BOUND-FOR-SOUND,
May' 2000
H. Richard Weiner
Vladimir
Lamm and the Goldilocks Preamp
Or,
The Perils of Moderation
O’ it
offends me to the soul to hear a …fellow
tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split
the ears of the groundlings, who for the most
part are capable of nothing but inexplicable
dumbshows and noise.
Hamlet III, ii
The Sad
State of the Art
Just as it is
becoming pleasant to listen to digital sources,
we are loosing the preamps to play it
through. The majority of manufacturers are
cranking out preamplifiers that manage to sound
both shrill and anemic. In an effort to
turn away from the overly lush sound of early
(1950-60) tube units, companies do everything
possible to remove the “tube” signature
their preamps impose upon the signal. The
result has been an overreaction in the opposite
direction—bland, unmusical, somewhat dry
preamps are everywhere.
You can’t
entirely blame the designers for the
situation. Reviewers reward
“neutral” sound – that is,
components that don’t get in the way of
evaluating other gear – and punish units
that are, well, ah, er…enjoyable.
There. I’ve said it. Now that
you are primed to my priorities, we can proceed.
Intermission:
Lamentations, Missteps and Blunders
Of course,
it’s all an illusion: Jimi Hendrix is dead,
as are Wilhelm Furtwaengler and Janis
Joplin. When we sit enthralled at
performances by these artists, we pretend that we
are somewhere else, at another time. The
closer we can get to this make-believe
experience, the better we account the equipment.
We suspend more
than we disbelieve; we also tell ourselves that
value – the sensible exchange of currency
for a product – exists in this hobby.
This particular illusion, the value one, suffers
substantial harm when the #@%^$* stuff
doesn’t work. Since I started on this
survey of preamps I have experienced the
following equipment failures: A remote control
sensor that didn’t sense (especially
troubling because it was the only way to control
the volume; a defective control that put the left
channel about ten dB lower than the right; a
battery charger that we couldn’t tell if it
were working or not; and a line stage whose
wretched performance was blamed on the ill
effects of a contact cleaner. Tube eating
contact cleaner! Be it known from the
beginning, the Lamm preamp under review worked properly
from the moment it was plugged in. There
were no failures of any kind. It’s the
type of behavior that one ought to expect from a
high-end component. This is what one pays
for.
The Third
Way
This preamp has
more facilities than anything I’ve had in my
home since Tomlinson Holman’s APT preamp
(circa 1980). You can go from stereo to
reversed channels; to L+R; all left or all right;
you can switch on Lamm amps; dub in various
directions, and vary the overall gain with
separate channel potentiometers. All of
these features operated perfectly throughout the
entire test period. This wealth of choices was my
first indication that the designer was attempting
something more elaborate than a volume control in
a box. My next clue of civility came in the
form of an intelligently written, and extremely
thorough documentation and owner’s
manual. The Lamm is a hybrid preamp, and
the manual explains why. The idea of using
the different virtues of solid state and tubes to
achieve a sonic goal is not a new one, and is
seen fairly often in power amplifiers. The
Joule Electra VAMP is an example. Usually,
when the two principles are combined in a preamp,
transistors are used in critical low noise
applications, e.g., magnifying the very low
output of a moving coil cartridge. In this
case, the circuit is MOS-FET, while the power
regulation is tube. Why? I refer you
to Lamm’s web site for the rationale.
If nothing else, you will come away convinced
that serious and original thought goes into these
products.
Goldilock’s
Preamplifier
In the past, we
have had preamps that sounded to some as being
too warm (the Marantz 7C, the McIntosh 20 and 22,
and the ARC 3A), and we have had preamps that
were too cold (I’ll pick on the Dyna ST-4,
the Harman Kardon Citation 11 and the Crown
IC-150), since they are old and unloved).
The Lamm L1 strikes me as a modern day
compromise, a middle ground where the music can
live.
My notes begin
with remarks about the substantial, authoritative
bass: “No doubts, who’s in charge
here,” I wrote the first night. Quad
electrostatics are not bass shy, they produce
tight, articulate low frequencies down to the 45
Hz range (Dual Quads at less than loud levels
– Ed.). The Lamm preamp brought out
the best in the bottom octave of the Quads;
though, if dinosaur stomps are your thing, you
might look elsewhere speaker-wise (but, hang onto
the preamp, it does bass).
The bass
frequencies lay a foundation for the rhythm and
drive to thrive, this is the life of the
music. That quality, and a clear, precise
midrange made the Lamm more than an accurate
reproducer, it made it fun, it made it enjoyable
to listen to.
Above the
midrange, I found the Lamm’s control and
clarity – the solid-state aspect of the
sound – to overpower the bloom and air that
I seek. As I’ll explain in a moment,
this sonic attribute in the upper ranges is very
likely the result of careful deliberation.
I suspect that the Lamm is a less colored
reporter of the true musical event than my own
preamp, and will most likely satisfy more
listeners. This is a matter of sensible
choices in sonic emphasis and equipment
compatibility.
I speculate that
this unusual but clever circuit topology came
about from Lamm’s desire to find a
compromise between the clear virtues of two
different sounds. There are advantages to
solid state you simply forego where you buy a
tube preamp, and vice versa: Lamm, I suspect, has
found a way to extract some of the better aspects
of both.
Years ago,
Vladimir Lamm experimented with shaping the sound
of electronic circuits. He found that he
could impress some of the listeners immediately
with some circuits, but the charm wore off after
a while. The most discerning listeners
– the target audience for his designs –
preferred a sound that required some time to
appreciate. The groundlings in
Shakespeare’s time were taken by easily
accessible, very showy performances.
Hamlet, the educated, knowledgeable man wanted a
more considered rendition. The L1
line-stage is for the refined listener who comes
to judgment slowly, and who, therefore,
doesn’t want to switch preamps every time a
magazine shrieks the praises of yet another new
electronic darling.
If you’re
seeking a preamp that will carry you through the
next decade, and through several more digital
formats, the Lamm is a terrific choice.
This company is demonstrating integrity, even
courage, in bringing out a preamp that is notable
different in construction, build, layout,
configuration and sound. This unit is
capable of exciting performance: a sound like
live music. Vladimir has also won my
admiration for producing a unit that’s
liable to last longer than I am.
Is this the last
preamp you will need to purchase? That
would depend on your system which, in turn,
reflects your taste. I am confident that
long after a lot of lesser units have found
their way onto dealer consignment shelves, some
thoughtful listeners will still have the Lamm at
the heart of their systems.
reprinted with permission
SUBSCRIPTION
INFORMATION:
(309) 856-5515
(309) 853-3193 fax
bfshifi@cin.net
http://www.boundforsound.com
M1.2
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