"1. Yes, I own Lamms and you didn't step on my toes - that was the point of my post - I like the Lamms you like the Darts - so why does one of us have to be "wrong" or have his toes stepped on? What I guess I find silly is how people get so offended if someone doesn't like or agree with our opinions of our gear. Who really cares who likes what or even if a reviewer likes our stuff? Is that what we are left to? We now need our purchasing decisions to be validated by other audiophiles or, worse yet, by reviewers?"
Truer words have never been spoken.
Reading through most of these threads don't we always find the hype coming from the people who own them.
I know both Jonathan as well as Mike Lavigne and have utmost respect for both and can call them my friends. I have surely been just as culpable with me hyping my gear.
FWIW, I own X-2's and am driving them with Lamm ML 2.1's at 18 wpc with plenty of head room to spare. Only once have I made these amps clip so, to say that the DarT is not a match for the big bass on the X-2 simply doesn't cut it with me. In "my" system the ML 2.1 is simply the most musical amp that I ever heard. I have talked to Mike Malinowski about the Lamm ML 2.1's. He expressed doubt that when pushed to high volumes they would take a last gasp. MIke has X-2's as do I. I can say in all honesty that I have run these amps at volumes sufficiently high to make my ears bleed.
This whole hobby is nothing more than a "pick your flavor". You like yours and I like mine. Neither is correct. My mantra for the past 33 years in which I have been involved in this hobby is "it all boils down to 'our' ears and 'our' wallets.
I also know Jeff Fritz and he too is my friend and I find the unkind remarks made above by people who I call my friends are less than charitable and very demeaning.
All of you seem to be looking for some validation in your gear. I have been certainly just as guilty. It seems that for some of you who have posted here the holy grail in your systems seems to be forever replaced with the next holy grail with each new component added or changed. It seems at some point there comes to be the Law of Diminishing Returns. My mentor in stereo always had a very important question he would ask of me when I changed or added something and claimed to have replaced the holy grail with the holy grail. He wopuld always ask me "Did I hear something better or did I hear something different?" This is the $64K question because IMO switching out gear only often only changes the flavor, but to our ears might make it sound better.
All of you --myself included--need to sit back and just enjoy the music. To chastise a reviewer for a lousy review IMO is just not right. You pay your money and you take your chances. It doesn't mean that the reviewer is an SOB or disengenuous.
Just my $0.02
