Spectron amplifier - new black faceplate?

Hello Rafael and all other owners of Spectron amps,

My system: Esoteric X-03 CD Player, Capri by Jeff Rowland , Mackintosh MC2102 and my speakers are Watt/Puppy 8. Cables by Purist Audio Design and power conditioner is Thor by Nordost.

I am looking for more power but I don;t want to be without "tube sound" and I have read that Spectron monoblocks are not only powerful but sound like a good tube amp. I am not sure if I need v-cap and Bybee upgrades.

What is your opinion of Spectron from point of view of musicality? Can it "grab" you?

Thanks
Mike

The Spectron is very musical and with the V-Cap upgrade it sounds even more harmonic and rich. These amps would be perfect for your speakers and have tremendous headroom, soundstage and dynamic response. The M2 is also stable to extremely low impedances; many speakers may be nominally rated at 8 ohms but can dip to 2 ohms or lower.

Mine is with the V-Cap upgrade and I've heard many amps and I can't say I've heard better (at least in my system) anywhere near this price point.

Hello Mike,

If you like tube amplifiers then I am sure you will like Spectron. I am also tube lover and I have compared Musician III Signature with VTL Zeigfried and I liked Spectron more.
See - http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1180897750&read&keyw&zzspectron

I am aware that Wayne Donnelley, reviewer of The Enjoy The Music sold his VTL ( Siegfrieds or one level down) and keeps Spectron as well. And its all about older Signature model and stereo configuration. New Mk2 is much better, not to mention monoblocks

So if you need power, have a difficult load (Wilson speakers dip below 2 Ohms as far as I remember) and like tube amplification then Musician III Mk2 should be ideal, particularly if you can afford two units and run them in monoblock configuration

All The Best
Rafael

Michael--

"Tube amps" cover a lot of territory. Some are great; others have been less so. But let me assume that your experience is with the best of the breed. No doubt what you appreciate is the sense of palpability and immediacy that the best tube amps can provide, and the spaciousness they can reproduce from a high caliber recording. That certainly is what I have appreciated.

I've had several of the Spectron amps, including the SE (currently being upgraded to Mk.II) and the Musician III has had the remarkable effect of making me utterly uninterested in searching further for the mythical, holy grail amplifier. My budget had plenty of room for car-priced amps, but the Musician III is so extraordinary that I simply can't drag myself out to compare amps anymore.

As a former symphony musician, I think I have a pretty good idea of what real instruments in real space sound like. The Spectron amp gets me closer to that than anything else I know of. Tube like immediacy and palpability, coupled to absolutely ruthless control of the drivers by the amp, so that the speaker and amp act as one. The delicacy of well-recorded strings is, well, like the delicacy of well-played strings. Voices have heft and presence. Bass is as tight as it was in the recording venue. And if the recording engineer captured the space of the venue, there you are.

Best,

Jonathan

The Spectron amp is utterly indifferent to tricky loads. Its an amp for all seasons.

Get one, and you can go back to listening to the music, which is what this is all about, no.

Michael,

you hearing consisten views from happy Spectron owners and I am in the same camp. Like Jonathan now I have the monoblocks with Byee and V-caps there is no reason to even think about anything else - and there is plenty of nice gear out there to tempt you.

Like others I have replaced tubes (SF Power 3's) with Spectron and I was able to get drawn into the music even more.

I don't think you can go wrong with Spectron - and the communications and service is great as well, if you should need it. I can't compare the Bybee / Vcap mods against the regular version, but I don't regret paying for these upgrades as I know I have the best amp (for me) against anything out there I would compare it with.

Steve