Nick,
I wanted to report back on my experience with the SPEC V21. I’ve had it for about two months now and it did take awhile to break in, but wow, this thing is really nice. I think the best way to describe my experience is by their “real sound amplifier” motto… there is so much realism and texture to the amplifier, you don’t want to stop listening. I could describe all of the “audiophile” terms but I will just say it does all of them well. Two of my concerns with the amplifier prior to purchasing was how it would handle the bass… it has exceeded my expectations in this regard, it has total control of the speaker and there is such a powerful and tuneful bass. My other concern was how it would handle different genres of music, which I haven’t found a genre it struggles with yet. It is an addictive, truthful, musical amplifier that you don’t want to turn off. It is never fatiguing or harsh. Best of all, the thing puts off no heat. The Pass may have been a bit more euphoric sounding (good or bad I don’t know) but the SPEC to me far surpasses the Pass. (Of note, I did add a Puritan PSM 156 power conditioner with the SPEC that I did not have with the Pass)
