Spectron Mk II, is it really that good.

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.

Hi Jeynewt,

A few days ago, I was able to audiotion again MBL 9008 but in my home, in my system (based on B&W802N) and for entire evening, and compare it again with Spectron Musician III Mk2 - monoblocks with Bybees and V-cap upgrades. My previous comparison was made when my Spectron was still stereo, SE and with no upgrades.

To my rather pleasant suprise Spectron won in almost each category. Most visible was its huge transperency. Next, the slam and tightness of the bass. Midrange - may be both were about the same but in highs I did not detected any grain in Spectron (as compared to 9008) - very, very extended and silky. May be you noticed it because you had stereo Musician III and previous generation - or was it Mk2?

At any rate - very interesting.
All The Best
Rafael

Are the Spectrons really special sounding in any way compared to other popular Class Ds like newer Bel Canto Refs or Wyreds?

The specs I see on the Spectrons do not look like anything special in comparison to other well received Class Ds. Am I missing something?

has anybody listened to both Spectron and either newer mkII Bel Canto or Wyreds?

Thanks.