Lamm + Wadia. A Good match?

Ive had great success in matching a Wadia 830 with the Belles 350A. The 350A Reference will take you even higher. I use the Wadia as the pre-amp. The Belles prevents the Wadia from sounding too dry or lean. I run Harmonic Tech Pro-Silway III balanced from the Wadia to the Belles, and they also help keep the sound from being too dry or lean. I cant comment upon the Lamm.--Mrmitch

Nelson Pass has an article on a buffer he made that makes sense of the volume control argument. You have to breeze over the technicla stuff to glean the salient points.
see www.enjoythemusic.com/diy/0708/first_watt_b1_preamplifier.htm best of luck

I've had BAT VK30, BAT VK 51, Pass labs Aleph P and a Hovland pre-amp in my set ups and running direct has been best in all situations. You have to give yourself some good audition time. I'm always shocked to hear people say they can't get the Wadias down in volume or that the digital volume throws away resolution. An analog volume pot loses much more. I've even had techs from companies that don't use digital volume tell me its no contest as far as resolution. The 581 will go to .25 volts with the dip switches.

My recommendation is to go direct. The digital volume control is the best invention in audio. You have to set it up properly though. Pre-amps add color if you want it abut at the cost of resolution, timing and separation of instruments. That should be a dynamite set up run through the balanced outs. Good luck

Rtn: thanks for the detailed spec so it definitely can match up based on that.
Bgn007: Using a premamp you don't have to worry about the jumpering as much because preamps are usually designed to take from 2volt to sometimes 10volts depending on the design. Plus you can jumper the wadia so that you get to use the sweetspot of the volume control of the preamp for adjustments range.

I have a Wadia 27ix connected to the Lamm L2 preamp and ML2 amps. I strongly concur with Jtinn's response. I originally used the direct connection, but on a recommendation I trialed the L2 and was surprised to find the L2 imparts a significant improvement over direct connection. I ended up purchasing the L2 and would not go back to direct connection.

I have had no issues with level matching as the 27ix has a broad range of output voltages available via internal dip switches.

IMO the Wadia and Lamm components mate very well together.

Although Wadia's output settings on the 5 and 7 series are not stated in the manual, the 9 series is adjustable from 0.5 to 4 volts. I believe the 8 series was adjustable down to 0.25 volts. This should be sufficient to optimize the listening volume to over 80.

You will have to jumper the Wadia down big time, the Lamm's have high sensitivity so 1 volt or less gets full volume. The Wadia has way high volt output 4+volts. The Wadia's volume is done in the digital domain so you will be bit shaving by reducing the volume So that is why you have to jumper the output down. I am not sure if you can get the player down to 1 volt. This was how Wadia's up to the 861's worked, I can't speak for the 581 and newer models.

I had a lot of problems finding a preamp to drive my Lamm M1.1 because of this. Be-careful with your first connection.

I do Chris. If you like the Wadia and really want to mate it with the LAMM M1.2 Reference, then add a LAMM LL2 or L2 Reference preamp to your list. Both can be had at reasonable prices used and they would improve the sound over direct connection from the Wadia to the LAMM amps.

Also, you should audition the LAMM amps in your system if you can. Trust your own ears with the combination. If you cannot do an in home audition, you might want to travel to a LAMM dealer with your Wadia and audition with and without a preamp.

Have Fun!

System matching would include an amp with (1) balanced inputs, (2) a sound that is round, full, and dynamic, (3) resolution and transparency to allow the detail and speed to come through. An inappropriate match could result in the Wadia being lean and dry. One also should avoid matching with something slow and syruppy.

Not having heard the combination, the description of the Lamm appears appropriate. The greater consideration may be how the Lamm interacts with your speakers.

A preamp is system and user dependent. There is no consensus.

Rob

I do not have experoence with the combo you mention I have had 4 different Wadia's currently the 581se I have tried a few different pre's in the past and did not like any of them. leave out the pre and use the money for better wires.

@ Jtinn: thx :-)

Do you have experience with a Wadia/Lamm setup?

I would not recommend using the Wadia for volume control. If you are going to combine those two components, make sure to add a good preamplifier to the list.