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Use of Digital Amps: Need serious help

Hi i recently got out of the audio deal and sold my entire system. It was too much for me. While randomly scouring the net i came across an interesting product the Spectron Musician II. This amp essentially has a dac built into it. Apparently all digital amps take the analog signal that you send it and use an A/D converter to digitize it, then amplify it digitally and send the signal to the speakers. The Spectron (along with the new Tact 2150) allows you to never covert the signal to analog ever, and i mean never, the signal is digital (which makes no sense actually) when it reaches the speakers. So in effect all you need is a transport because the Spectron and the Tact both have built in volume controls. So now this allows me to have a potentially extremely very good system, (I know the tact and spectron are both incredible amps when fed analog signals) for next to nothing. In my old system my cd player, an audio aero mk II which was jaw droppingly good i might add, alone would cost me far more than my entire new system. So now the question is... after all of this... does anyone have any experience with running a purely digital signal versus digitizing an analog one with any of these amps? How good is this technique and how important is it to have a good transport, cost is no object really. I won't reenter the audio world if my new system will not be comparable to my old one. So if anyone knows let me know if this is a good technique. Thanks in advance for your help.
lordgorian
tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
My friend Lordgorian,

[Who I think made a big mistake by liquidating his system, but alas he is young and has a lot of life ahead of him.]

I think the big question you have is: Does the Spectron or Tact regulate the volume of the signal in the Digital or Analogue domain?

If they do it in the digital domain (which my gut tells me they do, else they would probably be called integrated amps), the odds you are going to get the kinds of perfomance that you had before with your Capitole II are pretty slim. All sorts of information is lost when you start manipulating the digital signal to regulate volume.

Now if the amps regulate the volume in the analogue domain you could be in good.

I fear though these amps take in a digital signal -> process it digitally for volume -> send it the switched amplification. This would make the most sense if these amps truly could take in a digital signal. Else the digital signal would have to go through a D/A process then be atenuated for volume then through a A/D process and then to the switched amplifier. This would not make a lot of sense.

Thus, I would be willing to bet that these amps regulate the volume in the digital domain. And unless they have some revolutionary digital volume technology (which is doubtful), I doubt you will get better sound than you previously had.

Nevertheless, I would love to hear some folks who have experience with this situation come forward and report their findings.

Always remember: Sometimes the shortest signal path is not the best signal path. The parts and processes that a signal goes through many times matter a lot more than the actual distance of the signal path.

Sincerely,

KF
unsound
7,370 posts
 
I heard an all digital TacT system at a show. As such take this with those limitations in mind. I really liked it. Plato, it was not dry, if fact I would describe the sound as liquid. Others found the sound a tad bright. If one thinks in terms of a digitaly propelled electrical signal, then it is all digital. The signal converts PCM to PWM, not to traditional analog. I have great hope for future developments of this technology.
jwmazur
191 posts
 
I can't say that I have heard the Spectron with purely a digital signal but, I have used a passive line stage with it and it was a bit dry. Since then, I have used a tube preamp that sounds fantastic, a giant killer, the MiniMax. It added the warmth and liquidity that made the system more capable of reaching me emotionally. I did not have to break the bank to buy this preamp either. It lists for $1195.

Call Galen Carol Audio, gcaudio.com, in San Antonio. He has both the Spectron and the MiniMax. Plus, he is a super guy to deal with and will give you a fair deal along with the experience he has in running the Spectron using a digital signal. Tell him I sent you. Good luck.
bigkidz
3,445 posts
 
I had the Musician II in my system and while it was one of the cleanest sounding amps I heard, I did not select it for my system. My old Kinergetics just sounded better. Note that there was not that great of a sonic improvement with the comparison of the twelve amps I auditioned, just slight differences in most cases.

micdrew
1 posts
 
I use a Tact M2150 digital amp with a modified Theta Data Basic II CD transport. Speaker are Vandy's and the cables and power cords are Omega Mikro and Silent Source. I'm very happy with the sound. It is not the least bit dry or analytical, but rather smooth and extended. I've had several systems throughout the years and this one's my personal favorite. Tact also has an optional ADC that can be installed by anyone in just a few minutes. This is a very simple and cost effective setup that has saved me money and honestly I'm more than pleased with the sound.
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