Zanden
not in top five?
February
3, 2012
Marc,
You
did not put the Zanden Model 9500 monoblocks on your list of the best amps, although you
mentioned in your review from some years back -- comparing them to the big and very
expensive Lamm amps -- that in a full Zanden setup the Zanden amps are very hard to beat.
Could please inform me why you think the Zanden amps are not impressive enough to make it
on your list? Do you think that they are too colored or nice-sounding in the midrange or
not in some other way as good as some other amps? I am asking this because I getting
closer to a full Zanden setup. I will use the Model 9500 Mk III amps.
David
Rudolph
The Zanden Model 9500 amps aren't on my top-five list not because of anything
they do or do not accomplish sonically. Rather, it's a matter of the other amps on the
list: Atma-Sphere MA-2 Mk 3.1 monoblocks, Lamm ML3 Signature monoblocks, Convergent Audio
Technology JL2 Signature Mk 2 stereo amp, Ayre MX-R monoblocks, and Luxman B-1000f
monoblocks . This is a tough group to crack, and that's by design. However, the Zanden
Model 9500s would be in the next five, along with the Lamm M1.2s, which are my personal
reference amps, and ML2.2s, which I recently reviewed.
There
will likely be some shuffling among the top five this year, as I receive a couple of very
promising contenders. -Marc Mickelson
Lamm
and Tidal?
February
1, 2012
Marc,
I
live in the most northeastern Brazilian city. I have a system with Merlin VSM-MXe
speakers, an Audio Aero power amplifier and a Joule-Electra Marianne 300 preamplifier. My
source is an Esoteric X-01 D2. My room is 7 meters by 3.8 meters.
The
Merlin speakers are fantastic, with so many good reviews, but after listening to the Tidal
Contriva Diaceras, I am in process of buying them. I have one doubt about the amplifier I
should use. You know we have Audiopax in Brazil, and I have been talking with the company
about the new Magiore 100 (which I heard last year at the Munich show). I previously owned
the Model 88 SET monoblocks -- 30 watts, a pristine, transparent and musical sound -- and
the Magiore is also a SET amp, but class A at 100 watts.
Lamm
has one dealer in Brazil, and I know this person. I began to think of the Lamm ML2.2s.
They have only 18 watts, but I know this is another kind of SET amp that can drive some
big speakers. The price of Lamm amps is lower than the price of the Audiopax. (Maybe I am
wrong, because after the tax of importation, the price maybe equivalent.) After years of
changing amplifiers, I want one that will stay!
I
saw your
review of the Lamm ML2.2s. You wrote that the Tidal Sunray is not right for the amps,
and that's not the speaker I will buy. But every time I see the specifications of the
Contriva Diacera, I can't tell if the Lamm ML2.2s would be a good choice to drive these
speakers.
Francisco
George
I
don't think the speakers you're considering are a good match for the Lamm SET amps. While
I greatly admire the Tidal speakers I've heard, including the Contriva Diacera SE and
Sunray, as well as the Lamm ML2.2s, the speakers aren't sensitive enough to work well with
the amps' 18 (wonderful) watts. Luckily, you have a very viable alternative to the ML2.2s
within the Lamm line: the 110-watt M1.2 Reference monoblocks. These drove the Tidal
speakers very well in my large room; Jörn Janczak of Tidal remarked when he was here that
the combination sounded especially good. The M1.2s are also far less expensive than the
ML2.2s. -Marc Mickelson
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