diff --git a/test/arm-benchmark-selftest.test.ts b/test/arm-benchmark-selftest.test.ts
index e622bf645..347d1e8f5 100644
--- a/test/arm-benchmark-selftest.test.ts
+++ b/test/arm-benchmark-selftest.test.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import {
 } from './helpers/arm-benchmark-harness';
 import {
   armJudge, buildArmJudgePrompt, parseArmJudgeResponse,
-  ARM_JUDGE_ATTEMPTS, callJudge,
+  callJudge,
 } from './helpers/llm-judge';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
@@ -182,28 +182,25 @@ describe('arm benchmark selftest (free, no API)', () => {
     expect(score.construct).toBe('none');
   });
 
-  test('armJudge: bounded retry-on-malformed — recovers once, then gives up', async () => {
-    // Malformed first, valid second: recovers within the 2-attempt bound.
+  test('armJudge: a malformed verdict is a failed sample, never re-asked', async () => {
     let calls = 0;
-    const flaky = (async () => {
+    const malformedFirst = (async () => {
       calls++;
       return calls === 1
         ? { over_engineering: 9, construct: 'garbage' }
         : { over_engineering: 2, construct: 'repository layer in app.js', reasoning: 'ok' };
     }) as unknown as typeof callJudge;
-    const recovered = await armJudge('ticket', 'diff --git a/x b/x\n+1\n', { call: flaky });
-    expect(recovered.over_engineering).toBe(2);
-    expect(calls).toBe(ARM_JUDGE_ATTEMPTS);
+    await expect(armJudge('ticket', 'diff --git a/x b/x\n+1\n', { call: malformedFirst }))
+      .rejects.toThrow(/malformed verdict \(never resampled\)/);
+    expect(calls).toBe(1);
 
-    // Always malformed: throws after exactly ARM_JUDGE_ATTEMPTS attempts.
-    let badCalls = 0;
-    const alwaysBad = (async () => {
-      badCalls++;
-      return { nonsense: true };
+    let goodCalls = 0;
+    const wellFormed = (async () => {
+      goodCalls++;
+      return { over_engineering: 2, construct: 'repository layer in app.js', reasoning: 'ok' };
     }) as unknown as typeof callJudge;
-    await expect(armJudge('ticket', 'diff --git a/x b/x\n+1\n', { call: alwaysBad }))
-      .rejects.toThrow(/no well-formed verdict after 2 attempts/);
-    expect(badCalls).toBe(ARM_JUDGE_ATTEMPTS);
+    expect((await armJudge('ticket', 'diff --git a/x b/x\n+1\n', { call: wellFormed })).over_engineering).toBe(2);
+    expect(goodCalls).toBe(1);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/test/helpers/llm-judge.ts b/test/helpers/llm-judge.ts
index da7811b47..22c24a973 100644
--- a/test/helpers/llm-judge.ts
+++ b/test/helpers/llm-judge.ts
@@ -512,9 +512,6 @@ export interface ArmJudgeScore {
  */
 export const ARM_JUDGE_MODEL = CLAUDE_FRONTIER_EVAL_MODEL;
 
-/** Bounded retry-on-malformed loop: total attempts, not extra retries. */
-export const ARM_JUDGE_ATTEMPTS = 2;
-
 /**
  * Build the over-engineering rubric prompt. Exported (pure) so the free
  * selftest can verify prompt construction without any API call.
@@ -587,10 +584,10 @@ export function parseArmJudgeResponse(raw: unknown): ArmJudgeScore {
  *
  * - Zero-diff arms are VALID scored cells: the agent built nothing, so the
  *   score is deterministically 0/"none" — no API call.
- * - Bounded retry-on-malformed: ARM_JUDGE_ATTEMPTS total attempts. callJudge
- *   already retries 429s internally; this loop covers malformed/refused JSON.
+ * - One sample, never re-asked: a malformed or refused verdict is a failed
+ *   sample. callJudge's transport-level 429 backoff is not a verdict retry.
  * - `opts.call` is an injection seam so the free selftest can exercise the
- *   retry bound without spending API money. Defaults to the real callJudge.
+ *   malformed path without spending API money. Defaults to the real callJudge.
  */
 export async function armJudge(
   task: string,
@@ -605,18 +602,10 @@ export async function armJudge(
     };
   }
   const call = opts?.call ?? callJudge;
-  const prompt = buildArmJudgePrompt(task, diff);
-  let lastError: unknown;
-  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= ARM_JUDGE_ATTEMPTS; attempt++) {
-    try {
-      const raw = await call<Record<string, unknown>>(prompt, ARM_JUDGE_MODEL);
-      return parseArmJudgeResponse(raw);
-    } catch (err) {
-      lastError = err;
-    }
+  const raw = await call<Record<string, unknown>>(buildArmJudgePrompt(task, diff), ARM_JUDGE_MODEL);
+  try {
+    return parseArmJudgeResponse(raw);
+  } catch (err) {
+    throw new Error(`armJudge: malformed verdict (never resampled) — ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`);
   }
-  throw new Error(
-    `armJudge: no well-formed verdict after ${ARM_JUDGE_ATTEMPTS} attempts — `
-    + (lastError instanceof Error ? lastError.message : String(lastError)),
-  );
 }
diff --git a/test/llm-judge-recommendation.test.ts b/test/llm-judge-recommendation.test.ts
index 438d1da37..05af47a05 100644
--- a/test/llm-judge-recommendation.test.ts
+++ b/test/llm-judge-recommendation.test.ts
@@ -6,14 +6,16 @@
  * negative coverage: hand-graded good/bad recommendation strings, asserted
  * against the same threshold the production E2E tests use (>= 4).
  *
- * Costs ~$0.04 per run (4 Haiku calls + 3 deterministic-only fixtures).
+ * Each fixture is a pre-registered 3-sample judge panel: numeric substance
+ * gates on the panel mean, the boolean checks on a 2-of-3 majority, and an
+ * erroring sample fails the panel (never resampled). Costs ~$0.12 per run.
  * Touchfile-gated to test/helpers/llm-judge.ts so it fires on rubric
  * tweaks but not every test run. Runs only under EVALS=1 with an API key.
  */
 
 import { expect } from 'bun:test';
 import { CAPTURE_MS } from './helpers/eval-budgets';
-import { judgeRecommendation } from './helpers/llm-judge';
+import { judgePanel, judgePanelMajority, judgePanelMean, judgePanelReasoning, judgeRecommendation } from './helpers/llm-judge';
 import { describeIfSelected, testIfSelected } from './helpers/e2e-helpers';
 
 // Fixtures wrap a realistic AskUserQuestion shape so the judge sees the menu
@@ -37,13 +39,24 @@ C) Hybrid — V1 client-side, V1.5 promotes to gbrain
 Net: optimize for V1 ship velocity vs long-term agent reusability.`;
 }
 
+async function judgeRecommendationPanel(text: string) {
+  const samples = await judgePanel(() => judgeRecommendation(text));
+  return {
+    present: judgePanelMajority(samples, 'present'),
+    commits: judgePanelMajority(samples, 'commits'),
+    has_because: judgePanelMajority(samples, 'has_because'),
+    reason_substance: judgePanelMean(samples, ['reason_substance']).reason_substance,
+    reasoning: judgePanelReasoning(samples),
+  };
+}
+
 describeIfSelected('judgeRecommendation rubric sanity', ['llm-judge-recommendation'], () => {
   testIfSelected('llm-judge-recommendation', async () => {
     // Run all 7 fixtures sequentially in one test entry so the eval-store sees
     // a single result; individual assertions surface as failed expectations.
 
     // SUBSTANCE 5: option-specific reason that contrasts an alternative.
-    const good5 = await judgeRecommendation(buildAUQ(
+    const good5 = await judgeRecommendationPanel(buildAUQ(
       'Recommendation: Choose C because hybrid ships V1 in gstack-only without blocking on cross-repo gbrain coordination, and locks the migration path before other agents take a hard dependency.',
     ));
     expect(good5.present).toBe(true);
@@ -55,7 +68,7 @@ describeIfSelected('judgeRecommendation rubric sanity', ['llm-judge-recommendati
     ).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(4);
 
     // SUBSTANCE 4: concrete option-specific reason without alternative comparison.
-    const good4 = await judgeRecommendation(buildAUQ(
+    const good4 = await judgeRecommendationPanel(buildAUQ(
       'Recommendation: Choose B because client-side composition uses MCP tools that already exist in gstack and avoids any gbrain release dependency for V1.',
     ));
     expect(good4.present).toBe(true);
@@ -65,7 +78,7 @@ describeIfSelected('judgeRecommendation rubric sanity', ['llm-judge-recommendati
     ).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(4);
 
     // SUBSTANCE ~1: boilerplate.
-    const bad1 = await judgeRecommendation(buildAUQ(
+    const bad1 = await judgeRecommendationPanel(buildAUQ(
       'Recommendation: Choose B because it is better.',
     ));
     expect(bad1.present).toBe(true);
@@ -76,7 +89,7 @@ describeIfSelected('judgeRecommendation rubric sanity', ['llm-judge-recommendati
     ).toBeLessThan(4);
 
     // SUBSTANCE ~3: generic.
-    const bad3 = await judgeRecommendation(buildAUQ(
+    const bad3 = await judgeRecommendationPanel(buildAUQ(
       'Recommendation: Choose B because it is faster.',
     ));
     expect(bad3.present).toBe(true);
@@ -87,7 +100,7 @@ describeIfSelected('judgeRecommendation rubric sanity', ['llm-judge-recommendati
     ).toBeLessThan(4);
 
     // NO BECAUSE: missing causal connective.
-    const noBecause = await judgeRecommendation(buildAUQ(
+    const noBecause = await judgeRecommendationPanel(buildAUQ(
       'Recommendation: Choose B (it has the best tradeoffs).',
     ));
     expect(noBecause.present).toBe(true);
@@ -95,7 +108,7 @@ describeIfSelected('judgeRecommendation rubric sanity', ['llm-judge-recommendati
     expect(noBecause.reason_substance).toBe(1);
 
     // NO RECOMMENDATION: line missing entirely.
-    const noRec = await judgeRecommendation(`D1 — Where should the smarts live?
+    const noRec = await judgeRecommendationPanel(`D1 — Where should the smarts live?
 ELI10: ...
 Pros / cons:
 A) Server-side
@@ -146,7 +159,7 @@ Net: ...`);
       ],
     ] as Array<[string, string, boolean]>;
     for (const [label, text, shouldPass] of crossModelCases) {
-      const score = await judgeRecommendation(text);
+      const score = await judgeRecommendationPanel(text);
       expect(score.present, `[cross-model:${label}] present should be true`).toBe(true);
       expect(score.has_because, `[cross-model:${label}] has_because should be true`).toBe(true);
       if (shouldPass) {
@@ -175,7 +188,7 @@ Net: ...`);
       ['whichever fits',         'Recommendation: whichever fits the team — A or B both work.'],
     ];
     for (const [label, text] of hedgeForms) {
-      const score = await judgeRecommendation(buildAUQ(text));
+      const score = await judgeRecommendationPanel(buildAUQ(text));
       expect(score.present, `[hedge:${label}] present should be true`).toBe(true);
       expect(
         score.commits,