Spectral audio today


Hi guys, been a Spectral fan in the early 90s but couldn't afford the gear at the time.I'm wondering how good are the latest Spectral pre-power compared to much more recent top SS brands like Gryphon, CH Precision, Dartzeel, Soulution, Audionet, Boulder, D'agostino, Burmester and so on.Is Spectral still competitive vs modern high end brands ?It is very difficult to audition Spectral gear as they have very little distribution now days.Thanks.
128x128thieliste
My best friend had Spectral gear. It was seriously unreliable. So bad that he switched over to Mcintosh! He has developed tinnitus with some hearing loss so reliability has become more important to him than the highest sound quality. 
Next, Dan D'Agostino is a jerk of immense proportion. He couldn't care less about his customers and has no intention of standing behind his products. I owned Krell gear in the 80's. KMA 100 amps and Ref 2 preamplifier. It was great sounding stuff. The volume pot in the Ref 2 started getting scratchy. At about the same time the above mentioned friend and I went to the New York Hi FI show late 80's early 90s and bumped into Dan so I asked him how much it would cost to have the preamp repaired. The pot he used was a custom job and so many of them had failed that he ran out of spares. He had no intention of placing another order for them as there was a minimum more expensive than he cared to spend. With a smile he told me to go to radio shack and pick up a pot and mount it on the outside of the preamp. The preamp was so low profile that no standard pot would fit. This was a $6000 preamp in 1986 or so. His Marketing said "Last a Lifetime."  My backside. 
The only problem  I ever had with spectral over the years was with the phono section of a 30 year on DMC 20. It was returned repaired for $200 foe the repair and I had it back in two weeks. 
@ebm  Current Soulution 701, 711, 511 .... have SET tube purity.  Very different from previous series so anything from dry to my ear.   At this level, what price not insane?  LOL DUDE!
@carey1110 I have checkout latest Spectral.  Always find them too clinical, thin ....
@thieliste By now your list must be thousands deep.   Pull the trigger.  Jump on it dude!
The new spectral has really changed. I felt the same way about the older stuff. I finally broke down and let a dealer send me the latest 30 SV.  Even compared to the 30ss I found It so different,  very Rich and full bodied. The midrange is now one of its stronger traits. Almost sounded like a different company. However it still retained the speed and dynamics and detail Spectral is known for.   I can only tell you my personal experience,  not hearsay,  not what I heard someone say but what I heard myself. I come from a long history of tube gear so I can’t stand bright or edgy. I’m using a very revealing Wilson Alexia 2 speaker too. If you get the opportunity check it out,  I did and I’m glad I did. I hear solutions is good too but I haven’t heard it. 
I've heard most Soulution gear even the latest and at the end i much prefer CH Precision sound.I yet have to hear the latest Spectral SV series.