I auditioned at length a spectral amp DMA150(150Wx2) and preamp DMC12 with MIT Oracle V4 cables (the salesman said that MIT was required...?) pushing Wilson Sophia speakers (cost almost $12k) this past weekend and I was less than impressed. I thought the sound lacked body, was too bright, and not at all extended in the lows. I don't know which component in the system contributed most to these (IMO) deficiencies but I would suspect the Spectrals were since I have heard Sophias sound better with Classe 201. The cables cost $6k so the Spectrals were indeed the least costly (relatively speaking) items in the group. This does not mean that cheaper is worse since I vastly prefer the sound of my McIntosh/Paradigm Reference setup that cost less than half of the one mentioned here (btw, I use MIT cables and LOVE them). I really wanted to like the Spectral/Wilsons but couldn't. They just were not doing it for me eventhough their soundstage was excellent. In all fairness, it could have been the speakers I did not like but at any rate, it made me happy to return to my little setup at home. Whether you like Spectrals or not, I would get MIT cables anyway as I find them the finest sounding although they are ridiculously bulky and stiff.
Special Spectral??
Am intrigued with the possibility of purchasing a Spectral pre-amp / amp combination but the info. I'm receiving is that it really has to be used with MIT cables to obtain its special qualities. This seems kind of a drag to me as who wants to be stuck with having one option for cables? My question is has anyone had decent results in using any cables other than MIT?