I did briefly a month or two ago, for an hour. I might be spoiled by my 360 S2 monoblocks, but this amplifier didn't cut it for me at all. Anyone else have a more extensive experience?
Anyone audition the Spectral DMA-200S?
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I am curious to know what you did not like about it? I have owned one for 6 months now and find it to be the best Spectral amp I have had in my system - by far. Granted I have never owned the Monos, but I have heard them numerous times and find them to be awesome. If you read the Spectral technical Bulletin on the 200S you will find that it is derived from the 360 S2 circuitry, in fact the boards inside are marked DMA 360. It is fun to have a place to meet other Spectral owners, we seem to be a relatively small group.
This was during one of my auditions of the Martin Logan SummitX's. The combo left me cold - electronic sounding, if I recall correctly. I would very strongly recommend auditioning the DMA-260. In general, the "S" versions of their amps are the ones that don't require a Spectral preamp and geared toward home theater, but I believe my dealer told me this is "generally" true, but there are exceptions - and I am not sure if the 200S is one of the exceptions. What does your manual say?
Spectral amplifiers that do not require Spectral preamplifiers are designated "Universal", not "S". Some of the Universal amps have a S as part of their model numbers, but so do CD players, SDR 4000S, and preamps, DMC 30S. There are no Universal versions of the amplifiers in the current offering (from Spectral price list dated June 10, 2010). Why should I audition a DMA 260? I have one of the finest sounding Spectral amplifiers ever made that is vertually new.The sound that you heard and did not like was not due to the amplifier. It is only possible to know the sound of a specific component by substituting it into a known system, where it is the only change.
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