Why does Spectral have such a cult following

You can get much more affordable digital amps for same or better performance.

Schipo, the Spectral gear has some unique technical parameters that make the somewhat unique MIT cables a prudent choice. Others have used other cables successfully but the MIT recommendation does make sense in this application.

One of the central tenets of audiophilia is system synergy. Spectral takes it seriously. They don't do the magazine reviews because reviewers would swap a Spectral component into their "reference" system. That's a big no-no according to Spectral. Rightly or not Spectral truly believes their products can only be correctly heard in systems specifically designed for them. All Spectral electronics, Spectral/MIT cable and Avalon or Wilson loudspeakers. This limits the number of dealers who Spectral would authorize which in turn makes Spectral that much more exclusive. Spectral actually believes it knows how to put together a system better than the average audiophile. To an outsider that could appear cult-like.

During shows ( in 15 years many) I never auditioned a good demo of Spectral. Because there were Always parts not good were you Judge a system for. With Wilson Audio the same. Many many poor shows. Always colleagues didn't like it as well. I heard only 2 good Wilson demo's in my life. My question is: why you spend that much money on audio wenn you are not statisfied? I visited some people with Wilson Audio speakers. Many had acoustic problems. Wenn you are not happy with your sytem you never will enjoy and hear a lot to your favorite music.

When Spectral started in the late 70's, their products where designed by co-founder Demian Martin which are his initials, "DM" on all the DMC models. Demian's products where so damn good sounding that a cult following built up by the late 80's. One of the best SS pre-amps I've ever heard to date was the Martin designed DMC-10. In '92 I spent the afternoon at a friends house and listened to the 10 and was hypnotized by its luxurious, rich sound that was smooth as silk, with a very organic, warm relaxed character.
I'd swear it was a tube pre-amp with my eyes closed. Keith Johnson took over the designs starting with the DMC-12 and things haven't been the same since. Keith's designs do not have the soul that were in Demian's products.