Bel Canto Ref 1000 vs. Spectron Musician III Mk 2

Hi Macdadtexas,

Thanks for your comments. Whats your take on the Bel Canto Ref 1000 vs. The Cary MB 500's you are presently using?

Hi Dob,

Thanks for your comments to. I'm not US resident so doubt home trial of the Spectron will be an option. Good observation on the challenges of driving ESL's.

07-19-10: Mapman
I've never heard Spectron but the bass with BC ref1000mk2 is interesting. When I first heard them compared to my prior amp, a Musical Fidelity A3CR, I wondered where the bass was. It turned out it was there more than ever just so tight and controlled and 3 dimensional that it was disorienting at first.

I think this is an insightful observation Mapman. An amplifiers control (or lack of) over speakers will have a profound impact on observations concerning the bass. With my Eminent Tech Planars (about 83db sensitivity and impedance dip to 4 ohm) the Bel Canto Ref 1000 MKii monoblocs excelled, so for that matter did the Jeff Rowland Continuum C500.

ESL's however are even more demanding to drive as impedance can typically range from 1 ohm (or less) to 150 ohm (or above) depending on manufacturer and model.

Simon Thacher has dropped me a note saying he'd be prepared to give me a home trial which is very generous considering i live 20 hours flying time from the US. I'll try the Spectron with my ESL's, Ribbon Planars and Dynamic speakers (Raidho Acoustics) and observe what transpires.

Really appreciate the comments made to date. Keen to hear any other veiws on the BC Ref 1000 mk ii vs. Musician III mk 2.

07-18-10: Radicalsteve
Kiwi,

I owned the Spectrons (monoblocks with bybee and v-caps) with my CLX's. They were very nice with my ML ReQuests, but with the enormous resolving power of the CLX's I found the Spectrons were brittle, lacking in depth and sounding strained. With my dealer we did a side by side comparison with my Plinius SA-250 and frankly is was no contest, the Plinius won hands down, especially in weight, nuance and texture.

Thanks for your comments. System synergy is everything and your source and room interaction will further either add or substract from the experience. I do understand where you are coming from. I have heard the CLX with uber expensive Ayre Acoustics KX-R with MX-R monos and frankly hated the starkness of it all.

07-20-10: Mapman
BC ref100mkII is definitely not for those looking for very warm tube sound in an amp.

My experience is it delivers what is fed into it, ie if you use tube pre-amp and/or source, the sound of those will be delivered, but does not deliver any tube-like warmth in of itself.

IMO an amplifier is doing what is it supposed to when it delivers what it is fed - only with gain. That is the definition of accuracy i.e. the degree to which the output signal from a component or system is perceived as replicating the sonic qualities of its input signal

Your experience mirrors mine. Last year i auditioned the BC Ref 1000's with a Lamm Pre-amp. Indeed the character of the Lamm was passed through. By way of comparison I will be looking for the Spectron to do the same with my Cary Pre-amp.

07-20-10: Macdadtexas
the more I read on this sting, the more I think you neeed Sanders Sound amps

Hi Macdadtexas, the Sanders ESL amplifier is purpose built to deliver the high voltage such speakers need and based on an audition i did a while back with some Kingsound ESL speakers it performs well.

07-20-10: Michael_moskowich
Hello Kiwi,
About an year and a half ago, I also posted the same question as you did (my speakers are WATT/Puppy 8 soon to be replaced by Sasha, most power hungry speakers in Wilson line).

The same Ajackson urged me not to buy Spectron, the same Radicalsteve complained on Spectron with his new speakers (Apogee Scintilla and not what he claims today - but who cares, importantly he complained and Plinius 250 he likes is good amp for these who don;t care about its weight and heat).

Thanks Michael. Forums are about opinions and i'm happy to read them all - which is after all the reason for asking. At the end of the day i will form my own opinion. Radicalsteve's Plinius is an excellent amplifier but i'm of the opinion that with recent advances in technology it should be possible to obtain good results without using a class A monster.

What I would be interesting in learning, from both current owners and past owners of the Spectron amps is the following:
What are its greatest attributes?
At what points is its performance not notably better or worse than most other high quality amps?
What are its greatest weaknesses (FYI - none is not an acceptable answer as everything has a weakness)?

This is a good line of enquiry by Ckoffend and i've be very interested in the replies.

By way of update my auditions have expanded to include the Sanders Magtech amplifier (which is not Class D) but produces high power (read high voltage needed for ESL's) but runs cold.