Spectron MIII mk II owner's question.

Just for the purpose of added info on this thread, I will add the post of a previous owner of a pair of Spectron monoblocs (on which I've inquired to him at the time).

07-18-10: 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

Hello Dob,

I can only agree with you. But I did not supply the info to submit my preferences nor to debate the tastes of anybody here. Please consider my post as information and not as a recommendation from me.

The point is there is not a lot of comments available from people who left Spectron than people who adopt and keep them. I presume that's the kind of info the OP is looking for, two sides of the medal.

If I were to consider Spectron as a future replacement in my system, as a matter of fact I do, I would be interested to know the strongsides and the downsides. The strong aspects have been very well documented, but what about the less positive ones. No single unit is perfect, what are Spectron's downsides. Surely, I would like to know what they are.

For anyone with any experience with the Spectron, can you name a unit that absolutely, unequivocally beats it, no matter the rest of the system. Now that's a tough question, one that draws for a spontaneous answer but also one of conviction.

Dob, you are on a go, keep it going. Can you be more specific ? What does the Joule-Electra do that the Spectron can't ? Soundstage, depth, warmth, in front, laidback, decay,graineness of voices.... ? Lean and dry or lush and rich ? Emphasize the highs, concentrates on midbass and lower ? How does Patricia Barber sound on this thing that is different than the Joule ?

There is so much info available on the sonic signatures of Krell, Conrad Johnson, Levinson, Pass Labs, Rowland, MacIntosh and other big names that it is possible to imagine what they sound just by reading the info.

But Spectron, apart from it's very powerful impact, almost nothing, zip, nada...almost a conspiracy of silence. Does anybody have one that's broken in ?

Hello Krell man,

Conspiracy of silence is an expression I used to illustrate the lack of comments.

Mmmmmhhhh! I don't know...something is missing. How many times have I read comments here on Agon about definite aspects of the sound signature of a unit by their owners while being on a general evaluation considered as neutral. Even reviewers in hi fi magazines will describe how such and such piece of music sound on a certain unit compared to another and still conclude that both are neutral.

But that's an old debate : what is neutrality !

Hey Terryakan ! You have a Spectron. How do you describe it compared to your previous amp or any other you might have tried in your system ?

Thanks for the hint ! I was already thinking about it. Didn't know Spectron were doing it themselves.

Thanks for the hint ! I was already thinking about it. Didn't know Spectron were doing it themselves.