New monoblocs for Maxx II, which ones

Dazzdax: the DartZeel doesn't really have enough current I've read for controling Maxx's. Just like my Lamm M1.1 solid state/hybrid 100watts ran out of juice controlling my WP7's, but the M2.1 worked no problem. So some people buy the DarTZeel Preamp and use another amp to get the characterics of that manufacture.

"Dazzdax: the DartZeel doesn't really have enough current I've read for controling Maxx's. Just like my Lamm M1.1 solid state/hybrid 100watts ran out of juice controlling my WP7's, but the M2.1 worked no problem. So some people buy the DarTZeel Preamp and use another amp to get the characterics of that manufacture."

Even though I am not a DartZeel fan I am not so sure that I agree with you. As for the Lamm 1.1 Ref running out of power on your WP 7's I find that difficult to understand. My son BTW has MAXX ll's and drives them with ease with his LAMM M1.1 Ref. Personally I would still go with the LAMM ML 2.1's as the amp is absolute magic. They drive my behemoth X-2's with ease and plenty of headroom. Not bad for 18wpc.

Oneobgyn: The Lamm M1.1's had tons of mid bass but were missing the last octave at any volume in my system or the midbass bloat was masking the low end (Yes the room was mic'd out with my Tact and then corrected with $3.5k of Realtraps and measured again (Tact was not used for correction after correcting the room). I spent the $1275 roundtrip to ship (they will only accept Fedex Air to their non business address with the crates, no UPS) them back to the factory where the checked out perfect. I then switched to my Theta Citadel amps which made the Lamms sound broken in the lowest octave and exposed the darker character on the top end (which wasn't necessarily a bad thing on ultra revealing speakers in an hyper active room). The Theta's just don't run out of gas and are completely effortless while driving the most complex passages with a huge soundstage and delicate on top like the VTL. I found that my Prior Lamm M2.1 didn't have a problem and the missing 50 watts of Class A was really no loss. I then switched to tubes but ultimately the Music Reference RM200 was not romantic like the Lamms so back to Solid State I went. I loved the organic flavor of Lamms and was looking for M2.2's when I spent 4 hrs at my dealer listening to the Theta and comparing it to the VTL S400 amp (which I couldn't afford). The other ultimate decision why I got rid of the Lamm's each time was that they heated up my 12x16 room 10+ degrees in about 15 minutes and made my AC run non-stop here in Arizona.

All of these amps are world class, I think it comes down to what type of characteristics are appreciated by the listener.

I will probably pickup a pair of Lamm ML2.1 or the new VTL 450's (with autobiasing) to try with my Maxx's during the winter or I'll just add a tube preamp and upgrade my cabling..... the cycle continues...

Rugyboogie: since you want to try a completely different flavor compared to your ML's and the ASR, the Lamm's would really fit the bill.

Oneobgyn,

I have had a similar experience as Cytocycle with the DarTZeel amp myself. (However, not with the Maxx II's, as I have no experience with them, other than hearing them breifly at a dealers.)

My friend uses the Lamm M2.2s, (the 220 wpc successcor to the 200 wpc M2.1s, that I use). He used to use Avalon Eidolons, and when he upgraded to the Rockport Antares, (a more efficient speaker), he decided to test out the DarTZeel amp, as a local seller of one happened to pop up on Audiogon. We listened to both, and while the DarTZeel is an excellent amp (my favorite solid state amp, btw), it did indeed run out of gas trying to get the last bit of bass response out of the Rockports. We both preferred the Lamms to the DarTZeel, mostly due to the bass response, (We liked the treble of the Lamms better too, but I almost think that was more of a preference, rather than one being clearly better than the other.)

My two cents worth.

I have to somehow agree with Oneobgyn. I have had Lamm M1.2 Reference monos and have had absolutely no problems driving my 87dB efficient Avalons Eidolon Vision.