First thoughts on the Spectral DMC-30SS Series 2

[jackusi]

Ack,

Sometime ago you seemed to prefer the 30SL g2 over the new 30 SS gen 2. What made you change?

 

[ack]

I did? Can you point me to it? I need to correct it... I certainly recall liking it over the 30SS Series 1, thus never "upgraded"...

The 30SL G2 is really fantastic, but the 30SS S2 is truly realistic and the real deal.

 

[dan31]

Hi Ack,

I have the DMC30SS series 1. I'm more than happy with the pre-amp. If I remember one of your concerns was having enough gain. Has the series 2 addressed this issue alone or other attributes that did not satisfy you? I'm using about half the volume possible or less for 99% of my listening. Just curious on any additional changes you noticed.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[ack]

Yes there is 10dB more gain now - the Series 1 sounded a bit dead vs the 30SL; still a very good preamp, but I just couldn't part with the 30SL which was also a very late production model. The other concern had to do with early Series 1 models potentially having reliability issues with the new volume control - also fixed nowadays. The biggest winner for me in the Series 2 is really the removal of those capacitors in the signal path that their bulletin claims, and it just sounds so right, definitely a more vivid presentation than the 30SL. I never compared the Series 1 and 2 together, but hopefully you will some day and let us know.

The 30SL (and earlier models) has its own issues, for example with channel crosstalk... I don't have the notes in front of me, but I believe I had measured ~-71dB @1kHz and ~-57dB @10kHz - with 100mV input; I will edit this post when I dig up my notes... This is not an issue with the 30SS series...

Edit: I was pretty damn close on the crosstalk: -71dB and -59dB

 

[mullard88]

Had a freak accident yesterday. After changing cds, I used the remote control to unmute my DMC 30SS Series 2, it "forgot" the volume setting and went straight to maximum. One of my subwoofers is broken and the tweeters of my Magnepan 1.6 went dead. As of today, the Magnepan tweeters are functioning again after replacing the fuses.

 

[Steve Williams]

you're one lucky man

 

[mullard88]

Just to shed some light on post #24 about comparing the DMC 30SS seriies 1 against series 2. The most obvious observation would be the additional gain of the series 2. Whereas I usually had to listen at minimum of 70% on the series 1, on the series 2 I hardly go over 55%. Sonically, the bass of the series 2 is more transparent than the series 1. As for the flavor, the series 2 is different, it sounds more natural. To my ears, the series 1 is excellent hi fi. There is a sense of positive enhancement of the sound. This effect is pleasing and very addicting. The series 2, has taken a subtle step in the direction of the FM Acoustic 268. Overall, the sound of the series 2 is still enhanced stereo but when I zero in on the vocals and instruments, they sound more natural, more real.

 

[ack]

Care to compare it with the 268?

 

[fas42]

Had a freak accident yesterday. After changing cds, I used the remote control to unmute my DMC 30SS Series 2, it "forgot" the volume setting and went straight to maximum. One of my subwoofers is broken and the tweeters of my Magnepan 1.6 went dead. As of today, the Magnepan tweeters are functioning again after replacing the fuses.

Amazing!!! A protection mechanism actually worked, and protected what it was supposed to protect!! Will wonders never cease!? :b:b

Sorry, as a computer man I'm extremely cynical about supposed protection, and backup, mechanisms in general. As a typical behaviour, these are the subsystems that usually are the first to fail, as evidenced by the steady stream of news stories of, say, on line banking systems that keel over at some glitch, and then take a day or two day to get back on their feet again ...



Frank

 

[mullard88]

I got my subwoofer back today. According to my friend, the only thing that had to be replaced was the fuse. He did discover though that the ic holders were corroded so he changed them. I listened to music for four hours straight after reinstalling the subwoofer. Everything seems alright. What a relief for me!!

 

[LL21]

good news!

 

[flez007]

I got my subwoofer back today. According to my friend, the only thing that had to be replaced was the fuse. He did discover though that the ic holders were corroded so he changed them. I listened to music for four hours straight after reinstalling the subwoofer. Everything seems alright. What a relief for me!!

Great news mullard88, I have been there and it is not nice to wait for bad news...

 

[mullard88]

Has anyone triggered the protect feature of the DMC 30 SS2?

 

[ack]

Yes, on a brown-out... why?

 

[mullard88]

Just wanted to know.

The protect feature just triggered on mine after two hours of listening. There was a loud noise and the DMC 30 just erased the input selected and the volume level setting and the "protect" light just came on. It was not blinking but stayed on the whole time. I turned it off, unplugged it and waited for three minutes before turning it on again. The protect light still stayed on so I had to repeatedly turn it off and on until it finally started to work. However, once I left it on a certain volume level for a few minutes, the volume level and input just turns off whenever I adjust the volume setting. The unit did not go into "protect" mode again but I had to pick an input again and reset volume level.

On another note, I am surprised that you have brown outs. I thought that brown outs were peculiar just to our country.

 

[ack]

Just wanted to know.

The protect feature just triggered on mine after two hours of listening. There was a loud noise and the DMC 30 just erased the input selected and the volume level setting and the "protect" light just came on. It was not blinking but stayed on the whole time. I turned it off, unplugged it and waited for three minutes before turning it on again. The protect light still stayed on so I had to repeatedly turn it off and on until it finally started to work. However, once I left it on a certain volume level for a few minutes, the volume level and input just turns off whenever I adjust the volume setting. The unit did not go into "protect" mode again but I had to pick an input again and reset volume level.

On another note, I am surprised that you have brown outs. I thought that brown outs were peculiar just to our country.

Do you have DC perhaps from your source? To really test the unit you probably want to unplug all sources first; it may be malfunctioning. Overheated perhaps?

Power quality in the US varies widely by area; where I am we have frequent issues, but things have improved the last 2 years with new transformers, if you are to consider that we would lose power every 2-3 months before that, and my kitchen range is sure to tell me

 

[mullard88]

Hi Ack,

The owner's manual gives four reasons for the protect circuit to activate. I plan to investigate them all.

I heard that the same had occurred on the DMC 30 SS 2 of a friend in Hong Kong.

Did you have any problems after powering on your DMC 30 again?

 

[ack]

Hi Ack,

The owner's manual gives four reasons for the protect circuit to activate. I plan to investigate them all.

I heard that the same had occurred on the DMC 30 SS 2 of a friend in Hong Kong.

Did you have any problems after powering on your DMC 30 again?

None

 

[mullard88]

There's no DC measured from my source component into the DMC 30. I tested the DMC 30 twice today and it worked perfectly. It was probably a heat issue since the malfunction occurred after two hours of use. In the meantime, I lent the DMC 30 to a friend to insert into his system just to find out if the same malfunction will occur.

 

[mullard88]

My DMC 30 SS series 2 has heat issues. My friend told me that the volume woud just shut down every time he tried to adjust volume once the unit heated up. There were no problems when the unit is cold.