Spectron Musician III - Can anyone comment on it?


I am currently on the hunt for a pair of amplifiers that have massive peak power capability with excellent micro dynamics and neutral presentation. I am driving a pair of Martin Logan Statement E2's

The Spectron Musician has been reviewed exceptionally well everywhere I looked and seems to fit the bill but I just can't get over 25 years of snobbery telling me to avoid switching amps because linear amps just sound better and, hey, the name on the faceplate ain't Krell or Mark Levinson!

Can I PLEASE get a few people with experience listening to these amps tell me why I should or shouldn't buy them?

I desperately want to buy a pair of the BAT VK-600SE's since I own mostly all BAT equipment but to produce, say, 110db peaks one would comfortably need several thousands watts of power in the bucket to meet the challenge. I don't think the BAT amps have that under the hood.

Advice?
sashua

Showing 2 responses by romandoc

Spectron's sound, in my system, in my view and based on my experience is simply an open window into the music. First thing that people comment on when they hear my system, people who know nothing about stereo systems but know a thing about good music and love good music is " Wow, that sounds really clear! " Music sounds so natural, so layered, so effortless, that it's a very addictive experience. I have excellent components in my system, but I truly think the Spectrons are the best I have, since they made the most improvement in the overall sound.
I've been a little vague in my description and intentionally so. When you hear the Spectron you hear music. If you're an audiophile and dissect the sound into bass, mids, treble, soundstage, PRAT, i challenge nonbelievers to find me any single amp doing same or better than Spectron in any 2 or more categories.
As far as name recognition, a valid concern in my book as well, Spectron is an established name with an excellent reputation, while Krell and Levinson are simply names with a good reputation back in the '80s and '90s but who simply can't keep up with today's best. Just listen for yourself. I think it's an insult to Spectron to put Spectron, Levinson and Krell in the same line. Buck for buck, it's simply laughable.
I own Spectron M3 SE w Bybees and V-cap. Also Von Schweikert VR7, Audiologic 34MXL DAC, Benchmark USB DAC.
Hi Rafael,

Not yet. The guy does good quality work at a reasonable price so he's swamped with orders. I also made a couple of changes to the original design. I heard of a couple of very highly regarded preamps using DHTs so I asked Nicholas what he thought of this. He said no problem, my own preamp uses a 45 tube driven by 6922. He adapted his preamp for the use of 6FQ7, electrically similar to 6SN7 and sat down and listened to pure 6SN7 vs 6FQ7 driving a 45. 6SN7 was darker, 45 was fuller sounding, better upper extension and more microdetail.
So now my preamp will be a choke coupled 6SN7 driving a 45 conservatively, the output transformer lowers the gain to 4dB in low gain mode or 8dB in high gain mode, I have 2 pairs of XLR outs and 2 pairs of SE outs , output impedance around 50 ohms with both XLRs used, which is very low.
The other thing is that the remote control unit didn't work out as expected and manual was significantly better sounding, so that's what I chose.
Will let you know how it sounds driving the Spectrons in monoblock mode.

romandoc