Spectron Musician III Signature vs VTL Siegfried?

It's probably a bit too soon to comment, but Simon asked me if I would and he is such a great guy, how could I say no?

First of all, I have but 330 hours of actual music-time on the Spectron Musician III Signature, and I have been told to hold back on any judgments until I have used the amp for at least 500 hours. That said, I can still make a few comments. Cutting to the chase, I like the amp so much that I ordered a second one to use in a vertical bi-amp mode with my MBL 101Es.

For the past 5 years I have enjoyed a pair of Avantgarde Trios and have run them with a couple of dozen of the finest low-power, mostly single ended tube amplifiers available (including Jadis 845, 300B, several Wavelength models, Audiopax, Kronzilla, Wavac, Lamm 2.1 and finally, the best of the bunch - the Tron 300B amps which are just simply magical on the Trios.)

I had beautiful custom-built woofers specially made for the Trios (their stock woofers are junk!) and bi-amped them and equalized the bass. The sound was about as good as it gets with Trios, and that is very, very good.

Recently, I took delivery on a pair of MBLs and after doing a bit of research, decided to give the Spectron a try. How can you lose with a 30-day money back guaranty. I had my doubts, since I was of the opinion (as are many audiophiles) that class D is great for bass, but not particularly worthy of being used with the finest speakers.

How wrong I was. Remember that my previous reference sound was a magnificent 300B amp that has, to my experience, no equal in the mid-range, and is very extended and sweet on the top end. Bass was great, being run with a dedicated solid state amp and well equalized. The MBLs are being driven, full range, with a single Spectron.

Here are my feelings after two weeks: The treble is clearly the finest I have ever heard. The sound stage is in a class by itself. Depth, height, width, layering - it's all there in abundance. Dynamics rival the big Trio horns. Even micro dynamics are all there, and that is an area that the Trios are very strong in. The mid-range "magic" is not quite up to the Trons, but then I need 800 watts, not 7 watts. And - the amp is not fully broken in yet.

I have definitely come to the conclusion that the Spectron is VERY power cord sensitive. If you like detail, transparency and tight bass, use the Nordost Brahma. If you want more of a "tube-like" sound, warmer, rounder, but very natural, the Top Gun CCCP is a great choice.

The problem I have with this review of the Spectron is that I am really commenting on TWO new products at the same time and it is, as you know, impossible to attribute all of the results to either the speaker or the amp. Still, I think the potential of the Spectron is great enough that I purchased a second one. It's sound is natural and uncolored. Perhaps the 300B sound is a bit euphonic, which I happen to like a lot.

If you need a high powered amp, I can't think of anything else that will do a better job at anywhere near the price. It is a great effort and one that will remain a secret to the vast number of audiophiles who need to spend more or will avoid it because it is class D. Their loss!

This is an amp you can buy with confidence and chances are, you will never return it after the 30 days are up.

To Tweak1
Hello,
You wrote "PS Audio GCA or GCC modified by Underwood HiFi, or the guy that PS recommends in their Forum section,will be tough to beat for a lot less $$$$$$$"

Firstly, you did not answered my question. Secondly, you did not compare (as I understand from your brief comment) your favorite amp with Musician III Signature. Thus, how you can say one is better then other is beyond me.

However, I want to make two comment in response to your post
a) PS Audio, with legion of others, just buy 3d party digital modules (ICE, Hypex etc) and put into chasses without any change whatsoever (like Bel Canto) and glue the label with their name or at best put their own power supply - usually, borrowed from other units. Next, you music lover compare the sound coming from the exactly the same module (i.e. output stage) enclosed in the red box vs one enclosed in green box and judge one to sound better then another.
Its not funny, its really sad. Only two or three US companies make their own digital amps - Spectron, NuForce and one more, I forgot its name...

b) Since your modifier cannot possibly open closed digital module from the 3d party all that they can do is tinker on the edges. At best, they change a few capacitors and few diodes in power supply, binding posts and other simplest possible manial job and, Tweak1, they charge you rather big money - around $1k. All this stuff real manufacturer includes in their Signature Edition(SE) like NuForce and Spectron BUT, BUT, Tweak1 - they also change the heart of digital or class D amplifier - digital module which is responsible, frankly for nearly 100% of the sound (not counting effect of power supplies).

Finally, what I said is not related to modifying CD/DVD/SACD Players - peple like Stan Warren, leave only digital chips and chasses and build their own output stages and re-build power supplies. Depending on the modifier, its the most economical path to get excellent digital front.
Regards,
RD

Hi Dob: I too invested in the Spectron Signature, as a replacement for my ASL Hurricanes. The "Toob" Hurricanes are great amps for music, however they lack the depth and dynamics necessary for good Cinema, and I enjoy both. Even though music is my focus is two channel, I also enjoy Movies. The Spectron is equally adept at both, highly unusual in this era of specialization. I was very pleasantly surprised my the Signature's midrange and it's high frequency output. The mids had more warmth than the ASL's, Don't get me wrong! The ASL's are a wonderful piece of gear, however, they lack the Overall "Complete" presentation of the Signature. Spectron's beautifully spacial highs are truely mezmorizing. I have never heard such detail, although it is rrain free, with absolutely no hint of fatigue. The Signature's bass is subterranian, as one would expect of a quality SS Amplifier. However, once again, I am thrilled with the bass detail. As good as the Hurricane's and the Cary's before them, their bass output is the all too familiar one note "Boom."The Signature reveals all the true harmonics in proper bass reproduction. I made this purchase after reading "RealSoda's"informative review. I think my search for soniv Nirvana is finally over! Thanks Soda and good luck Dob!

I'm taking this thread even more off topic, but since someone mentioned the PS Audio GCC series, I'll add this.

I have a GCC100 as modded by Underwood/Parts Conextion. The top mod I have does in fact upgrade parts in the Ice modules themselves.

I had the amp stock, then had it modded so I could clearly hear the improvement. The gain cell volume is a huge boost in transparency. This integrated amp on a Power Plant offered some of the best Solid State I have ever heard.

I also own some ATma-sphere MA1's (older 12 tube) and when I finally retubed them and hooked them up to my Cerious Speakers ( I figured I should hear the tubes and maybe sell them) I was shocked at how much more like real music they sounded like. It was like going from a 2D high definition image to a holigram. Great I thought, I can just sell the GCC. Well then before selling the GCC I thought just as an experiment I should hear it on my woofer section and the Atma's on the mids/highs. Well that was expensive, since I now have to keep the GCC. The bass is quite tight and being able to dial in as much or as little bass as needed is welcome after so many years without tone control.

I have also heard the Sigfried but only at the NY hi fi show, and have heard the Tron 300B, but in an unfamilar system. I was surprised how well the Tron fleshed out the bass.

Did I appologize for taking this off topic?

To Emailist,
Well, I made inquries as the the mod:

Level 2 modification
--------------------
One sheet of SoundCoat chassis damping material cut & applied where applicable
One sheet of ERS EMI/RFI suppression paper applied in critical locations
Twelve Japanese Riken ½ and 1 watt signal-path carbon resistors with gold-plated leads
Five feet of DH Labs 18-gauge Revelation Series pure 99.999% silver solid-core input signal wire with Teflon tape-wrap dielectric
One pair of premium WBT-0210-Cu 'direct gold plated over copper body' RCA female jacks
Four premium WBT-0763 single output binding posts
Four EAR large Sorbothane isolation feet
Ten feet TRT WonderSolder used throughout
6 hours labor
Note: This mod does not contain any ICEpower module changes and is covered by the full PS Audio factory warranty.

Level 3 modification [$1,295 retrofit to your GCA/GCC 100, and $2,995 for GCC-500 for the same power level as Spectron - to compare apples with apples]
========================================
The Level 3 is the same as the Level 2, plus upgrades to the ICEpower boards. These upgrades are:
Eight more Japanese Riken ½ and 1 watt signal path carbon resistors with gold-plated leads
Four Black Gate ultra-premium electrolytic capacitors
7 hours labor (one more hour than the Level-2)

So, for three thousand dollars you got parts substution and even not the best in its class (Ricken is cheap resistor with relativey poor bottom. When the same modifier wanted to install better quality he/they used Tantalum by Audio Note - just a few dollars more).

SHAME !!!!!!!
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I started the this thread not to discuss expensive part sabstitutors (prostitutors?)
but to compare best in class D design versus best in tube design amplifier, If you have anything to add then please do so - otherwise, please start your own discussion
Thanks.