Bel Canto Ref 1000 vs. Spectron Musician III Mk 2

DAn,

I would like to hear a good Spectron someday for comparison to my BEl Canto ref1000m mononblocks, which have been a home run for me to-date (I picked them up second hand over a year ago now).

My experience with the ref1000m's was that when I first hooked them up, the sound was so different from what I had just prior with a Class A Musical Fidelity A3CR that I did not know what to make of it. So it was definitely different. In my case however, once my ears adjusted I determined the sound was miles ahead and more in line with reference systems I have heard using very high end gear only.

I will say that the amps seem to benefit my larger full range, current hungry OHM Walsh speakers more than they did my small Dynaudio monitors, so I think the benefits of Class D over other amps in general may be determined somewhat by the particular speakers used.

Dan, thank you very kindly for your thoughts and comments. I had tried class D in the past, initially liking the positive side of what they delivered, but within just a few months, ultimately determined that they lacked too many attributes that I was seeking.

The fact that you have tried other Class D amps and had been disappointed with their overall performance more closely mimics my experience with this "design". Your comments about the Spectron's uncharacteristic Class D performance is encouraging. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

Mapman, your comments about speaker specifics, while necessary to point out, should go without saying. We have communicated via other threads in the past, I hold a level of trust in your comments - typically well thought out and not hastily posted or with too much pride getting in the way of reality. I had also read a lot of positive Bel Canto comments and communicated directly with several owners. In the end, I determined that they did not do it for me/my speakers in a way that I require, but are good amps nonetheless. Finding that synergy is so important, it sounds like you are there.

Any others having tried and sold or tried and kept the spectrons (especially in stereo)? I'd love to hear from you and I am sure others would also like to expand the list of people posting on the performance of these amps (based on prior or current ownership).

FWIW, I have not compared the BC ref1000m's to any other Class D amps, low or high end in any sort of meaningful test.

All I can state is that yes I find them hard to fault and they fit the bill perfectly for me.

I suspect I would like the Spectron's as well if I heard them though I would not expect the two to sound exactly the same.

There are lots of flavors of home sound (they are all just different flavors after all) out there that I like a lot and could live with if I had to, especially since I run multiple speakers in multiple rooms to provide some variety, which is of course the spice of life!