Spectral DMC 12, 20 or 30 preamp?

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.

Bear,
Is the split passive RIAA a phono only concern?

Schubertmaniac,
I've listened to the DMC 12 vs the ARC LS3 and the Purest Sound systems in my system, and the DMC 12 is a big improvement, even with the Arcam front end. Bass has more impact and control, more detail comes through, dynamics are better, and the fatigue factor is reduced. Soundstage is bigger, too and the Overall balance is improved. That's the reason I want to go with the Spectral pre amp. Question is, does the additional cost for a 20 justify performance difference? According to Bear, I shouldn't really expect much change. By the way, what kind of digital front end would you recommend?

Thanks,

Robert

Hi Robert,

If it is going to cost anything in the area of $2,500.00 I'd forget the Spectral and find a used NYAL Minuet in A, send it to Stephen Sank, and be perpared for a 6 to 8 month wait while he works some serious magic on it.... I have heard Spectral with the Thiel 1.6's, using a GCD-750, and while it is impressive, Sank's moded Minuets sound like Spectral's on steroids due to the 6DJ8 tubes! Spectral WITH warmth, bass, everything. Just do not let him use anything but the standard case for the preamp. He'll make up a seperate power supply which is fine, but my Minuet is now in a wooden box, not it's metal case, which I would have prefered!

Remember, my advice is worth every penny you paid for it! :-)

Lou