I am/was am about again to be a Burmester owner. I have a long experience with Burmester starting with the little 878 stereo amps back in the ealry 90;s then got to the big league with the superlative 911.. Actually all electronics were Burmester (Preamp, Transport, DAC) ... I have not yet heard SS or otherwise electronics that would push me into changing my high opinion of Burmester and their built quality/reliability and their sonic performance.
what I get from Burmester? If I would allow myself a slide in audiophile lingo, I would say the spectral is drier in sound. Nutral to a fault but not to the point of being clinical. A big, true-to-life sound that doesn't throw itself at you. It did seem expensive then but compared to what I see these days I would say that they seem sanely priced. The 911 is IMHO one of the best amps out there .. And capble of driving most loads .. That did include the very difficult and power-hungry MBL 101 as noted in another post .Spectral is close, IMO
I have heard great things about Vivid speakers, I would love to hear the combination of Burmester and thir speakers. I also am of the opinion that things haven't change that much in electronics and there I like the Burmester philosophy, they simply don't change their product and when they do it is very incremental ... The 911 was introduced in 1991 .. You can upgrade to the Mark III the latest version if you had the 1991 model ... Their top of the line preamp is the 808 it debuted in 1980!!!! You can upgrade your 808 to Mark V, the as well although I believe it is almost a complete rebuilt ...
I don't think you would go wrong if you go with Specral however. Their product are superlative and in this weird hobby, sanely priced. They challenge and routinely surpass amps that cost several times their price. That includes several "biggies".