Use of Digital Amps: Need serious help


Hi i recently got out of the audio deal and sold my entire system. It was too much for me. While randomly scouring the net i came across an interesting product the Spectron Musician II. This amp essentially has a dac built into it. Apparently all digital amps take the analog signal that you send it and use an A/D converter to digitize it, then amplify it digitally and send the signal to the speakers. The Spectron (along with the new Tact 2150) allows you to never covert the signal to analog ever, and i mean never, the signal is digital (which makes no sense actually) when it reaches the speakers. So in effect all you need is a transport because the Spectron and the Tact both have built in volume controls. So now this allows me to have a potentially extremely very good system, (I know the tact and spectron are both incredible amps when fed analog signals) for next to nothing. In my old system my cd player, an audio aero mk II which was jaw droppingly good i might add, alone would cost me far more than my entire new system. So now the question is... after all of this... does anyone have any experience with running a purely digital signal versus digitizing an analog one with any of these amps? How good is this technique and how important is it to have a good transport, cost is no object really. I won't reenter the audio world if my new system will not be comparable to my old one. So if anyone knows let me know if this is a good technique. Thanks in advance for your help.
lordgorian

Showing 1 response by jwmazur

I can't say that I have heard the Spectron with purely a digital signal but, I have used a passive line stage with it and it was a bit dry. Since then, I have used a tube preamp that sounds fantastic, a giant killer, the MiniMax. It added the warmth and liquidity that made the system more capable of reaching me emotionally. I did not have to break the bank to buy this preamp either. It lists for $1195.

Call Galen Carol Audio, gcaudio.com, in San Antonio. He has both the Spectron and the MiniMax. Plus, he is a super guy to deal with and will give you a fair deal along with the experience he has in running the Spectron using a digital signal. Tell him I sent you. Good luck.