[Whart]

As far as I know, the piece still has a stepped control, but perhaps Lamm changed his supplier for it over the years; I do know that he upgraded the switches at one point because I had mine brought up to current spec a couple years ago (since sold it). I don't think you'd know unless you asked Vlad or compared units. Lamm does have a pretty detailed website for each product, but usually only notes changes that are indicated by a "." version, not running upgrades. FWIW, his description currently on the site says: "unique TKD stepped potentiometers (41 detents)...".
Saint- if you are basing your judgement on a quick listen after unpacking, give it a few days to warm up. I found that it opens up considerably once it has been on for a while. (I only shut mine down during electrical storms and when changing the PS tubes).
Enjoy~
PS: in my earlier post i referred to 'direct' outputs; those are actually inputs, as you can see from the back panel and bypass some of the circuitry. Made a big difference in sound.