Spectral amp/preamp

@roxy54 By choice. They’ve had the same owner for 40 years.  How many cars does Ferrari produce a year compared to Toyota?

How many high end manufactures at the mercy of audio reviewers ; who in turn write a positive review based on a financial interest of the product they are reviewing ?

You are right that you have let your ears be the judge and make your own conclusions.

Too bad that there only I think 3 Spectral dealers I think in the us.  Additionally , I don’t they have been or dealer has shown Spectral at a us audio show in many years.

Just don’t assume that because they are a low volume brand compared to say McIntosh that they lack the engineering or quality of a bigger big box brand.

Hardly the case but , as I’ve said most audiophiles will never experience Spectral even at dealer or show conditions because of the points I made above. 

And my point is that it's all different flavors of ice cream. Whether it's McIntosh, which I admittedly own, or any other brand, I lose patience with people commenting that this or that perfectly good brand is "not in the same league" as another brand that is perceived to be more esoteric. Yes, I do think that there is poor, fair, good and better than that, but at a certain level of quality, it is just a matter of taste.

@roxy54 Fair enough and look this hobby is so subjective that we all never agree or like same thing.

That’s what makes in unique but , I wanted to help @runner out with the original post and question bout Spectral.

When it turned to people critical of his question and started to malign Spectral based of their past experiences ; I had to chime in.


Yes , maybe I was wrong calling McIntosh midfi and offended the owners on this forum.

But, should have stated that it’s not my flavor of ice cream.

To each their own.

I recently visited Goodwin's High End in Waltham, MA. and listened to the Rockport Cygnus being driven by Spectral, fronted by a dCS Vivaldi stack.

The performance quality was excellent.

Here is more information on amplifier compatibility from Goodwin's website:

"Founded in 1977, Spectral is one of the most respected names in high end audio today. Spectral Audio makes wide bandwidth, extremely fast, high resolution amplifiers. Notably their amplifiers use many smaller distributed power supplies, rather than only one large one. This approach allows Spectral to locate a power supply (capacitors, rectifiers, regulators, and secondary windings) closer to each FET output device. Spectral amplifiers have a very transparent sound, with excellent settling (the ability of the amplifier to stop the speaker after a transient)."

"Note: Whereas other Spectral Audio components (i.e. their preamplifiers and digital source components) may be used with any other brand of equipment, Spectral mandates that their non-Universal amplifiers be driven by a Spectral preamplifier to ensure reliable operation. Spectral Universal amplifiers however may be driven directly by any brand of preamp, D-A, or surround sound processor. In addition, Spectral amplifiers need to be used in conjunction with the proper Spectral-approved MIT interconnects and speaker cables. These usage guidelines are now a condition of Spectral's warranty on their amplifiers. There are several reasons for these guidelines:

1. Because of their wide bandwidth, Spectral amplifiers can amplify high frequency signals in the MHz range at massive power levels. Therefore radio frequency noise must be kept out of the amplifier. The MIT interconnects contain RF protection, and Spectral preamplifiers are stable at these high frequencies.
2. Unlike most all solid state preamps, Spectral preamplifiers are true discrete designs, are DC coupled, and can output the high current that the (non-Universal) Spectral power amps are designed to be driven by. Other brands of preamplifiers often use integrated circuits or other devices which may not be able to drive the amplifier properly. It is interesting to know that IC's (integrated circuits) simply cannot provide for high current output in a preamp design which utilizes them. Whereas a fully discrete Spectral preamp—fully discrete meaning no IC's in the signal path—can provide on the order of 1 ampere of output current per channel!
3. As part of their stability design, Spectral amplifiers are designed to be used with the type of output network found in the Spectral-approved MIT speaker cables. (You might be interested to know Spectral has found that by placing this network close to the load, i.e. the speaker, they can achieve superior results.)

What will happen if you don't follow these guidelines? Well, it's a probability thing. You may not encounter any problems—or you may encounter premature failure of some components in the amplifier. Or (worst case) your amplifier may suffer severe RF problems, and you will have to pay to have all the output devices replaced (which is expensive). Therefore, we highly recommend that you follow Spectral's operational and warranty guidelines for both peace of mind as well as highest performance and fidelity. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to call us as 781-893-9000.

So why would anybody bother using an amplifier that needs such precise conditions to be operated properly? Because for music lovers who value naturalness and linearity—for instance those who truly wish to hear what the musicians were playing in an acoustic space on a recording—Spectral offers an incredibly transparent window on recorded musical events. And for the many satisfied Spectral clients, nothing else meets their demanding criteria for emotional involvement with their music."

The only thing a Mustang GT and Porsche 911 have in common is 4 tires and a steering wheel.

You're not even right about that. Not even close!  Similarly with the ignorant comparisons of audio brands. Try engaging in more learning and less hyperbole.