Has anyone heard the new LAMM L2 preamp?

I have never enjoyed the SF products. The Aesthetix I/O is one of the best, especially if you use low output cartridges. The CAT also has a fairly nice phono stage already built into the ultimate.

tgraaf, I believe Vladimir is coming out with his own phono stage in the very near future, you might want to look out for this! In the meantime, I've been using the EAR 834P with great success, I believe Vladimir has used this with his electronics in the past and thinks highly of it. It is tube-based of course, and quite inexpensive ;-)

Dkuipers: I am sure everyone knows someone who has had problems with some equipment here and there, but for someone to call it junk is not only irresponsible, but it is also immature. I know someone that had major problems with some Lamm equipment does that make it "junk"? I think not. I know better than condemning an entire line based on one person's problem. Lamm equipment is excellent as is Aesthetix.

Tgraffair: BTW, if you have any questions regarding quality and reliability of the Aesthetix equipment, ask Albert Porter.

The number of people that have stories to tell with the Aesthetix gear is more than one jtinn.....

I have heard the Aesthetix Callisto and I was not impressed. It actually has some harshness in the upper mids which is slight but still evident. Also, I found it to be surprisingly undynamic. I have not heard the Lamm L2, but did hear the L1. I compared my CAT Ultimate to the L1 in a system powered by Lamm amps and I prefered the CAT over the Lamm significantly. I would rate the Aesthetix as the worst of the three, although admittedly no head-to-head comparison was made between it and any of the other two.