Review: Spectral DMA-360 Amplifier


Category: Amplifiers

This was the setup at the Spectral dealership in Columbus Ohio (Progressive Audio). It is in a room by itself (well treated acoustically).

I listen to jazz and progressive jazz (Phish) mostly. I brought several CD's with me but only listened to 3 of them. The first one I played was disc 1 off the Phish "A Live One" album. I listened to that CD for 25 minutes before I realized there might be other people waiting to sit in the chair. I looked back over my shoulder and saw no one... so I kept listening.

My point is that I was immediately sucked into the music. The sound was wonderful... as it should be for a system that retails for well over $100,000. Wonderfully fast and detailed. I have found that Spectral is the best of both worlds (tube and solid state). I have a pair of Cary tube monoblacks but am currently saving up for a more Spectral system.

In case you were wondering, I spent a total of 50 minutes in that room . In addition to Phish I played through several songs by Brad Mehldau and a few by Dan Faehnle.

Everything was perfect!

Associated gear
Spectral DMC-30, Spectral 2000/3000 CD/DAC combo, Avalon Opus speakers, MIT Oracle cables
trthomp
Kocsis, I have owned both the 150 and the 360's. The 360's have better channel separation and cleaner image definition than the 150. They have better bass all around, more nuanced dynamic shading, and considerably better macrodynamics. They are very good amplifiers.
How does the Spectral DMA-360 compare to the DMA-150? Other than power, of course.
The Spectral 360 in my opinion is the best buy in that lofty class of amps, the price tag of which generally starts off at well over 30k. I own a pair and I agree with everything said above. Cheers,
It is not surprising that you were carried away by that system. You were listening to the best that Spectral has to offer. The wonderful reality is that the rest of the Spectral line will give you the same fast and detailed presentation. Either you like that hyper-detailed sound or you don't. I for one was carried away just as you were.
I must agree with you that Spectral makes some of the best gear around. Spectral works very well with Avalon and Dunlavy IMHO. I have never heard the DMA-360 but did own DMA-150 and DMC-30 along with MIT cables and Dunlavy speakers. Love that setup. Sounds to me like you have found the system for you.