Lamm’s new LP2 phono stage ($6690 in its Deluxe version) is surprisingly heavy due to a steel plate in the bottom of the chassis. Look for a SoundStage!review.

In the Lamm Industries room was a beautiful EMT 927 F transcription turntable.

Lamm Industries new LP2 phono stage ($6,290, or $6,690 in deluxe version) employs vacuum tubes for signal gain while a custom designed dampening panel reduces the negative effects of vibrations. The Deluxe version comes with a power supply that can store more energy than the standard version.

Kharma’s beautifully finished Exquisite Extended Reference 1A loudspeaker ($90,000) was looking might extraordinary in their demo room.

Lamm Industries debuted the tube LP2 phono stage ($6690) at T.H.E. Expo, in a system that included Lamm M1.1 amps and an L2 line stage.  Vinyl playback was via a Walker Audio Proscenium Gold Signature turntable ($23,000).  Speakers were the Kharma Extended References ($95,000).  I hit Lamm’s large room the morning of Day 1, which was a few days after the concrete had been poured for the floor of the room (the hotel was brand new) and before there was decent electrical service; a generator outside was providing the juice while the fire alarm warning light flashed and a recorded voice advised us to vacate the premises.  So don’t expect me to comment on the sound!  The Walker turntable, however, looked much improved visually and mechanically, as tinkerer Lloyd Walker never rests.  The tonearm parts no longer look like plumbing fixtures, and the bright brass plating had given way to a cooler brushed look.

Lamm and Walker were also to be found at the CES’s “official” high-end audio venue, the Alexis Park hotel.  Lamm spun LPs using a magnificent-looking, industrial-grade EMT Studio 927 turntable fitted with a 12″ SME 3012 tonearm and another arm I couldn’t identify.  No, the EMT is not back in production — it was bought from a European radio station.
[Michael Fremer, p. 48]. 

Gear from Lamm Industries glowed brightly in several rooms with their trademark triple-nippled 6C33Cs.  At their room at the Alexis Park one could hear and enjoy the Kharma Grand Ceramiques ($45,000) running on ML1 monoblocks ($19,000/pair) and the exquisite L2 Reference line-level preamplifier ($13,690, reviewed in May 2001).  I fixed an eye on the C.E.C. TL 1X CD transport ($5700) feeding a dCS Elgar Plus D/A converter ($14,500).  Positively yummy sound.  Lamm’s other big news was the introduction of the LP2 phono preamp, which Comrade Fremer will scrutinize in near future. [Jonathan Scull, p. 63]

Lamm Industries took the lid off its flagship L2 Reference preamplifier ($13,690), a class-A design with no negative feedback in any of its single-ended stages. A separate chassis houses the power supply, with its choke filter and vacuum tube-controlled voltage regulation. [PAB]

The best sound of the show (that we heard) was the Kharma/Lamm system playing vinyl.  Lamm electronics take you to the core of the music.  Very realistic and involving. (www.audionut.com)