Bel Canto Ref 1000 vs. Spectron Musician III Mk 2


Has anyone compared in their own systems the Bel Canto Ref 1000 Mk II with the Spectron Musician III Mk2? If so, what was your preference and why?

I'm presently using a Cary SLP-05 pre. The speakers are Martin Logan CLX. I have had the Bel Canto in my system previously and thought quite highly of it. No dealers to request a Spectron from to try so interested in forum members view of the latest version.
kiwi_1282001

Showing 2 responses by radicalsteve

Kiwi,

I owned the Spectrons (monoblocks with bybee and v-caps) with my CLX's. They were very nice with my ML ReQuests, but with the enormous resolving power of the CLX's I found the Spectrons were brittle, lacking in depth and sounding strained. With my dealer we did a side by side comparison with my Plinius SA-250 and frankly is was no contest, the Plinius won hands down, especially in weight, nuance and texture.

We thought that the Spectrons were challenged to deliver current across the impedance curve of the speakers, although the CLX's are not that hard to drive. I used to be a big supporter of Spectrons, and they sound very transparent at first blush, but after a while I realized they lack substance when driving electrostatics or ribbons.

Now my dealer has Bel Canto's with Soundlabs at home (he needs to get the CLX's!) and that combo is very nice - and based on that listening experience I would reank the Bel Canto's ahead of the Spectrons.

In any event, I would not recommend the Spectrons with CLX's, you will either sell the amps or the speakers!

Steve
Just to be clear, my Spectrons were great amps and a major upgrade over my various tube amp iterations, but class A (for me) seems to have the upper hand if you are looking for that emotional connection - but as someone said in the thread it is system dependent and always synergy trumps individual components.

One thing though I want to emphasize; several folks came and listened to my system in its room, including an impartial experienced dealer, and for all the overriding agreement was not in favor of the Spectrons, so it is not personal, for the record, or inconsistent with anything I have said previously! As always life is a journey.

If you can listen to equipment at home, this is always the definitive evaluation; the only problem is that a a quick "weekend of home demo, does not do justice and extended listening is required. 30 day home demos are more effective in evaluation. In general I never compare and contrast between one piece and another. That is like trying to say cabernet is better than pinot - they are different and if you have to make a choice, make a personal connection for your own taste - audio or vinous!

I would be happy to have Spectron amps again, its just that I prefer the Plinius sound, nothing more complex than that. Oh, and by the way, before he became a Spectron consultant, Simon's preferred and owned amps were Plinius - go figure.

Steve