Spectron III: has anyone heard it?

I ordered the MIII without auditioning it first based on the reputed synergy Spectron and VSA speakers have. The sound was impressive initially, especially the bass, but I became critical of the MIII's sound quality over a few weeks time.

The mids and highs sounded strained at more than moderate volumes. A 500 wpc amp should provide a more effortless presentation.

Vocals in general did not sound natural. Overall they were to thin and sterile sounding.

The soundstage was dry, and lacked bloom. My Outlaw 200 M Blocks project a more engaging soundstage.

The bass had disproportionately more energy than the mids and highs, and was overly damped.

The MIII favored speed over letting notes decay natuarally. I got the distinct impression that the MIII was tracking the leading edge of the input signal but did not allow the signal time to fully develop.

I was not using the Remote Sense cables, however I am skeptical that they would mitigate my impressions.

As far as build quality goes, I received one of the first production run MIIIs, and it had a number of defects. The cover screws were not flush. The black paint on the cover was soft and easily scratched. My MIII turned on as soon as the unit was plugged in. The on/off switch would oscillate rapidly between on and off causing either the breaker to pop or fuse to blow. I had to switch my MIII on/off at the service panel. The phase switch was reverse wired.

I don't want to air my experience with the dealer and Spectron here, but to make an unpleasant story short I returned my MIII. I would advise strongly that you give the MIII a lengthy audition if you are still interested.

At the Stereophile Show in NYC, this weekend, a just assembled prototype digital amp was demonstrated by Odyssey Audio, and the company president, Klaus Bunge, pretty much agrees with your evaluation of how digital amps can affect what is heard. He felt there may be inherent limits to a digital amplifier's ability to deliver sound that is perceived as natural, and full of "soul" in a music reproduction system.
Klaus prefers his already existing line of proven amplifiers, evolved over time, which do sound more musical, and, at their respective price points, provide wonderful value.
Work on the prototype digital amp is to continue, so, maybe next year it will be ready for prime time.

I haven't heard the MIII, but having owned a MII, I didn't experience any of the operational problems Tom had. The only thing that concerned me was the strange noise it made
when you turned it off. I'm told this has been fixed in the MIII.

I thought the MII was very smooth sounding, but lacked inner detail.

My current TacT amp with a couple of mods applied sounds
great, so there's plenty of hope for digital amps. I think
the real value of the digital amps comes through when you can eliminate a preamp and DAC and directly feed them a hires low jitter digital signal.

I have a Musician III on order. I sure hope I have a better experience.

Kclone, my experience was bad for a number of reasons. I ordered my MIII last Sep and did not receive it until Feb. Spectron promised delivery in Nov, so we have a slight production forecast problem. Spectron was desperate to ship come Feb rather than have me cancel my order, and I felt they miscalculated in thinking that I would work through the defect problems with them. As for the sound, I can't say whether my MIII represents current production or not. If you haven't auditioned the MIII in your system I would advise you do so. I wanted to like it, and was torn between letting John Ulrick work on it (he insinuated that he could make it sound better), or return it. In the end I felt like Spectron had misled me multiple times regarding delivery dates, and had shipped a defective MIII to me in order to secure the order and charge my credit card. I no longer felt like being played for a fool. Sorry for the negative feedback, but perhaps you'll be more savy than I was when Toni trys to lull you into waiting another month. She's very good at it btw.