NOTE TO ML3 OWNERS:
We strongly recommend that you have a high quality digital
voltmeter on hand in order to properly adjust and control
the parameters of the ML3s.
We use and recommend
FLUKE model 87-V. Using a cheap voltmeter
is likely to give the wrong reading of the parameters
resulting in improper adjustment, and, in the end, malfunction of the
amp.
NOTE:
12AX3/ 12BE3 tubes should be
replaced every 1.5-2 years
GM-70 tube should be replaced every 1.5 years
to maintain the best performance of the
amp
The ML3 is a single-ended (SE) tube amplifier
utilizing a very powerful direct-heated triode GM-70 (125W plate dissipation) and a separate power supply. Combining the most
sophisticated technologies and electronic design with graceful looks
reminiscent of the classic era of tubes, the ML3 is our top-of-the-line,
no-compromise product.
It is a 32-watt amplifier that operates in pure
class A and utilizes no overall feedback. The topology is absolutely unique
and incorporates one of the most advanced power supplies ever featured in an
audio device. These factors, along
with the designer’s unique vision and understanding of the underlying
principles of audio electronics, make the ML3 an amplifier without peer.
With the ML3 as the centerpiece of a high-end
system, the recorded event is recreated in one’s listening room with
astonishing verisimilitude. The listener is able to experience an ephemeral
yet tangible connection to the essence of the music. These are not empty
claims. Those who have listened to the ML3 firsthand have unanimously
acknowledged this phenomenon and have reported it to be utterly unique in
their collective experience.
SE tube amplifiers, in general, have the
potential to reproduce music with greater realism than any other amplifier
type or topology. The reality, however, is another thing because of the
limitations inherent in most designs.
These amplifiers can sound lovely in the midrange but their
low and high frequency reproduction leaves much to be desired. The ML3
overcomes these obvious limitations.
The
resultant sound is strikingly similar to the live event.
Along with the ML2.1, the ML3 is practically
the only SE tube amplifier available capable of reproducing an entire range of
audio frequencies – not just the exquisite midrange but also the most
natural and extended bass and high frequencies. The amplifier’s innovative
circuitry enables it to recreate the original spectral balance and harmonic
structure of the recorded material without losing even the tiniest details and
nuances. Due to its extraordinary transparency, the ML3 is also unmatched its
ability to recreate a three-dimensional soundstage without boundaries and
limitations. As with the ML2.1, the ML3 brings out the most natural sound
performance inherent in the signal and unequivocally demonstrates what a
properly designed single-ended amplifier can do.
The
most advanced technical solutions have been employed in the design of this
amplifier. The custom-made
output transformer is of peerless quality. This, along with the sophisticated
power supply and unique front-end and output stages, enables the ML3 to drive
most real-world speakers and yield tremendous sonic stability under most
dynamic conditions.
The
ML3 features:
- Innovative
front-end circuitry (this design is unique to Lamm Industries, Inc.)
- Separate
plate and filament transformers
- Six
filter chokes
- Six
rectifying tubes
- Highest
quality film capacitors for the high voltage power supply that feeds the
output stage
- Refined
soft-start and time-delay circuitries
- An
option to turn the amp on/off remotely
Each
amplifier is carefully constructed and handcrafted of the finest materials and
world-class parts, some of which include military-graded DALE metal film
resistors, PRC wire-wound resistors, CADDOCK power film resistors, BOURNS
multi-turn potentiometers, CORNELL DUBILIER and UNITED CHEMI-CON electrolytic
capacitors, ELECTROCUBE, ELCON and ROEDERSTEIN film capacitors, HAMMOND
chokes, gold-plated NEUTRIC and FISCHER connectors, heavy-duty gold-plated
binding posts, and military-graded low-noise long-life vacuum tubes.
Special
attention was given to designing the plate, filament, and output transformers.
They have no mechanical contact with either the transformer cover or the
chassis and are suspended in a special encapsulant that almost completely
absorbs residual mechanical vibrations. This
plays a significant role in assuring the consummate clarity and
micro-resolution of the ML3 during sound reproduction.
The
ML3 has no overall feedback loop, however the amplifier features an option
that allows the user to introduce a small amount of local feedback in the
output stage. Furthermore, there
is a choice of two amounts of such feedback: NFB1 and NFB2, which differ in
their levels. Therefore, there
are three options regarding feedback use in the amplifier: no feedback, NFB1
or NFB2.
A
multi-turn trimming potentiometer accessible through a special opening in the
amplifier’s chassis, along with a set of test points, allows the user to
adjust and measure the plate current of the output tube via an external
voltmeter.
The ML3 works on all world AC line voltages
(100/120/220/230/240 V).
...There are small amps, there are large amps, there are stereo amps,
there are mono amps, and then there are Vladimir Lamm's ML3
Signature two-chassis monoblocks, demmed at FSI with Verity
Lohengrin speakers, a Lamm L2 Reference preamplifier, LP2 phono
preamp, NeoDio CD transport and DAC, and Kubala-Sosna cables, and
Critical Mass Systems racks.
...Listening to Louis Armstrong singing "Blues in the
Night" from LP, I auditioned the amps with no negative feedback and
just 1.2dB of negative feedback. You wouldn't have thought it would make
a difference, but darned if switching in even this minimal amount of
feedback—which, in theory, should make the amplifier perform better—didn't
diminish the enormous sense of space on the recording.
John
Atkinson, Stereophile (April, 2008) - http://blog.stereophile.com/fsi2008/040708lamm/
...Jonathan Valin’s
Most Significant New Product: The Lamm
ML3 monoblock power amplifier.
Jonathan
Valin, The Absolute Sound (April/May 2008, issue 181)
...32 Watts of single-ended power is
not a very impressive characteristic on a background of a multitude of tube
amplifiers that exist on this planet -- but that's not the case if we are
talking about the amplifiers produced by the New York-based company Lamm
Industries. A head of the company, Vladimir Lamm -- well-known to the
radio amateurs of the former USSR as Vladimir Shushurin -- developed a concept
and topology of the GM-70 tube-based amplifier over 20 years ago. The
realization of this concept took tremendous effort, huge financial investments
and engagement of the best transformer manufacturers in the world. The
working prototype was shown last year (at CES2007); this CES, the production
unit debuted in a system with Wilson Audio Maxx2 speakers, which, by the way,
are the not the easiest to drive. However, the ML3's 32 Watts
demonstrated quite clearly a complete superiority of the Watt quality over the
Watt quantity. Moreover, just based on the Show results, the ML3 is
obviously so much more superior to all the possible contenders that it alone
occupies the throne of the "Amplifier's Olympus".
S. Taranov, Audio Magazine,
issue 2 (79) 2008, page 42 (translated from Russian by E. Lamm)
click the links for the Russian
text and ML3 images printed in the
magazine
Lamm
Industries launched the ML3 Signature ($139,290) -- a no-compromise 32Wpc
single-ended tube amplifier based on the GM-70 directly heated triode.
It's the Ferrari of single-ended amps, considering the wattage to price
ratio of over $4000 per watt. No doubt about it, that first watt is
pretty pricey, but it's the first watt that sets the stage, and is
responsible for much of the musical enjoyment. Rest assured that in
this case, the first few watts appear to be as good as it gets in the domain
of single-ended designs. The custom output trannies are capable of
wider bandwidth at full power than competing designs. In other words,
bass and treble response are not compromised for the sake of an exquisite
midrange.
Dick
Olsher, The Absolute Sound (April/May 2008, issue 181), page 62
(more to come)
For
complete reviews, please visit our REVIEWS page
LP1 Signature
