Sometimes You Do Get What You Pay For -- A Celebration of High Value Audio Products

[Bruce B]

Mogami Balanced interconnect cables with Neutrik XLRs, one meter, $99. A steal for a very transparent interconnect.

+1.. I use our Mogami Gold IC's all the time.

 

[rblnr]

One other: the Squeezebox Touch

- low jitter digital output via optical, coax and USB (up to up to 24/192) as well as decent analog outs
- touchscreen UI w/control apps for any portable device -- a better interface than 99% of the stuff out there
- automatic sample rate switching
- plays virtually any format, FLAC, ALAC, WAV, etc natively
- allows for combining all music into one master list, e.g. my iTunes CD rips are listed with my HDtracks and other hires stuff
- access to Spotify, Pandora, Last FM, internet radio stations, etc., all this from the same access point as your music
- easy networking for multizone playback of individual streams (just add head units)

--$240

I'm not convinced any of the (much) more expensive streaming/server solutions out there sound any better.

 

[rbbert]

Although my experience may be atypical, I could not get my Touch to sound as good as my modded Oppo 95 used as a transport into the same DAC, or as my laptop with a M2Tech HiFace2 into the same DAC. I had a Channel Islands power supply and used the "toolkit", but the Touch always seemed to lack that last bit of dynamics the other two sources have. Nevertheless, I agree it's an excellent value.

 

[rbbert]

BTW, Bob, why not add your system to your profile here?

 

[KeithR]

Ack

While in a debate we would discuss long and hard what is SOTA. Spectral gear are that in measurements and in sound: SOTA. There are brands with mystique and they make sure of selling their gear with the appropriate "mystical" price tag. in this context not only that Spectral gear are fully the equal of superior of many of those brands but their prices are (again in the context) sane... to remain in the spirit of the thread, a celebration of high value in High End

I know you own Spectral and you know they take a back seat to no other... In term of measurements (OK I know they mean nothing to many, still ) are always spectacular and often unsurpassed in all aspects one cares to point to ... Your post could qualify for the understatement of the decade

close to SOTA???? Spectral??? Come on Man!!

NO! Spectral is SOTA

Thats funny- ive never seen a Spectral amp measurement to make a judgement. With no technical reviews, makes this difficult.

 

[mep]

I don’t think KOJ would be associated with any electronics company that wasn’t rigorous in their engineering capabilities and dedication to same.

 

[MylesBAstor]

I don’t think KOJ would be associated with any electronics company that wasn’t rigorous in their engineering capabilities and dedication to same.

That's for sure Mark. I don't think there's anyone in the industry more rigorous in the design, measuring and testing of their products than Spectral.

Not only that, but KOJ comes up with new measurements, not relying on the same tried, true and tired stuff. On top of that, Keith records his own music (hell he invented a tape deck too, not to mention worked on HDCD and the Pacific Microsonics convertor!) and knows what it should sound like when he tests his own gear! Only a handful of manufacturers can claim that.

 

[FrantzM]

Thats funny- ive never seen a Spectral amp measurement to make a judgement. With no technical reviews, makes this difficult.

A Good place to start is their Web Site, one of the ugliest in Audio... Their performance are spectacular... The Top of the Line Preamp reaches 15 MHz .... at -3 dB!! No Typo here, rise time settle time are industry-leading and Yep! they sound great to these ears...
Their opacity is legendary. I am not sure that will stop with the audiophile penchant to reject measurements .. Burmester is another company whose products I like that is similarly opaque ... Not a good rend if you ask me.

 

[MylesBAstor]

A Good place to start is their Web Site, one of the ugliest in Audio... Their performance are spectacular... The Top of the Line Preamp reaches 15 MHz .... at -3 dB!! No Typo here, rise time settle time are industry-leading and Yep! they sound great to these ears...
Their opacity is legendary. I am not sure that will stop with the audiophile penchant to reject measurements .. Burmester is another company whose products I like that is similarly opaque ... Not a good rend if you ask me.

I think that you are being harsh on those who say we don't yet have the right measurements to correlate with what we hear. And Spectral basically believes that we don't yet have those measurements eg. look at some of the stuff that KOJ talks about such as settling time of electronics.

KOJ has also talked about Spectral's measurements I believe in some interviews in Stereophile, in particular one with JGH.

I also think you mean transparent, not opaque. Opaque = not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light; not allowing light to pass through.

 

[FrantzM]

No theplace to debate this, I'll take a stab and ask forgiveness for the OT. I try not to take extreme point of views I believe that there are current measurements that correlate to some of what we hear. The extreme view which is becoming increasingly popular and wrong is that current measurements do not correlate to what we heart.
If a gear does 50 Hz to 15 KHz within + or - 6 dB and is down 20 dB at 40 Hz and 20 dB at 16 khz you know you should expect great room shaking bass from it and not so extended in the treable ... It is not sufficient to describe the sound of the gear but it is a start... And that is what I aim at .. a level non-extreme point of view in all things audiophile

Back to the thread Celebration of High End value

 

[rblnr]

BTW, Bob, why not add your system to your profile here?

It's up now, give it a look.

A few of us compared the Oppo 83s coax out to the SB coax awhile back and couldn't hear any difference. Synced playback of a track and flipped back and forth. Not questioning your experience. This was pre- the EDO applet, I now use USB out from the SB.

 

[rbbert]

It's up now, give it a look.

A few of us compared the Oppo 83s coax out to the SB coax awhile back and couldn't hear any difference. Synced playback of a track and flipped back and forth. Not questioning your experience. This was pre- the EDO applet, I now use USB out from the SB.

As I said, I know my experience is atypical and I don't know why, I tried hard to set things up just as others had.

 

[Bruce B]

That's for sure Mark. I don't think there's anyone in the industry more rigorous in the design, measuring and testing of their products than Spectral.

Not only that, but KOJ comes up with new measurements, not relying on the same tried, true and tired stuff. On top of that, Keith records his own music (hell he invented a tape deck too, not to mention worked on HDCD and the Pacific Microsonics convertor!) and knows what it should sound like when he tests his own gear! Only a handful of manufacturers can claim that.

KOJ certainly missed the measurement when he said vinyl has over 120dB of DR!

 

[mep]

KOJ certainly missed the measurement when he said vinyl has over 120dB of DR!

Is this statement being attributed to KOJ or is it in print somewhere? I have never heard anyone claim that much dynamic range for vinyl. A long time ago there was an article in TAS that contained an interview of Doug Sax. This was back in his "Stop the Digital Madness" days. I think that Doug Sax claimed a theoretical dynamic range for vinyl of around 90 dB, but that included how far you could hear under the noise floor. None of it really matters anyway. Most recordings today are made using less dynamic range than what was routinely used in the 1950s. Digital lovers love to talk about the incredible dynamic range that digital is capable of, but seldom talk about the average dynamic range of their recordings they plack back over digital. In some cases, there is zero dynamic range. I could be wrong, but I bet we don't come close to using 50 dB of dynamic range in modern recordings on average.

 

[Bruce B]

Is this statement being attributed to KOJ or is it in print somewhere? I have never heard anyone claim that much dynamic range for vinyl.

Yes, KOJ says it himself in a video I posted some time ago.

 

[Gregadd]

Here are the specs:






Specifications
DMA-360 Monaural Power Amplifier Power Output
(continuous): @ 8 ohms - 300 Watts RMS
@ 4 ohms - 533 Watts RMS
@ 2 ohms - 680 Watts RMS
Output Compliment: 90 Amps peak
Frequency Response: +-0.1 dB, DC - 150 KHz
+-1 dB, DC - 1 MHz
+-3 dB, DC - 1.8 MHz
Distortion
Static: less than 0.015% from DC
to 100 KHz, typically
0.009% @ 300 WRMS/8 ohms
Dynamic: 8 Tone Cluster Test 20
KHz @ 500 Hz separation
0.01% @ 8 ohms
0.015% @ 4 ohms
Speed:
Risetime: less than 300 nanoseconds
Settling: 1.5 microseconds to -40 dB
Slew Rate: 600 volts/microsecond
Noise:
Signal to Noise: 97 dB nweighted,
107 dB ASA A
Crosstalk: 98 dB @ full power 8 ohms
Input:
Impedance: 10k ohms
Sensitivity: 1.5 volts / nominal output
Power Supply:
Line Voltage: 100 volts, 120 volts,
240 volts (internal wiring)
AC Voltage Range: +-10%
Maximum Consumption: 2000 Watts
Quiescent Consumption: 250 Watts

Operating Temperature: 0 deg. to +50 deg. Cesius range,
32 deg. to +122 deg. Fahrenheit
Protection Features:
DC Protection Servo: .5 volt range
Current Limit Onset: 90 Amps
Thermal Threshold: Protects at 85 deg. Censius,
185 deg. Fahrenheit

AC Main Fuses: 120v 5A or 220v 2.5A slo blo
Size and Weight:
Dimensions: 20" (50.8 cm) W,
7.23" (18.4 cm) H,
19.6" (49.9 cm) D,

Weight: 67 lbs, 30.4 KG Net
All information and specifications provided herein are subject to change owing to the evolutionary nature of Spectral designs and technology.
All Spectral products are covered by a three-year limited warranty for parts and labor.

 

[puroagave]

A couple off the top of my head that haven't been mentioned:

Magnepan 1.7 and 3.7
Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne speakers
Martin-Logan Summit-X speakers
Lyra Dorian cartridge

Also, anything made outside of the US has to be DQ'd since there's an additional markup by the importer compared to domestically made equipment.

the mmmicroones are dq'd they're made offshore. afaik, the first shipment is in customs depends whos story you believe.

great speaker tho! but at this rate they're more like a unicorn than a ready-to-buy-now deal.

 

[KeithR]

A Good place to start is their Web Site, one of the ugliest in Audio... Their performance are spectacular... The Top of the Line Preamp reaches 15 MHz .... at -3 dB!! No Typo here, rise time settle time are industry-leading and Yep! they sound great to these ears...
Their opacity is legendary. I am not sure that will stop with the audiophile penchant to reject measurements .. Burmester is another company whose products I like that is similarly opaque ... Not a good rend if you ask me.

I didn't say specs, I said measurements. To my knowledge, JA (or someone else) has never had them on a test bench like Krell, Levinson, Pass, Dart, etc.

Spectral has never sounded great to my ears, but I'd love to read some measurements. I respect KOJ for all the work he's done, but is Nelson Pass a bad designer? I can't imagine someone liking both as they sound quite different.

This is a case where pretty much all the top tier amps measure well, but personal preference comes into play. IMO.

 

[FrantzM]

<snip>
.... but is Nelson Pass a bad designer? I can't imagine someone liking both as they sound quite different.

<snip> .

I am one who find them sounding very different and like both... would live easily with either

 

[ack]

The Spectral specs posted by Gregadd are outdated by about 12 years; I've had a private discussion with Bernice here about this some time ago, and basically they don't care to update. If I remember correctly, the specs were not updated in the manuals either (the reason for my questioning). The KOJ statement mentioned by Bruce is in a video from a Spectral visit to the NL dealer.