The Best Tube Amplifiers vs Spectron ?

" I can see what musicians would like about the Spectrons as they are very accurate. To each his own. Enjoy!"

Thank you Bruce. You are probably right why musicians, recording engineers, speakers designers (at least ones listed on Spectron web site like Gallo and von Schweikert) and other professionals like Spectrons.

I would add only avid concert goers like myself because as Wayne Donnelly so correctly (for my ears) wrote:

"The Musician III Mk II monoblocks have a crystalline purity in the reproduction of every voice and instrument that sounds more to me like the essence of live, unamplified music -- which I attend, on average, more than once a week year-round -- than any other amplifiers -- at any cost, based on any technology-- that I have ever heard."

And in no way I was comparing Spectrons to class A ss amplifiers. I am a (mostly) "toob" man and I always believed that the best tube amp ONLY can approximate the magic and sweetness of real unamplified acoustic music

"......To each his own. Enjoy!" Yes!

Mike

I had the Spectron Musician 3 in my system (with Maggies), and it sounded a bit bright. Maybe I didn't give it enough time to break in before I got rid of it. Also, I had a SS preamp at the time, maybe if I had my current Cary Preamp there would have been a better match. It replaced some Innersound monoblocks there were AMAZING. Fast, tons of bass, and extended highs. With the exception of the current amps I have, the Innersounds (now Sanders Sound) were the best amps I have ever heard with Maggies. Although, the Brystons are great too.

It really is a synergy thing with amps and speakers especially. I was very excited to get some McIntosh 501's a little more than a year ago, and they sounded aweful when I put them in my system. I tried different cables of all types, to no effect. I called McIntosh (great and very helpful) the guys asked what type of speaker I had, then said try them on another speaker to see if there was anything wrong before sending them back.

A buddy has some B&W Nautilus', so I hauled those bad boys over to his house, and hooked them up, and man, his system never sounded so good. In fact, those amps are at his house to this day in a great sounding system.

I guess the point is, between subjectivity in preference, and nuances in differnt equipment, there is never going to be a 'best anything'.

Well except for Magnepan speakers!!

" ...Compared against the 'best' tube amps? There are a lot of tube amps out there. Did you listen to all of them :) ??"

Hello Athmaspere,

No, I did not. However, Wayne Donnelley being so many years music reviewer and audio equipment reviewer probably did enough listening to conclude:

"The Musician III Mk II monoblocks have a crystalline purity in the reproduction of every voice and instrument that sounds more to me like the essence of live, unamplified music -- which I attend, on average, more than once a week year-round -- than any other amplifiers -- at any cost, based on any technology-- that I have ever heard."

All my life I used tube amplifiers and I was surprised that its not only I who found Spectrons so life-like - similar and even better then the limited amount of the best tubes amps I owned and/or auditioned. That's all.

Thank you.

Mike

I have heard the same system with Teajay and he is being incredibly charitable.

Michael, there is no rigorous testing that one needs pass in order to qualify as a audio reviewer. True, they do have more access to equipment than the average audiophile, but in the end, they all bring their own set of values and biases to an audition, just like us. I think that most of those who rely on the opinions of reviewers would be amazed at what some of these guys consider state of the art sound. I also heard that same system as Teajay and Baranyi and, uh, well... the reviewer was a gracious host and seemed to have a pleasant personality.