Spectron Musician III MK.2 or Audio Research DS450

Orpheus, I think part of the way out of your dillema is the audio club. Lots of people owning different stuff. you'll see what does or doesn't work in a short while.
I recently went to THE Show in Newport Beach ca. What an eye opener. While I am a SS guy, the tube stuff simply blew me away. If I had deep pockets, I'd be tempted.

I haven't heard the Spectron, but loved the ds450 stereo, on many speakers. Great control for those that need it, loads of current. Takes a long time to break in... Do not judge it new out of the box.
Been told by industry folks that using it with magnepans was the first time they got good bass out of those speakers-- for what that's worth.
For me, I'd go the old school route and use it with a tube preamp, ie arc ls27. Then it gives you everything you could want.
A great product, just use it correctly.

>>11-11-11: Orpheus10
Score one for the morons, none for the genius.<<

Correction:

Score one for the geniuses, none for the moron.

Hope that helps.

Hi this is in response to Magfan, first like you i love Maggies & all full range panels, my dislike of class D amplification was due to the FACT that i had not heard any that i liked until a few weeks ago, a friend invited me to listend to an amp that he had built, it was an Hypex N core NC-400 & SMPS-600,this one realy sounded good and i have the intention of having a pair of mono blocks built, that's how much i liked it, i'm no fool when it sounds good it sounds good no matter what the Class - tubes or solid state.

Well why am I not surprised ? Everything you despized a short while ago are beginning to fall within your tastes. All it took is the proper guru. This goes for subwoofers and very shortly servers.