Spectral vs. McIntosh

two of my all time favorite brands...the spectral is more analytical....the mac more warm and tubelike.

I do not try to compare models, but just to get an impression of what the difference in sound is. I myself have a McIntosh C200/MC402 combo, which offers excellent mids, deep, life-like bass (very important to me!), natural highs, but not the last degree in resolution. I just wonder about Spectral, which I have never listened too, but which is supposed to sound excellent as well. I am just out for impressions and descriptions of people who have done so.

This strikes me as a variation on the old "tubes vs solid state" debate. Both brands are fine examples of those, with Spectral being near the top in terms of most ss fans views of various ss gear.
If you tend to prefer most tube gear over most ss, then I'd bet you will prefer your McI. to the Spectral. The Spectral will certainly provide thunderous bass with the right speakers, and tons of detail(some might argue more than in real life). OTOH, as a tube guy, my personal taste is such that for my ears few-to-none of the ss amps I've heard provide natural highs.
You really should try to hear any high $ ss gear before making a jump from tubes that mostly make you happy. The overall change will likely be large, whether to Spectral or most other ss gear. Cheers,
Spencer

Spencer,
the McIntosh-gear I use is all solid state, I was just wondering about hearing from people who have heard, or owned, both McIntosh and Spectral.

VERY different house sounds with quite a bit of differences in how each "camp" views things. A Spectral based system has to be VERY carefully matched whereas the Mac will be more forgiving. Chances are, if you REALLY like one of these brands / house sound's a lot, you probably won't really care for the other.

If you were used to the sound of one of these and then listened to the other, you might really like some aspects of the new one due to changes in presentation. Whether or not you could live with those changes long term is another story.

This is where many people fall prey to hi-fi demo's and salesmen as they get sucked into the initial differences in presentation. That is, the presentations ARE different but not necessarily a step forward from what one already has. Whether or not one would consider any component / brand change to be "better" boils down to personal taste / system synergy and one's hearing acuity. Sean
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PS... Ever listen to someone else's system and a familiar disc and say "wow, i've never heard that before"? Then you go home and listen to your system with the same disc and that same passage is as plain as day? I know i have, so don't be fooled by initial impressions. This is why most stress "long term" listening as the only way to really get to know how something sounds / works in your system. Yes, initial impressions do count, but "different" isn't necessarily "better" and short-term auditions can be misleading. You're right in wanting to know the opinions of those that have used both brands under similar circumstances.