Joule Electra LA150 MkII or Lamm LL2 Deluxe?

Hi Jamnesta, I have had the LA150 MkII up and running for about 5 days now. The only thing I can think of is the preamp simply needed a bit of warm-up to sound its best. The bass is killer, just as described by HP in TAS. I am running from the plate direct output instead of from the Mu follower circuit (this is a simple jumper switch) as recommended by Jud Barber, and I am also running the higher 8dB of gain instead of the typical 4dB, also a jumper adjustment. The preamp is supported on its own feet then on a Zoethecus Z-slab sitting on 4 vibrapods then on an air bladder suspension system. I have a HiFi tuning fuse in it and I am using a 9awg PC with special resonance shielding. After more listening, I put the Zoe back in the system to better note the differences and the Joule definitely digs deeper in the bass. The Zoe has good bass and is dynamic, but in comparison the Joule has bass you feel in your chest. For fun, I put on Morph the Cat and was just about blown out of my chair! Midrange clarity is very good also and soundstaging is wide and deep. I am not sure why I thought the copper IC's were necessary to warm up the presentation, but I put my Purist (Gold,Copper,Silver) IC's back in and it sounds even better - with improved bass definition and sonic improvements across the board, although not too surprising since the Purist cables are much better than the Sonoran's. This is a very good preamp, and very nice looking also. I really like the Standby feature, which keeps things warm but saves tube life. Jud Barber says the tubes in this preamp will last 5 to 10 years with normal use. It is also quiet for a tube preamp. I will provide a further update after I play it some more (maybe I should write a review) and I will also report comparisons to the LL2, if one ever becomes available for sale.

Mitch2, you say " I am running from the plate direct output instead of from the Mu follower circuit (this is a simple jumper switch)" - What does that mean? Is it easy to do? What are the improvements? And, if it is better, why is it not the default setting? Thanks.

The LA150 MKII is up for sale...

That was short lived.

What happened Mitch2?
You got tired of the Joule so fast?

I own the LAP-150 Mk II (recently bought and immediately upgraded from Mk I) and cannot praise it enough.
With my Sonus Faber GP Home and Bryston 4B Pro (yes you heard right) this is the best sound I have heard in my system and one of the best sounds I have heard anywhere even compared to very expensive systems (3-4 times the price of mine).
The Bryston further enhances the great bass and brings some PRAT (for the Bryston my speakers at 90dB are a walk in the park to drive so it is in its element) and together the beauty (Joule) and the beast (Bryston) just do magic.

Cheers,

Doron

To Pubul57, I believe that the plate direct output is the default setting, and according to Jud it is the most direct and best sounding. However, the output impedance from the plate direct is 1,200 ohms, which could be too high for amps with low input impedance like my former McCormack DNA 500 (10K ohms). Taken from the Mu follower circuit, the output impedance is only 100 ohms, so would match with just about any amp. Yes these are jumpers inside the preamp that can be owner-adjusted, and it is explained in the owner's manual. There are 4 jumpers in the LA150 MkII, two (one for each channel) to set the output (Mu follower or plate direct) and two to set gain (4dB or 8dB). If you are interested in discussing further, I can send some pictures and would be glad to go over it with you on the phone.

To Tvad and others, its just one of those things along my mythical search for "just the right" preamp. I have had some very good preamps through here, and the Joule is a very nice one and desirable to many, but ultimately not exactly what I am looking for. I will be trying something else in the near future and will post further thoughts. - Tim