Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site
In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Initial thoughts about new/old Lamm ML2s
Post Subject: I wouldn't want to touch onePosted by Paul S on: 10/1/2007
Jessie, you can imagine that the output tube was hot at 59 watts. FWIW, I never go a month without checking OP, usually within 2 weeks, and in this case I had checked it less than a week before.
The tube itself is the heat source, much hotter than the transformer, at least externally, but it should run and ventilate OK if OP are within range, given normal air temp and decent circulation. It was very hot here over long stretches this summer, to 108 F, and it may be that the amp had thermal gremlins in addition to the bad summer electricity, I can't say for sure. They have never had so much as an electrical hiccup, however, with respect to soldiering on.
The thing I wanted to share is the way the amps perform at those OPs, at least in my system. It is very nice, and not something that would go unnoticed. You may remember that I got better performance by moving in that direction, and continuing made it better yet. Needless to say the difference from turning down the truly overdriven tubes was very great. Still, the OP I mentioned really cleaned up the sound I get from my speakers, in addition to enriching it. Perhaps my speakers are more sensitive to these changes than Romy's. I don't know. But I do know where I'm running my amps now.
It seems always to be the case that my perceptions of a component morph over long term exposure; I become more aware of more qualities that accrue to the component in question. I woulld not say that nearly a year with these amps has exactly changed my perceptions of them, but I would say that I can now identify more things that are amp-specific. I never expected perfect amplification, mostly because I am not sure yet just what that would be. But I have gottem plenty of very nice bonuses from these amps along the way, and they have basically exceeded my expectations by exceeding my experience rather considerably.
I still struggle to come up with words to explain these amps to non-users. For instance, how can you say they "organize" the sound without it seeming mechanical or artificial? How do you compare them to other SETs?
Best regards,
Paul SRerurn to Romy the Cat's Site