Quote:
Originally Posted by jdandy
Serge.......Good read. The new "Reference" amp?
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There can never be one universal "Reference" amp as the market is constantly evolving in high end audio. System synergy is an elusive and often a difficult thing to nail down. I don't think we really know and understand any of the components we own fully. Just when one thinks he has the handle on things, swap out the preamp or the source and things will change in a hurry. Some of the results will be surprising and counterintuitive.
Pick an amp to drive your speakers well and if the things still don't work out you'll wind up blaming the speakers or the amp. Throw a different preamp in to the mix and suddenly there is better synergy, so it wasn't the amp and speakers after all. It can be frustrating or fun, depending on how you look at it. So a "reference" amp is an elusive term as well. It could very well be "reference" for some and not synergize very well for others.
Having said that, I still think that an amp/speaker combo is the framework of the whole system. It anchors the system around some point around which other components can be added that compliment each other and the rest of the system.
The best preamp or a source in the world can't shine in one's system if the speakers don't work well in your room or your amp can't bring out the very best of your speakers, on the other hand, you will not tap into the performance capabilities of your amp and speakers if your preamp is veiled or the source is only so so.
So is the Lamm M1.2 a Reference? It is a Reference in the eyes of its creator as far as his hybrid designs go, I guess it is also a Reference in the eyes of many a reviewer and it seems to have hit the sweet spot in my system as well. One thing for sure, I have not heard so many positive attributes from any one single amp so far (ok, two since they are monoblocks
.) So it is a Reference for me as well, at least for the time being.
