Anything as " fast" as SPECTRAL gear?

Ptss, amplifier damping factor is usually specified based on the assumption that speaker impedance is 8 ohms. So:

DF = (8 ohms)/(output impedance, expressed in ohms)

and equivalently,

Output impedance (expressed in ohms) = (8 ohms)/DF

As you can see, DF itself is not measured in ohms or any other units, being a ratio of two quantities that are measured in ohms.

In the case of tube amps that have output transformers and provide both 4 ohm and 8 ohm taps, DF is sometimes specified separately for the 4 ohm tap. Although the 4 ohm and 8 ohm DF’s will usually not be greatly different, as the output impedance of the 4 ohm tap can be expected, roughly speaking, to usually be in the general vicinity of half of the output impedance of the 8 ohm tap.

Regarding the frequency upon which the specified DF is based, it probably doesn’t matter in most cases because in contrast to speaker impedances amplifier output impedance will not usually vary enough over the frequency range to matter.

Enjoy the brandy! Best regards,
-- Al

I sold MIT for over 6 years and I owned the best powercabels they had. But mannnn MIT is not only slowwwwwww, you will loose a lot of details in the high frequencies. Beside this the diversity in the middle frequency is very limited as well.

When you focus on the properties of Spectral there are 2 essential parts which are very limited. Voices and instruments are very small in demension and very direct. But also very sharp foccused. It looks like the forgot this part.

The most important part in music and emotion is diversity in the middle frequencies. This is also very limited. What does the speed add to the limitations it owns?

As I continue to refine my system with isolation and conditioning--I find correct polarity ever more enjoyable.  Wishing all listeners get to that level of refinement...

I read through most of the posts - filtered the rants, and am still struggling to understand how does a high "speed" amplifier "sound" as compared to a slow one. I completely get the notion of "speed" as it relates to speakers and bass performance so I'm assuming this is the same concept but applied to the amplifier. Am I completely off-base?

I hate to say this but when you hear a system that really is fast you'll know it when you hear it.

Things to look for: good decay (lots of it- good lower level detail), nice sound stage that is expansive rather than stuck as a little window right in the middle of the speakers (that 'wall to wall' soundstage can only occur if you have the bandwidth to prevent phase shift in the upper portions of the audio range), 'blackness' in the silent spots, but things like cymbals and strings have an effortless, relaxed quality...

Brightness is usually **not** an indication of speed (brightness is either a tonal coloration or the product of distortion); in fact a relaxed quality is a much better indication. Relaxed (even with the volume turned up!) yet excellent detail in the highs. The two go hand in hand if you have a fast system. Another thing- you might react more viscerally to the sound when there is speed. If you are tending to analyze the sound then its probably not fast.