“The LAMM/TreMa Sound room was constantly packed, and for good reason: Lamm ML1 amps ($19,980 per pair) drove a pair of Kharma Exquisite 1A speakers ($56,995 per pair) to produce copious amounts of low-end slam on appropriate recordings and transcendental soundstaging on others. Also in use were a LAMM L1 linestage ($6990), Theta Jade transport ($2495) and DS Pro Gen.V DAC ($3795, single-ended version), all connected with Purist Audio cables. This system could portray visceral bass, which LAMM’s Vladimir Shushurin flaunted, but it was when he put on a less-showy orchestral piece that the system made it on my list.” Marc Mickelson

“If I were to interpret “standout” as meaning the finest overall sound, you’d be reading about the Merlin/Joule and Kharma/LAMM rooms at the Alexis Park…” John Upton

(1998 Show Report)

Trick or Treat?

“More than anything else, parading the walkways of the Alexis Park reminded me of trick-or-treating—but without all of the knocking on doors. Overall, the sound I heard at the CES—in the rooms I’m about to mention and the others I visited—was wildly uneven. Some rooms had great sound, and I didn’t want to leave these, while others were dismal at best. In the good-sounding rooms one self-evident law prevailed: Lack of clutter is good. Of the three rooms whose sound I thought was exemplary, only one (LAMM/TreMa Sound) had anything on static display—and only one item (one of the new Lamm ML2 monoblocks). However, we’re talking about different goals here—sight versus sound. Some manufacturers were really only interested in displaying their products, which is OK, even though it seemed like a lost opportunity. Oh well” —  SoundStage!, Marc Mickelson

“LAMM ML1 amplifiers were in three rooms—LAMM/TreMa Sound, Thor, and Verity—with a pair of M1.1s workin’ it in the Walker Audio room. Master of Paradise Jim Saxon noted, “It was very difficult for a room with the LAMM ML1s to sound bad.” –SoundStage!, Marc Mickelson

“The Walker Audio room put me back in a land I love–turntable land. They were playing the Walker Proscenium Gold Signature table which retails at a cool $13,000. Heck give me one for each room. The sound was impressive, and I was trying to figure out how many part-time jobs I would need to afford one. The rest of the system included the Clearaudio Insider MC cartridge, American Hybrid Technologies linestage and phonostage, LAMM M1.1 amplifiers and the Von Schweikert VR-6 speakers. A good time was had there.” — SoundStage!, Tony Fafoglia

The Jimmy Awards
“Amplifier under $20,000—Lamm Industries’ ML1 monoblocks …” — SoundStage!, Jim Saxon

“Wes Phillips, K-10, and I dropped into LAMM together and turned an ear to the L1 line-stage on ML1 monoblocks–two 6C33Cs per side for 90Wpc push-pull in pure triode–driving Kharma Exquisite Reference 1A speakers from the Netherlands. LAMM also introduced 18Wpc single-ended monoblocks model ML2… The L1/ML1 combo also sounded lusciously musical in Ken Hosp’s Verity Audio setup. He caught us up during the last hour of the show. Listening to music in his dark, womblike room relaxed both of us.” — Stereophile, Jonathan Scull (April, 1998)

Best sound? Didn’t get to enough rooms for this to be at all definitive, so wait for Arnie’s and John’s articles next issue, but I did like the Kharma Exquisite speakers driven by the LAMM amp and preamp.” — The Audiophile Voice, Eugene Pitts, III (Vol. 4 (1), 1998)

“LAMM’s ML2 is the tube lover’s eyeful, a massive pure Class A single-ended monoblock shlepping 18W out of a tube complement consisting of a 12AX7, a 6N6Pi, a 6C33C-B and a 6AK5; 5651 and another 6C33C in the regulated power supply. Namedroppers should know that the LAMM contains Dale military-graded low noise metal film resistors, Electrocube and Roederstein film caps, Cornell-Dubilier and United Chemi-con electrolytic caps, Hammond chokes and Neutrik connectors (hiya, Stu!). The glassware? Military spec, of course. Dimensions are 404x441x210mm (wdh), each chassis weighs 29 kg. A note, too, about LAMM: if you ask designer Vladimir Shushurin for a simple spec sheet, you get reams of paperwork telling you everything from Rated Output Current to Voltage Gain to operating temperature to burn-in time at the factory, or everything bar his daughter’s phone number. Comprehensive? The mind more than boggles.” HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW, Ken Kessler (April, 1998)