Spectral DMC 12, 20 or 30 preamp?

I think the 20 has split passive RIAA, and better pcbs, but otherwise is pretty much a DMC 12 behind the scenes.Maybe a few other changes in the implementation details.

I've never even seen a DMC 30, and this probably post dates Damien Martin's design work and participation in Spectral, so I don't have a clue what is going on inside it.

All the Spectal preamps, imho, are very clean, but subjectively a little "thin" sounding. I'm not sure why that is, but it is not likely a simple thing to explain. For better bass out of your system, it would be good if the speaker was able to be bi/tri amped, in which case you could select an amplifier which might subjectively be "fatter" on the bottom end and solve the problem that way (or even apply some EQ, gasp!).

Bear, have you ever seen the insides of a Spectral ? I know that this may sound "insane" to some people ( especially at this price level ), but do they use ribbon cable in any of their designs ? As to their sonics, i would agree with your assessment i.e. very fast and clean but lacking in warmth and body. Sean
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Bear and Sean: Any warmth or body that you perceive is in fact a euphonic distortion. Once you listen to Spectral day in and day out you will not go back to any other electronics. But you need a revealing source to get their best performance, a Rotel or Arcam will not cut it. The Thiels although a great value, will not benefit enough the outlay for any Spectral product. Spectral might not be a good choice for you. I personally like the NAD Silver series, it would make an excellent alternative, and far cheaper!!!

A Spectral DMC-30S just replaced a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 preamp in my system. I would *not* at all characterize the sound of the DMC-30S as "thin" or "lacking body". In fact, I find that it does a great job of giving a sense of weight to the music. Bass performance is also quite a bit better than it was with the Line 3. I'd say that all aspects of bass performance have improved.

The most striking difference though between the two preamps was that the Spectral seemed to remove layers of noise. I hadn't realized how much noise had been present with the Line 3 until it was gone.

IMHO, the DMC-30S is an amazing product.