Anyone: Wilson X1Grand Slamm/ Lamm ML2's

David, i have nothing but a great respect for your opinions.
but we might disagree on what is acceptable in terms of having the dynamics to energise a room. as i said, even in a large room this combo would be engaging.....but would also sound somewhat 'lost'. this is just my opinion on how i like a system to sound.

i want more dynamic 'grip' than 18 + 18 watts can potentially achieve in a large space on X-1's. i have heard the ML2's on Kharmas in fairly large spaces.....where you might have felt they had plenty of dynamics i thought they were underpowered.

when low power is used in big spaces (unless some sort of +100db efficient horn system is used) it just doesn't do it for me.

while i agree that the ML2's are great amps......there are others i like at that same level with more dynamic potential for larger spaces.

i would not argue at all that the strengths of the ML2 are considerable even in a large room.....but it's drawbacks would be unacceptable to ME considering the investment alternatives.

>>i have heard the ML2's on Kharmas in fairly large spaces.....where you might have felt they had plenty of dynamics i thought they were underpowered.<<

Please define fairly large spaces, for me a 30' x 60' x13' is fairly large. I know you've heard the Exqusites at our large exhibits but the Kharmas aren't the Grand Slamm and as many attributes as the Kharmas may have, playing loud is not one of them. The Exquisites will never play loud and in reality they don't work well in large spaces either; I should know!

Forget about all the other attributes, ML2s and Grand Slamm can play extremely loud and have incredible dynamics, I know that you've never heard this combination and you'll be very surprised when you hear it. In two instances we replaced fairly large SS amps with the ML2s and not only there was no loss of dynamics there actually was a lot more! This is a combination that you have to hear before judging.

David,

30' x 60'x 13' is extremely large.

i have a friend with a 40' x 28' x 14' foot room (that i consider large) that had X-1's for 6 years until he recently got the JM Labs Grand Utopia Be's. i listened to many amps (of many different configurations and power levels) in that room with him. the X-1's always took advantage of additional power reserves. the lower powered amps did many great things but would have clear limitations.

specifically i did not hear a pair of ML2's in that room on the X-2's.....so i will defer to your personal experience. but my guess is that in a large room like my friend's it would not be what 'I' would choose.

David: I have heard the combination and without a doubt, I am not wrong. The speakers while being 96db efficient are much tougher to drive than their sensitivity suggests.

If you have ever heard the SLAMM's properly powered, you would know what I am talking about. The more power, the better with most Wilson speakers.

The problem with most of the combinations I have heard with ML2's, is improper speaker matching. The amps are beautiful sounding when properly mated with the right speakers. For example, your old combination with the ML2's and the Exquisites was anemic and highly overrated. I know, because I have had the ML2's on my Exquisite 1a's and frankly the combination was laughed at by most who heard it here.

I hope all is well with you.

Well Jonathan I guess one of is wrong then!

Over the years I've heard the Slamms with many different amps including the Levnison 33s when I owned them and I still maintain that two pairs of ML2s can easily drive them to very high levels.

I wouldn't call the Exquisite/ML2 combination laughable but I agree that its borderline acceptable and only in standard to small listening rooms. I never claimed that Exquisite/ML2 was a match made in heaven, in fact we used two pairs of Lamm M1.1s when we exhibited the 1a last. Still, we had enough Exquisite clients who opted for the ML2's naturalness over more power from another amp!