art Meitner DAC if that is of interest to you.
If you own the DCC2, I think it is difficult to justify the incremental investment in the Lamm L2 along with the extra set of interconnects (not to mention the added component in the signal path).
In summary, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I prefer the sound of the DCC2's preamp to that of the Lamm L2. For me, this made the decision to sell the Lamm preamp a very easy decision. However, the differences in the sound of these preamps are subtle, and I would not be surprised to find that others might not share my opinion or preference.
One final word of caution: the preamp in the DCC2 requires an extended burn-in period. It does not settle in until it has seen 500 hours of play. I used break-in tracks, including the Purist Audio System Enhancer for a significant portion of this break-in exercise. Nonetheless, the process took a full 500 hours.
Both of these preamps provide excellent, reference quality sound. I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. Of course, the DCC2 offers the advantage of the built-in state-of-the-art Meitner DAC if that is of interest to you.
If you own the DCC2, I think it is difficult to justify the incremental investment in the Lamm L2 along with the extra set of interconnects (not to mention the added component in the signal path).
In summary, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I prefer the sound of the DCC2's preamp to that of the Lamm L2. For me, this made the decision to sell the Lamm preamp a very easy decision. However, the differences in the sound of these preamps are subtle, and I would not be surprised to find that others might not share my opinion or preference.
One final word of caution: the preamp in the DCC2 requires an extended burn-in period. It does not settle in until it has seen 500 hours of play. I used break-in tracks, including the Purist Audio System Enhancer for a significant portion of this break-in exercise. Nonetheless, the process took a full 500 hours.