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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Initial thoughts about new/old Lamm ML2s
Post Subject: Blending integrity?Posted by Paul S on: 11/25/2006
As I process what you have said about "blending integrity" I hear a trumpet blowing right at my face, just like I did last night. But obviously this is my imagination at work. Do you mean in general the way tones exist and integrate at different levels, timbre and SPL? This is one way to identify a particular instrument and/or instrumentalist, but some people can do this with music played over the telephone. It certainly becomes more complicated with chorale or ensemble playing, and of course most systems, including amplifiers, just can't do this (even though people insist they can...). I am presently plodding toward the ability to enjoy this more complex music via hi-fi, and the ML2s certainly add options. I think the dynamic improvements I noted figure into the "necessary hardness" and drive that charges the air at all frequencies, without amp-related compression or collapse at the volumes I have tried so far. This off-axis air charging is not a small thing, and I am pretty excited about pursuing this. No question that it comes straight from the ML2s, or at least of all the amps I've tried, this is the first time I have encountered it. But it does seem to require re-tweaking system balance.
I have always heard the dynamic limitations of hi-fi, whether constant compression or crapping out with volume and/or complexity. I listed above my present thoughts on the ML2s relative to generic SS and SET.
By the way, I have not been tube rolling with the ML2s -- yet -- just replacing the old tubes that came with them. New V2s improved focus, bass, etc., and replacing the V1s cured the B+ relay pulse. I will next try replacing the 6N6Ps, then the 12AX7s, etc. I am not trying different tubes at this point, just making sure the tubes I am using are up to spec., so I can evaluate the amps and continue voicing the system based on optimum ML2 performance.
Best regards,
Paul SRerurn to Romy the Cat's Site