A rare audio store experience

Mobiusman

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May 24, 2010
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Yesterday during a thoroughly enjoyable visit with our fearless leader oneobgyn a.k.a. Steve Williams, I had one of those audio store experiences, that sadly occur all to rarely these days, at least for me.

First of all, it is hard to find an audio store that one can get excited about visiting. Either it does not exist locally, the proprietor is a new form of obnoxious, equipment is is so outrageously expensive that it is not even dreamable and/or great equipment, but lousy set-up. Another issue is that while the visit might be fun, it is frequently sandwiched into an otherwise hectic day.

Well, let me take you through my June 10 and share in my joy. I woke at Casa Williams, was greeted by Steve and his lovely wife Cathy. Then Steve made me an incredible cappuccino with his no doubt best in category cappuccino machine (ask him about it! We then jumped into his amazing Mercedes SL 55 AMG, an everyday Ferrari roadster and blasted to Berkeley, top down, to Music Lover's audio store, where we had called ahead for a demo of the newest Spectral equipment, playing through some Wilson Sasha's.

A little context is necessary here so that you will understand just how impressive this audio demo was. Steve has Wilson Alexandria X-2's Series 2 powered by Lamm ML-3's with twin Gothams, which produces the best sound I have ever heard from a Wilson or a Lamm set-up. We had also heard a megabuck Rockport analog system, immaculately set-up 36 hours earlier.

I consider myself a fairly accomplished listener, having had my share of superb equipment, many friends with equal or better systems, a veteran of 40+ CES's and other audio shows and a very rare pinnacle audio experience, actually hearing, at length, the fabled John Iverson Force Field speakers/transducers.

Back to the purpose of this post the equipment and sound. Naturally both Steve and I were excited, especially Steve who had heard and been wowed by the Spectral DMA 260, whose topology is the basis of the newly available bigger sib the Spectral DMA 360 Series 2, several months earlier. I have owned 3 Spectral pieces and loved them, but always felt that a full Spectral system was bit too dry, so always put some tubes somewhere in the system for that warmth. Steve is a tube guy and thus a bit skeptical about microwave solid state technology as amplification.

Other than Steve's system, I am not a huge Wilson fan, especially considering the price. While I have heard Sasha's on about 10 occasions and felt that they are probably the best value in the Wilson line, they generate no urges within my audio lobes.

Now for the system--latest Reference equipment from Spectral, the DMC 30 SL preamp, a brand new CD player that is not even on the web site, but allegedly the pinnacle of Keith Johnson's digital efforts, AND the newly released, and I believe the only pair of new DMA 360 Series monoblocks, only 3 days old and thus not broken in. They were connected to Wilson Sasha's via MIT's top of the line single ended connectors, leaving the XLR outputs and inputs for the less informed.

Within one bar, both Steve and I had to scrape our skeptical jaws off of the floor. The imaging was so dramatic, pristine and believable. We listened to some special recordings of kettle drums where I swear I could see the molecules of bronze dancing with each wack of the drum skin. What amazed me the most was listening to Bela Fleck's Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, a piece I know, but I could not identify it because I was so immersed in the sound and experience that I could not put the total together.

In reality, I do not know what contributed to what in the audio chain, but in this case even the weakest link was incredible. The people at Music Lover's true gentlemen and Steve a wonderful companion.

Oh yeah, this experience occurred on one of the best days of my life, being reunited with both of my daughters, meeting their significant others and getting together for my younger daughters graduation from the Stanford Business School.

An excellent day indeed.
 

ack

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Can we reconcile the equipment versions and what was new and not yet broken in, between the two threads?
 

ack

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OK, my confusion is based on Russ's listing of the 30SL preamp (no longer made since ~2008) vs Steve's 30SS Series 2; the other "issue" is that if the 360 S2's were new, Spectral must have re-released them as Russ seems to indicate, perhaps as a Series 3 revision? Otherwise, I can't believe Music Lovers just got their first demo pair since their release ca 2009, or perhaps they like replacing their demo equipment every couple of years or something.
 

MylesBAstor

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Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
OK, my confusion is based on Russ's listing of the 30SL preamp (no longer made since ~2008) vs Steve's 30SS Series 2; the other "issue" is that if the 360 S2's were new, Spectral must have re-released them as Russ seems to indicate, perhaps as a Series 3 revision? Otherwise, I can't believe Music Lovers just got their first demo pair since their release ca 2009, or perhaps they like replacing their demo equipment every couple of years or something.

I am not all that familiar with the Spectral line. I was told that everything was new, not necessarily a new product. The amps were the mono 360's and we were told that theCD player was newly released. Perhaps the preamp was just a new one which was put into the system to break in.

If and I say "if" I were to ever go SS again I would buy Spectral. I was simply stunned listening to the sound stage on the Sashas
 

MylesBAstor

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I am not all that familiar with the Spectral line. I was told that everything was new, not necessarily a new product. The amps were the mono 360's and we were told that theCD player was newly released. Perhaps the preamp was just a new one which was put into the system to break in.

If and I say "if" I were to ever go SS again I would buy Spectral. I was simply stunned listening to the sound stage on the Sashas

Thanks for the clarification there Steve. You had us all worried for a moment :)
 

ack

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Mobiusman

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I realize that there is nomenclature confusion, which is stemming from the lack of information on the web site, and, I apologize, Steve and I were more interested in the sound than the model numbers. I was called out of the session with a patient emergency and thus did not get the chance to clarify this issue. I suspect that Steve was lost in space by the sound, which I fully understand. I will attempt to clarify some confusion that is apparently being generated.

The amps, which were represented as DMA 360 Series 2, which clearly existed before, are not that model. I was about to ask what their NEW monicker is, but my patient's call diverted me.

THE AMPS ARE A NEW PRODUCT AND POSSIBLY THE ONLY EXAMPLE AVAILABLE. THEY ARRIVED 3 DAYS PRIOR TO OUR VISIT AND ARE, WITHOUT A DOUBT, BASED ON THE CIRCUIT TOPOLOGY OF THE DMA 260, WHICH THE SERIES 2 360'S ARE NOT. THE CD PLAYER IS ALSO NEW AND NOT THE ONE REPRESENTED ON THE WEBSITE. IT ARRIVED ABOUT A MONTH EARLIER AND AS I NOTED REPRESENTS KEITH JOHNSON'S LATEST DIGITAL WORK AND IN MY OPINION, SOUNDS DRAMATICALLY BETTER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR, WHICH LEFT ME NEUTRAL.

THE PREAMP IS ALSO A NEW PRODUCT, BUT HAS BEEN OUT FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS. I DO NOT KNOW ITS MONIKER. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS PRODUCT WAS THE LEAST CHANGED IN THE CHAIN.

Now for my editorial comment. Myles, our eyes, ears and mouths were all open, Steve and I were both clear minded and hopefully knowledgeable. The equipment represented their latest offerings, not just new pieces of previously existing offerings. Yes both Steve and I were mesmerized by the sound and failed to be sufficiently detailed about their model numbers. Anyone who knows Spectral knows that they release almost no advance information, even to the most special reviewers. I am guilty of going to the website and trying to assign model numbers to what we experienced. As is frequently the case with Spectral, the exteriors of successive products frequently do not represent the changes that lurk inside. In North America, there are now only 3 Spectral dealers, Music Lovers, Overture and Goodwins, making it hard for most people to even experience Spectral products short of owning them. As close as Music Lovers is to Spectral HQ, they only received one pair of amps, leaving their SF store with the old models. SOOOOOOOOO take this series of posts for what it is, Steve and I wanting to share a special experience in an audio store that happened to occur JUST AFTER A SERIES OF NEW PRODUCTS RELEASES, something that happens all too rarely these days.

Besides, isn't the sound more important than the model numbers?
 

microstrip

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(...) Besides, isn't the sound more important than the model numbers?

Russ,
Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Even more important than model numbers is the type of music you listened to. Did you listen to classical music? :eek: Could you list the recordings you used for this audition?
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Russ,
Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Even more important than model numbers is the type of music you listened to. Did you listen to classical music? :eek: Could you list the recordings you used for this audition?

Lots of classical,percussion,pop,rock but they were all compilations that Jae had burned as demo discs
 

microstrip

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May 30, 2010
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Lots of classical,percussion,pop,rock but they were all compilations that Jae had burned as demo discs

Do you know some titles or more details?

When I read such an enthusiastic report of a listening session it is the first think I always ask. If I manage to get the recordings it is much easier to understand what people experimented, and to separate the influence of the recording and the system.

I dislike when reviewers (not the case here, surely ... ) do not fully list their systems or the recordings they used in the listening sessions.
 

Mobiusman

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May 24, 2010
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The most easily identifiable pieces were Bela Fleck's Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, which was just jaw dropping in its spaciousness. We also listened to time from Pink Flood, which while sounding great was, according to Steve, less spacious than on his system albeit his system cost many times more than the Spectral system we were listening to. We also listened to some unknown solo kettle drum pieces that were just amazing because of the ability to hear the different resonances of the kettle and the skin.

While I pride myself in my memory, I must say that I remember little about the specific music we listened to because I could notget over the laser type imaging and how it differed with each cut, clearly demonstrating the specific engineering techniques used for each piece.

While not heard at the store, but rather on Steves superb system as an unplugged version of Boz Scaggs of Low Down that was also simply breath-taking.

I will say that there is only one solid state monoblock out there that might rival the DMA 360 series whatever and that is the Bryston 28 SST2. I would love to hear that comparison.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Russ

I ordered Cosmic Hippo

I listened to most of the album while you took those 3 calls

BTW, I did Shazam most everything I enjoyed but for whatever reason it could not identify any of the classical cuts

Here are 2 that we liked and came up on Shazam

Rush Over....Marcus Miller

In The Summertime...........Friend "N Fellow
 

MylesBAstor

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Apr 20, 2010
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Russ

I ordered Cosmic Hippo

I listened to most of the album while you took those 3 calls

BTW, I did Shazam most everything I enjoyed but for whatever reason it could not identify any of the classical cuts

Here are 2 that we liked and came up on Shazam

Rush Over....Marcus Miller

In The Summertime...........Friend "N Fellow

Talk about kids in a candy stores :)
 

KeithR

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May 7, 2010
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I have my doubts that Steve will ever go back to SS :)

I always wanted to try Spectral pre with tube amp (seems like best of both worlds right?)---but reading around, doesn't seem ANYONE does this. Too much Spectral to my mind gives a kind of white sound that is too perfect (if that makes sense). Does all the hifi things with ease, but doesn't paint the overall picture.

Just my opinion only and I have not heard Spectral at Music Lovers in years....
 

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