Spectron Mk II, is it really that good.

Mdrummer01, My mistake, I was refering to the Musician II. I know they have made a lot of progress with updated versions from what I have heard. My experience with the Musician II and model 10 pre were cumbersome to say the least. After switching to BAT gear, I would never go back to class "D" IMHO, The sound was somewhat colorized .....

I have the MKII with both V-Cap and Bybee upgrades (I highly recommend both) and really love this amp. I found that the break-in time is lengthy but well worth the wait on the other end.

I owned the Spectron Musician III Signature Edition which replaced a Spectral DMA-150 Series II. Whilst I was initially happy, I found that with long term use for several hours a day I came to recognize a distortion which I can only describe as bleached or whiteish high frequencies. Once I had become cognizant of that, I found it extremely annoying, almost to the point of being unlistenable. To mitigate the problem I replaced the Spectron with the far more expensive MBL 9008A monoblocks which are in a totally different league. I was so pleased I posted a message to a forum stating the facts. To my chagrin, I got an extremely rude email from Spectron effectively telling me that I was stupid and I should have forked over $$$ for their monoblocks and associated upgrades. Needless to say I was not amused. I'm glad I got off the Spectron upgrade merry go round at the earliest opportunity. I won't be going back.

Hello Jeynewt,

I have auditioned MBL 9008A - yes, they are very, very good amplifiers but depending on the speakers in question they may not be the best.

A few weeks ago, I auditioned (a few hours, a few times per week) excellent speakers MBL 101E with Joule-Electra Destiny (300 watts) tube amplifier and there was no comparison with any amp I heard before in my life - it was like travel to heaven and back.

I dont know of course your speakers but if they do not dip below 3 Ohms - you MUST audition Destiny.

I can't afford them so I order their new "super" preamplifier Marienna Electra LA-300ME. Taking in account that their previous one, much simpler LA-150MkII received Golden Ear award from Harry Pearson of TAS in 2007 - I expect to be in heaven again...;--)

All The Best
Rafael

Good question.

I too have been tempted to further explore or try the Spectron amps.

Although I can't quite put my finger on it, something has always told me that there has been way too much hype - a familiar sensation which has been a bit like the glowing reviews of Musical Fidelity at the height of allegations of corruption.

On reflection, perhaps value and liquidity on the used market should be the only high end reviews we read.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is disclosing their commercial affiliations in this wonderful community of enthusiasts.