Praise for Spectron

I can say only all the best for Simon, Spectron, Joule Electra and Elrod as I have now 4 fully upgraded Spectron monoblocks including Signature last Remote Sense speaker cables and JE LA-450ME on MG 20.1. You can read more on http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?rprea&1267466541&&&/Joule-Electra-LA-450ME (Reviews - preamps).

So, Simon did great job here and it is always pleasure to contact with him.

Best regards

Hello Zybar,

OTL versus non OTL depends mainly on the speakers the amp is matched. I heard Joule-Electra OTL with Merlin and it was, indeed heavenly sound but OTL will not work well with my own speakers, W/P 8 due to sharp impedance drop and Spectron did spectacularly!!!

If you love your OTL amp with your speaker more then PASS, Spectron etc its great for you - nobody will argue! However, for others OTL amp may require more care then they are willing to provide, more heat then they are willing to tolerate, benign impedance speakers etc.

Mike

i've only had the spectron playing for three days, but WOW, this is one amazing amplifier! truth be told, i was a bit doubtful of ALL the glowing reviews, but can see now why the press is so favorable - the praise is all well deserved. the musician 3 mk 2 is truly a special piece of equipment.

of course we all have different predilections - mr coffeey makes that case plainly - but this amp really works for me. sounds remarkable!! i'm not saying it's for everyone, but i definitely love what i'm hearing.

@ George: i had am S-30 Mk3.1. wonderful amplifier by all accounts, but i reluctantly had to sell it, as the glowing tubes were just too tempting for little fingers.

the S-30 was a brilliant piece - it did most everything right, but i don't feel like i've lost anything in moving to the spectron. in fact, in some areas, i feel things have improved.

the spectron is a great amp, and simon is simply peerless in his commitment to the consumer.

In preparation for some new speakers I have on order I bought a pair of Spectron Musician III MK2 mono amps with V-cap and Bybee filters. These replace the Spectron Musician III MK2 stereo amp with V-cap and Bybee filters I have which is close to 3 years old.

I figured there would be some improvement with the mono amps but I am amazed as to how much. I have had the new amps for about six weeks now and they have around 600-700 hours of playing time on them. After the, to my ears what can be sometimes brutal (100-200 hours the highs can be sometimes harsh and the lows a little mushy), break-in period the new amps are starting to sound spectacular while still improving. The highs are more sweeping and the lows are more rock solid along with the mids which are much more detailed than the stereo Spectron amp. The soundstage is much more spacious while at the same time the imaging more exact and three dimensional.

On a side note has anyone else noticed more companies are offering switching amps. ARC has a couple now and Mark Levinsons new flagship mono amps ($50K/pair) use switching technology. I believe that it was the advent of the Spectron Musician III amps that showed these companies what possibilities switching amps held.

Finally, Simon was very helpful as usual giving me assistance as to how to setup the mono amp configuration.

I'm glad to hear that the monoblock configuration is that much better than the stereo configuration. The Spectron Musician III MK2 is a fantastic amp. Enjoy them!

Chuck