DMA 200 S2: my first Spectral: cabling ?

Maz65

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2014
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140
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Hi all,
just registered to follow this section :D

I started my adventure with Spectral and I need to proceed step-by-step with the help of the experts in this brand.

I bought the DMA 200S2 after a selection of various amps, and it sound amazing with My Sonus Faber Elipsa Red (AKA Cremona Elipsa somewhere else) but I am conscious it is only the first step.
I also know for the best result MIT cables are recommended, I also learned by testing that other cable brands with sophisticate geometry are not the best with the DMA 200.
So... the starting system is:
Preamplifier McIntosh C2500 (internal dac) -> Cardas Clear rca signal cable -> DMA 200 s2 -> "normal" OFC spkr cable -> SF Elipsa.
Power cables are from Furutech.
The result is a lot of detail, live sensation, superb bass control. Not bad for a starting point.
Voices are IMHO perfect, escpecially female voices.
But of course the things can be better.
The sound could be more homogeneous, with a little warmth in the upper and lower bands, male voices seems to need a bit bass more.
Listened genres are Jazz , Rock , Electronica. I dont' listen classical music so much.

The budget is not infinite :D

My question is an idea of a path to follow, any suggestion is welcome, and any question too to better understand my system: which could be the first step, and the next ones ?
 

marty

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Apr 20, 2010
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Congrats on a great amp purchase. I would highly recommend you check out the older series of Spectral interconnects and speaker cable, specifically, the MI-350 Ultralinear interconnect the Spectral MI-770 Ultralinear II speaker cable. These pop up regularly on Audiogon at very affordable prices. Yes, there is always a new and more expensive MIT cable, but remember these were the reference cables that Spectral recommended for years. The value here cannot be beat, plus you'll be assured your amp wont 'blow up from unwanted oscillations that may occur from use with non Spectral/MIT interconnects and speaker cable.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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I think your amplifier is well advanced to be worthy of nothing less but the MIT Matrix cables all around. Welcome to these highly sophisticated, technologically & sonically, electronics.
 

Maz65

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2014
51
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140
Italy
Thanks to ack & marty.
just spoke with the dealer who will send me in these days some Spectral/MIT cables to try, I don't know which ones, but I believe in his 40+ yeas of Spectral & MIT import ;)
He will send me signal and speaker cables, I will update this thread for the cable models. Maybe wednesday or thursday.
But let me say even with no MIT cables the sonic results are very, very good. And for this reason the expectations on Spectral/MIT are very high.

Let me update my personal impressions after two weeks: inserting a Spectral electronics into someone else setup is an experience that every audiophile should do, no matter if it is a source or an amplifier, it reveals how the system can do more.
And, of course, reveals the system limits.

@ack: compliments for your setup: I owned a Berkeley Alpha DAC in the past with a lot of pleasure, especially for Hi-Res music.
 

scouter

Member Sponsor
Oct 30, 2012
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Wrightsville Beach, NC
I just switched from the MIT Spectral 350UL2 to the Matrix 50 driving my 260, and indeed, there is quite a difference. Having said that, there should be , considering the price of the Matrix compared to the 350. I agree with both Marty and ack- htr amp is worthy of the Matrix cables, but the
Spectral studs if a great value. I have a 2 meter pair of 350 UL2 in excellent shape a would let go for a good price. Any interest out there, shoot me a line.
As an aside, I thought you had to use Spectral's preamp with their amps, or risk voiding the warranty. Has that changed with the latest amps?
 

ack

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Nothing has changed. Only the "Universal" amps of yore qualified for non-Spectral preamps to avoid voiding the warranty. People just don't want the warranty, especially if buying used.
 

kennyb123

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Nov 30, 2012
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Kirkland, WA
So... the starting system is:
Preamplifier McIntosh C2500 (internal dac) -> Cardas Clear rca signal cable -> DMA 200 s2 -> "normal" OFC spkr cable -> SF Elipsa.

You may be running the risk of damaging your amp by using these speaker cables. Check your manual.
 

Maz65

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2014
51
2
140
Italy
You may be running the risk of damaging your amp by using these speaker cables. Check your manual.
Thanks Kenny, I asked to the dealer, despite of the manual there are not problems using them. The big problems seems to be with particular geometries. For example I remember a Fadel Art cable that over heat my Gryphon Diablo, maybe for a strong inductive behaviour.
Anyway, in those days some Spectral cables will arrive.
 

Maz65

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2014
51
2
140
Italy
I don't know why, one post is waiting to be approved. It contains my answers to Marty and ack... I wait some time and next I'll write the post again :(
 

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
851
788
1,155
Kirkland, WA
Thanks Kenny, I asked to the dealer, despite of the manual there are not problems using them. The big problems seems to be with particular geometries. For example I remember a Fadel Art cable that over heat my Gryphon Diablo, maybe for a strong inductive behaviour.
Anyway, in those days some Spectral cables will arrive.

I don't believe it has anything to do with geometries. A low pass filter is needed to keep high frequency signals from potentially causing the amp to go into oscillation. You are taking a risk by not using the proper speaker cables and may be causing damage now that will require you at some future time to have to send the amp in for repair. Repairs from Spectral aren't cheap. Hopefully this dealer will help foot the cost should you have to get this amp repaired.
 

Maz65

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2014
51
2
140
Italy
My post is lost... so a brief update: in the next days I will receive one or two sets of Spectral/Mit cables, signal and speakers, from the official dealer. Actually I don't know which cables he will send to me, probably the latest models branded by Spectral. I will be more accurate tomorrow and hopefully I receive the cables next thursday.
@ack many compliments for your setup, I was a Berkeley DAC owner some time ago (alpha DAC series 1) and I enjoy it, especially with high-res music.
Thanks to everybody for the contributions :)
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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My post is lost... so a brief update: in the next days I will receive one or two sets of Spectral/Mit cables, signal and speakers, from the official dealer. Actually I don't know which cables he will send to me, probably the latest models branded by Spectral. I will be more accurate tomorrow and hopefully I receive the cables next thursday.
@ack many compliments for your setup, I was a Berkeley DAC owner some time ago (alpha DAC series 1) and I enjoy it, especially with high-res music.
Thanks to everybody for the contributions :)

If he sends you the latest, they are Matrix-based, so I think you will be very happy. Thanks for the compliments... Be sure to post your impressions of the cables and your system overall.
 

scouter

Member Sponsor
Oct 30, 2012
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Wrightsville Beach, NC
My MIT Matrix 50 ICs have been burning in all week while I was working. Got to listen between wedding festivities this weekend, and wow, MIT are expensive, but sure worth it. Never heard the Spectral 15-260 - Magico S5 sound so good. Can't imagine how great the top of the line sound :)
 

coopersark

Member
May 24, 2013
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My MIT Matrix 50 ICs have been burning in all week while I was working. Got to listen between wedding festivities this weekend, and wow, MIT are expensive, but sure worth it. Never heard the Spectral 15-260 - Magico S5 sound so good. Can't imagine how great the top of the line sound :)

I can tell you from personal experience that the top of the line MIT Oracle MA-X SHD IC's and SC's sound great with my Spectral 30SS-DMA400 - Magico Q5 set up. I am sure that your set up now sounds great. It will not be quite as extended, expansive or deep a sound stage, as dynamic, nor expressive or articulated as a top set up, but extremely listenable by any standard! Enjoy your system. You have a fantastic synergy! You could do a lot worse - by a mile!;)
Give your MIT cables a good 300 to 500 hours to really settle in. Yes most of the magic happens after about 200 hours, but there will still be another 5-10% improvement in spaciousness, focus, and soundstaging after a few more week's time.:)
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
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Agreed on the break-in time; mine took about 3 months of regular playing
 

Maz65

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2014
51
2
140
Italy
Hi guys, just a little update:
the cables the dealer sent me last week are:
- Spectral UL38 for speakers
- Spectral UL230 for electronics
both new and mint in the box.

In this time they don't impressed me so much (more precisely, I don't like them). But I read about the long break-in time. Dealer spoke about not less than 40 hours. How much can be considered a minimum time ? Because the cables are not mine and I don't want to take them for a long time, but in the same time I don't want to evaluate them in a wrong way.

In any case... I'm in love with Spectral. Last week I compared to Boulder 850 monos and Spectral DMA200 S2 was another league.

Thanks for your suggestion.
Max
 
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scouter

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Oct 30, 2012
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Try and get some MIT Matrix 50 ics with a fixed low impedance to save $- much better than the 350ul2, (but I've not heard the newer UL38s). The speaker cables I'm using are the MIT 90s, and they are nice also (much better than Spectral 770ul2s (but again, I've not heard the UL230s). You should be able to borrow these and see the difference. Going up from there gets $$$, but that might not be a concern to you. Anyone else chime in that's heard the 38s and 230s?
 

marty

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Apr 20, 2010
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Maz, first, you really shouldn't even think of anything other than Spectral/MIT cables for a Spectral amp. Other cables may work, but if something required service and Spectral found out you were not using their recommended cables, things could get uncomfortable quickly and repair costs could be excessive. Next, keep in mind that the general rule for MIT cables (and I presume this is relevant for the Spectral cables made by MIT) is that you're at 90% break-in after 2 days and 100% after 2 weeks. In my experience, 3 weeks is really optimum. So at 40 hours you are not there at all. In fact, between the 1st and 3rd day, you are in a very weird place on the break-in curve- nothing sounds great. So be patient.

Last, I can appreciate your dealer wants to sell you new cables and interconnect. But as someone who has been through a lot of Spectal/MIT cables, there are several opportunities to really achieve excellent performance in the used MIT cable market. Look carefully at the "points of articulation". spec for what you are buying. For example, a new pair of Matrix 36 interconnects retails for $4000. It has, by definition, 36 points of articulation. However you can find a greater bargains on the used market. For example, a pair of Magnum MA interconnects has 39 points of articulation (which is basically "Oracle" like) and can be found for about $1500. Net result is a better speaker cable, at less than half the price!. My point is, new is not necessarily better. The bargains that are available in older Spectral and MIT cables can provide tremendous cost savings while allowing for outstanding performance.
 
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scouter

Member Sponsor
Oct 30, 2012
241
4
0
Wrightsville Beach, NC
I can tell you from personal experience that the top of the line MIT Oracle MA-X SHD IC's and SC's sound great with my Spectral 30SS-DMA400 - Magico Q5 set up. I am sure that your set up now sounds great. It will not be quite as extended, expansive or deep a sound stage, as dynamic, nor expressive or articulated as a top set up, but extremely listenable by any standard! Enjoy your system. You have a fantastic synergy! You could do a lot worse - by a mile!;)
Give your MIT cables a good 300 to 500 hours to really settle in. Yes most of the magic happens after about 200 hours, but there will still be another 5-10% improvement in spaciousness, focus, and soundstaging after a few more week's time.:)
Listened for a good 3 hours tonight, and you're right- just getting better! Coming from an era where Oracle Delphi MK 2 with Talisman S cartridge, Spica TC-50s, Melos preamp, and PS Audio amp were MY SOTA system, I'm amazed our audio systems have come this far! How great will 2020 be?!!
 

Maz65

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2014
51
2
140
Italy
Thanks to everyone for the contribution and encouragements, it is very appreciated by me, especially because I am totally new to MIT cables.
Not totally new: I like them for digital, IMHO they are the best with Cardas, but never tried them "seriously" in the analog domain.

So.. about my cables: just started again with the speakers cable UL-38 only, tomorrow or wednesday I will post my listening impressions, now they have 25 hours, and it's too early.
Next I will introduce the signal cable UL230, burn-in again, in order to evaluate the single effort.

I have a couple of weeks in fornt of me and I want to evaluate these cables at their best.
Stay tuned!
 

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