[Whart]

i have been using the L2 with the ML2's on my horns for 5 or so years- they are synergystic together- I haven't really tried mixing and matching other amps or preamps with either of them, except: when my amps went down and needed service a few years ago, my friend loaned me those little Kharma solid state amps- while i appreciated the gesture, they sounded flat and electronic in my system. More recently, something happened to my L2- it started to buzz (literally, the power supply developed a nasty mechanical transformer buzz) and it was generating a 60 hz hum into the signal path. It still awaits service, since Vlad has been gone for nearly a month-and in the meantime, I bought a very clean Joule LA 150mkii to use temporarily as a stopgap, with the intention of selling the Joule once the Lamm line stage is back in service. The Joule is of course very romantic sounding, too lush for my taste, and is not a good match for the ML2, although it might be a great match with a big solid state amp that needs warmth and air- to me, the Joule, at least this model, lacks nuance in the midrange.
The L2 is a very fine line stage and the absence of a remote control or the need to adjust two volume controls rather than one is at most a trifling inconvenience. As indicated above, I haven't used it with amps other than my ML2 (apart from the few days I had those Kharma amps hooked up), so I can't tell you it is THE preamp for all systems, but in mine, it is a revelation. Keep in mind that as a horn listener, my system is pretty intolerant of electronics- it reveals everything. Now, if you were cynical, you might say the Lamms are reticient enough to tame the tendency toward brightness or glare on a horn system, but I don't find the Lamm line stage-amp combo to be glossing over information; to the contrary, they are extremely revealing, and almost untube like in their character. (As you know, the L2 has a solid state audio path and uses tubes in the power supply, so it is a sort of 'reverse' hybrid, but seems to offer the best of both worlds- the detail of solid state with the capability to react quickly and dynamically to changes in the music). i could go on, but you get the idea.