Anything as " fast" as SPECTRAL gear?

'Fast' often refers to risetime or slew rate. Spectrals have always been very 'fast' in this regard. 100V/microsecond is generally considered 'fast'.

Most tube amps are 'slow' by comparison- 15V/microsecond being typical. Our amps are 600V/microsecond- IOW they have speeds similar to the best solid state. Tubes are not inherently slow (after all, if they were, color television would not have been possible...). But there can be design elements that can slow any circuit down.

'Fast' and 'slow' should not be confused with 'bright' and 'dull'; these are entirely different things, even if an amp that is 'fast' is also 'bright'. There are different reasons for these things!

"02-05-15: Wolf_garcia
Fast, in this case, means how fast you bank account empties once you buy a Spectral item."

That's always the case. That's what credit cards are for.

"'Fast' and 'slow' should not be confused with 'bright' and 'dull'; these are entirely different things, even if an amp that is 'fast' is also 'bright'. There are different reasons for these things!"

We may not all have the same exact thing in mind when it comes to fast. After reading Douglas_schroeder's comment, I'm just not clear as to what he meant.

A lot of newer amps use very high damping factors which enables speakers to react faster to the signal. Damping factor on my Bel Canto Class D amps is 1000 I believe. It's as fast and clean as can be. Also not inherently bright sounding as many amps with high damping can be. Its a good class D design IMHO, as most likely is Spectral.

Overall benefits of amp high damping will vary with speaker but will always bias towards being "fast". On some speakers, particularly smaller ones that might be a bit light on bass in some cases, teh results might sound a tad lean, but adjustments to speaker placement based on room acoustics can help.

I run large full range speakers with 12" drivers (OHM F5) that mate well with high damping for the best "fastest" sound. I also use smaller monitors from Dynaudio and Triangle that sound their "fastest" with the high damped Class D amps I use now compared to others in the past. The Triangles are smallest and have somewhat limited bass extension. Only those tend towards being a bit lean sounding with the high damping on conventional ear hight stands. Placement closer to the floor on acoustic isolating stands works well to get full articulate bass.

See my system pics for all these examples.

My point was simply that no component is heard in isolation, and that the composition of the system largely determines the perception of how "fast" it is.

i.e. Put a "fast" amp with a dynamic speaker and it may not sound to the ear as quick as a "slower" amp with an ESL speaker.

Apples to apples there are amps which sound "faster" than others, but once you begin switching around components, all bets are off which amp will be perceived as "faster".

So far we've learned that Spectral is fast, MIT cables are slow and rolled off, and prices are too high. Anything else?