Posted
on www.audioreview.com, Nov. 17' 1998
Brian
Edwards
A few weeks ago I wrote a
long review of the LAMM M1.1 amps and the Japanese
Kinoshita JMF HQS2800 which I also listened to in my
latest (and hopefully last) amplifier search.
Unfortunately, the post somehow was lost even though the
title appeared (“help! I’ve been LAMMed”) and like
a fool I did not make a copy of that review, which took 2
hours to write. Anyway, this short version will
have to do for now since I’m still too irritated to
write the whole damn thing again! A special thanks
to Joe S. by the way, whose long review turned me on to
the M1.1s. I was on the verge of buying Pass Aleph
2.’s, when his exacting comparison of those amps with
the LAMMs popped up here. He described the Aleph
sound far better than I ever could have, and the
important ways that the M1.1s surpassed them.
Joe’s review cost me 2x the cash, and 6 months of
waiting and saving, but as you will see below the wait
and the cost were trifling trades for what these amps
have given in return.
To the point, how good are
the LAMM M1.1s? Well, I own a pair now, and to say
I’m totally satisfied with them would be a gross
understatement. There are so many ways they are
head and shoulders above any other amps I’ve ever
heard, they are simply irresistible, even at the steep
price.
Since I auditioned lots of
amps before I had almost settled on the Pass Aleph 2s
(but after reading Joe S. review bought the 3 instead as
a meanwhile amp till I could afford the LAMM’s price
range) the only other amp I auditioned against it was a
Japanese one, the Kinoshita JMF HQS2800 UPM. A
prominent reviewer here (in Japan) who reviewed the M1.1s
gave the Kinoshita top accolades in its price range,
followed by the M1.1.
It’s hard to understand,
since to my ears the LAMM is so superior The
Kinoshita had a rather laid back sound, as opposed to the
forwardness of the Alephs. Though it was less
resolving than the Alephs, it surpassed them in liquidity
of tonality (a most important point for me), equaling the
LAMMs in this area (and being a total solid-state
design!). It also had greater bass slam than the
Alephs. The Alephs, however, are somewhat more
holographic, so finally it would be a toss up for me
between them. Due to my listening tastes I slightly
prefer the Kinoshita, but then it costs a lot more than
the Pass.
Indeed, it costs more than
the LAMMs. And the LAMMs…totally and instantly
impressive was the extreme extension at both ends, and
the neutrality. And the giant rock-solid sound
stage! And the bass weight! And the sheer
“physicality” of the sound. It rumbles through
your whole body with polished richness that wets your
eyes. I sat slack-jawed my whole first evening.
The M1.1s, simply put, are components of a different
order than what I’ve yet heard. They combine
musicality and sheer power to a degree I never thought
possible. I just can’t reiterate enough what a
godsend these amps are for classical music, especially
large choral works like the Missa Solemnis. These
works need huge scale and the feeling of endless power,
but if the voices and strings lack that dimensionality
and sweetness that they truly have, the presentation is
ruined. The LAMM’s entire presentation is like a
labyrinth of beguiling sweetness, that dimensionality
that lets you wander timelessly in subtle musical depths.
Yet ripe with raw power of such freedom and limitless
extension that you soar to heaven with the trumpets.
With the M1.1s, all the concerns just disappear and you
can sink into an exultant hurricane like the Missa
Solemnis forgetful of any technical limitations.
As I prophesized,
they match superbly with the Wilson Benesch ACT ONEs.
First of all, they grabs these difficult to drive
speakers with an iron grip. The vanishing effect is
most impressive. Secondly, the WB greatest
strength— total lack of smearing and smudging in the
lower regions—so well serves the plethora of detail
that the LAMMs retrieve in the bass, that music takes on
a new foundation that repeatedly stuns me on every
recording I hear. Blazing power combined with
pond-like purity. Wondrous.
All in all, I can find no
area to critique this design. They are totally
satisfying in every category, and far far more than
satisfying. Even the small details are just right,
like the perfectly sized wooden shipping crates, the
heavy-duty carrying handles on both sides, the simple yet
graceful appearance, the ease with which they can be
changed to any world AC voltage (a godsend for a traveler
like me). They are the most thoroughly thought-out,
thought-through, and well-thought design I have ever
encountered, of any sort!
So if you are willing to
spend the green, and must have an amp that verges on
having it all, make sure and hear a pair of these black
angels.
Overall rating: 5
(out of 5)
