2. amps-preamps
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New monoblocs for Maxx II, which ones

The purchase of Wilson audio's Maxx II has me thinking about getting some new monoblocks. I already own ML 33s and ML 33h will sell the later. The ASR will stay as well.
I want to try some new designs and am having a tuff time deciding upon which one. The reason is strictly for change, eat the same food everyday you get my drift.
The list of amps are:
Ayre, Linn, Pass, Lamm.......
and also some tubed units:
Lamm, Air Tight, Audio Research, VTL, Covergent Audio...
Has anybody heard these paired together in a system, if so what impressions do you have.

Thanks for reading.
rugyboogie

Showing 2 responses by kurt_tank

kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
I would recommend the Lamm M1.2 reference hybrid amps. They are 110 wpc. These have tight, quick bass response, and yet a delicate and extended treble. The mid-range is very refined and it has a nice touch of tube sound in its presentation. (They have one 6922 tube in each monoblock, so you can even do a bit of tube rolling to further enhance the sound, and it allows you to tailor the sound to your tastes. I like the Amperex Orange Globes as a good bang for the buck tube (they are around $20-30/tube), or for the ultimate in sound (& Price!), the Amperex pinched waist tubes are slightly better (albeit for a large increase in price.) The only cavaet of having the Lamm hybrid amps is that they tend to run very warm. (i.e. they will warm your room up a few degrees, but I will gladly accept that in order to get that incredible sound.)

FYI: I use the Lamm M2.1 (200 wpc) hybrid amps with my Revel Studios. I think these are the last amps I will be buying, if not forever, then for a very long time.

Good Luck in your search.

PS The DarTzeel stereo amp might be another good choice as well, since you don't need an incredible amount of power. It is a very refined solid state amp, and while I prefer my Lamms to that, there are some things that the DarTzeel does at least as well, if not slightly better. (It has incredible resolution.)
kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
Oneobgyn,

I have had a similar experience as Cytocycle with the DarTZeel amp myself. (However, not with the Maxx II's, as I have no experience with them, other than hearing them breifly at a dealers.)

My friend uses the Lamm M2.2s, (the 220 wpc successcor to the 200 wpc M2.1s, that I use). He used to use Avalon Eidolons, and when he upgraded to the Rockport Antares, (a more efficient speaker), he decided to test out the DarTZeel amp, as a local seller of one happened to pop up on Audiogon. We listened to both, and while the DarTZeel is an excellent amp (my favorite solid state amp, btw), it did indeed run out of gas trying to get the last bit of bass response out of the Rockports. We both preferred the Lamms to the DarTZeel, mostly due to the bass response, (We liked the treble of the Lamms better too, but I almost think that was more of a preference, rather than one being clearly better than the other.)

My two cents worth.
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