Spectron Musician III - Can anyone comment on it?


I am currently on the hunt for a pair of amplifiers that have massive peak power capability with excellent micro dynamics and neutral presentation. I am driving a pair of Martin Logan Statement E2's

The Spectron Musician has been reviewed exceptionally well everywhere I looked and seems to fit the bill but I just can't get over 25 years of snobbery telling me to avoid switching amps because linear amps just sound better and, hey, the name on the faceplate ain't Krell or Mark Levinson!

Can I PLEASE get a few people with experience listening to these amps tell me why I should or shouldn't buy them?

I desperately want to buy a pair of the BAT VK-600SE's since I own mostly all BAT equipment but to produce, say, 110db peaks one would comfortably need several thousands watts of power in the bucket to meet the challenge. I don't think the BAT amps have that under the hood.

Advice?
sashua

Showing 4 responses by audiograils


Plinius SA-REF (or SA-250mk4 x 2) x 2 operating in Monoblock will do the job just fine and you'll have much much better sonics than any Musician amp you care to choose. Another bonus is the fact that Logans + Plinius = Match Made In Heaven !

Good luck!

AG

Definitely a bad set-up and I wouldn't be surprised that it was cable related too. I've been listening to Plinius amps for over 10 years now and with regards to their reference products they are very hard to beat. They possess a very fine sonic balance and will effortlessly drive dificult loads.

They are also a GREAT match with ribbons and electrostats.

A friend of mine is currently driving his vintage Infinity IRS Beta's with an SA-REF for the ribbon panels and an SA-250mk4 for the woofer towers using the BAT VK-52SE and the VK-D5SE player..The synergy is heavenly.

Uninvolving, dry, lack of speed and articulation were never traits of Plinius amps..!

AG

Rafael,thanks for your input. My opinion was based on the Musician II which was VERY powerful but far away from musical. It just had no soul. At that time the Plinius' top of the line was the SA-250mk4 and was both powerful and musical. I've no experience with the current Spectron iterations but I prefer to stay away from Class D amps for the time being as I also tried a couple of others and wasn't impressed. I do understand that with Class D, one can make a very powerful amp with less cost etc..but I still think this technology needs sometime to approach the best of the 'linear' SS and tube amps of today in how they
dig into the soul of the music.

But, as always, the milage may vary. I know taste also plays a role in this.

Best
AG