Anything as " fast" as SPECTRAL gear?

A lot of newer amps use very high damping factors which enables speakers to react faster to the signal. Damping factor on my Bel Canto Class D amps is 1000 I believe. It's as fast and clean as can be. Also not inherently bright sounding as many amps with high damping can be. Its a good class D design IMHO, as most likely is Spectral.

Overall benefits of amp high damping will vary with speaker but will always bias towards being "fast". On some speakers, particularly smaller ones that might be a bit light on bass in some cases, teh results might sound a tad lean, but adjustments to speaker placement based on room acoustics can help.

I run large full range speakers with 12" drivers (OHM F5) that mate well with high damping for the best "fastest" sound. I also use smaller monitors from Dynaudio and Triangle that sound their "fastest" with the high damped Class D amps I use now compared to others in the past. The Triangles are smallest and have somewhat limited bass extension. Only those tend towards being a bit lean sounding with the high damping on conventional ear hight stands. Placement closer to the floor on acoustic isolating stands works well to get full articulate bass.

See my system pics for all these examples.

Bifwynne, yes you got that all right. I think. Damping is overkill at some point. Exactly at what point that is is somewhat debatable and would vary case by case I suspect. There is a correlation between damping and speaker control but not a hard formula. Like most things in this hobby theory and results may not always jive. In general though I believe it beneficial for an amp to have proper control over speaker transducer operation just like it is important that component impedances match beyond a certain range for best results.

The negative feedback argument is a mixed bag as well I think. Some things work well together and others don't. No one aspect of design determines results. Fast slew rates are surely a good thing though.

Many Krell and Classe amps I have heard over the years sounded
particularly "fast" to me. Don't know their slew rates. I tend to
associate fast sound ie a combo of high slew rate and matching ability of
speaker transducer to respond accordingly with a high capacity for
delivering holographic sound. Low mass transducers like electrostats and
planers seem particularly amenable for that. Dynamic drivers operating in
Walsh wave bending mode also seem good at this to me. Mass and inertia
associated with typical dynamic transducers are the biggest barrier to
achieving fast sound much like it is with a phono stylus transducer.

I don't know a slew rate spec for the bel canto class d amps I use but they
are ice power based and the holography is quite high. Shockingly so when
I heard them the first time compared to amps I owned prior. As class d
amps continue to improve I wonder if their ability in this area in general
continues to go up perhaps even raising the bar beyond other design
approaches?

I've read some diy discussions asserting that slew rate specs are irrelevant
for class d and perhaps some other amp architectures much as are very
high damping factors in most cases. Would not surprise me but I am not an
ee so dunno for sure.

I'll take al's wise advice and not worry about it much and just be happy it all
works and sounds as good as it does.
😄😃😀😋

"All I want to know, is how you made those smilies Mapman? "

The emoticon keyboard on my Ipad.

My controller apps for streaming on my gear run on that and other common mobile devices so I tend to spend a fair amount of time with those when listening.

Al, do you think what you describe might correlate to an amps ability to deliver "holographic imaging" as part of those more nebulous sonic artifacts? I tend to relate high performance as measured in things like bandwidth slew rate and rise time with resolution and resolution is a factor for holography I believe.

Al, makes sense. Thanks.

Interesting.

It might be hard to quantify or even identify but it makes sense to me that higher performance in general enables design options that might not be viable otherwise. To what extent any of those are beneficial or not of course may still be up in the air, but it is always a good thing to have options in design, at least that has been my experience over the years in other areas of engineering.

Isn't that what "high end audio" is really about from a technical perspective? Doing things bigger, better faster....sometimes just because you can.

Unsound you are right I was thinking spectron not spectral.

Is Jimmy Johns really that fast or are they just setting themselves up for failure by advertising to be?

Just wondering. have never experienced.

Fraz,

Inquiring minds want to know...

Next time a need a really fast sub...

To me, "Speed" seems more of a real issue with various transducers than with amplifiers.

"When distortion is low, the music sounds good."

Can't say it any simpler than that except that it applies when noise is low as well. Low noise + low distortion = good sound.

Bel Canto C5i integrated fits that profile perfectly. My dynamic monitors more than ever sound faster and more detailed like Electrostats with this amp. Also less bright than with most any other SS amp I have used them with prior.