Buzz/hum from Spectron Musician II amplifier.

Jswarncke -

I had to send my amp back to Spectron because both channels just rolled over and died one day. I don't know why, and I don't think they did an autopsy on it. To make matters worse, when I was debugging the problem over the phone with John Ulrick, we smoked one of the boards by turning the amp back on too quickly - so we think.

Rather than risk a repair on an aging unit, I asked them to upgrade it to the Musician II Hybrid. Basically, they take out the two amp modules and the power module, replacing them with the same modules that are used in the Musician III. They may do other mods, but I'm not sure what they are.

I couldn't afford to replace the II with a III or IIISE, so at $1,295, this was the best way to get a "clean" amp at an affordable price.

For what it's worth, the upgrade is nice. It's not even broken in, but I can tell that there's quite a difference. Or, possibly, it just sounds better after a month of no music!

Rob

PS: I'll contact CI about the draw. In talking with PS Audio today, they have an upcoming product that may help, but it's still in development. They also advised me not to continue using the Regen outlet on the P500, as it would eventually degrade the unit.

Thanks for the reply. I looked at the Spectron website, but would be interested to hear your long term impressions on the upgrade. Seems the price is right for 90%+ of MIII performance (if that is the case).

I noticed that you are using DH speakers cables. I am doing the same, except in the Remote Sense config. I am in the process of trying to acquire some Cardas Golden Cross b-wires as an experiment. My system balance is presently good to very good, but not great. It has a tendency to get a little hot and edgy in the high end which causes me to play at a lower volume than I would like sometimes. The good news is that even at low volume the system is very detailed and dynamic - probably the flip side of the forwardness.

The Golden Cross are known to be very warm cables which tend to tame glaring, edginess etc, but still with plenty of detail and resolution. I noticed in one of the Musician II reviews the reviewer preferred his usual cables to the Remote Sense. I hope to give them a try withint the next few weeks. . .

The DH Labs speaker cables are remote sense. I worked with DH to get the right configuration on the Neutrik connectors.

How do you guys feel about your Spectron upgrade? I have a Musician II and I am considering the upgrade path.
Thanks