Historical Prospective
from
Sound & Vision "50 Greatest A/V
Innovations: The most revolutionary
products & technologies of the past 50
years" January 2008
"Digital Amplifiers:
Going back
to the Infinity SWAMP 1 of the
mid-1970s, digital amps have had a
checkered history, but they seem finally
to have turned the corner in terms of
reliability and performance. Highly
efficient and cool-running, they promise
to play a bigger role in the future."
At that time Spectron's President
John Ulrick was president and co-founder
of Infinity Systems, famous for its
pioneering development of the
combination of the servo woofer with the
electrostatic speaker. He introduced
SWAMP-1, the first commercially
available class D amplifier, into the
hi-fi audio world at CES 1974 - exactly
as credited above by the Sound &
Vision.
Musician III Mk2 -
Monoblocks
Best of
2009 Blue Note Equipment Awards in
Amplification
" ...what really has my juices flowing
is using these amplifiers in monoblock
mode. Apart from the obvious benefits of
monoblock configuration -- massive power
providing near-infinite headroom and
freedom from clipping -- the monoblocks
sound even faster, sweeter and more
relaxed, have superior bass depth and
pitch definition, and throw a larger,
more dimensional soundscape than a
single stereo Musician III.
No, they don't mimic the special quality
of tubes -- a kind of creamy sweetness
in the harmonic presentation. It is easy
to understand the appeal of that tube
sound; it has had a grip on me for
years. But what the Spectrons do is, to
my mind, ultimately even more
impressive....[they] have a crystalline
purity in the reproduction of every
voice and instrument that sounds more to
me like the essence of live, unamplified
music -- which I attend, on average,
more than once a week year-round-- than
any other amplifier, at any price, based
on any technology, that I have ever
heard"
Read EnjoyTheMusic.com entire 'Best of
2009 Award' citation >>
Stereo Mojo reviews Spectron Musician
III Mk2
ABSOLUTE POWER by James L. Darby
"Recently, a friend of mine bought a new car
- a Bentley Continental GT.....engine was silent and silky smooth and provided the sensation of taking off in 747... That is how I would describe listening to the Spectrons; quiet and luxurious with no sense of effort at any volume level... More than most other amps, the Spectrons allow you to feel the music (not the sound) as well as hear it... Like the Bentley, you don't think to yourself,
"Wow! This is powerful!", you are not conscious of the power at all. You are conscious of the music in all its pristine glory without much of a perception of electronics at all; the music just is...Like the Bentley, the Spectrons excel at speed.."
"[Musicians] also were articulate and
listenable at low levels. I cannot
explain why, but it is true. More than
once while playing at background levels,
I was drawn in to the music to the point
I had to sit down and listen..."
read more from Stereo Mojo >>
Enjoy The Music reviews Spectron
Musician III Mk2 monoblocks
Building A Reference System: A
Reviewer's Four-Year Odyssey
By Wayne Donnelly
....when the original Spectron Musician
III arrived for a review, I took the
opportunity to ship the [VTL] Siegfrieds
back to the factory for a complete
checkup. Ultimately, they would never
return....I made the momentous (for me)
decision to leap from tube amplification
into the brave new world of
high-performance digital....Earlier on,
I had recognized a number of differences
between the Siegfrieds and the stereo
Musician III, but listening through the
Spectron monoblocks has been revelatory.
The Dorati Firebird now has full
harmonic richness equaling the all-VTL
rig, along with a dynamic range that now
extends beyond what the all-tube
configuration could produce, and a
combination of bass impact and finesse
that is wholly new to me... The stereo
Spectron had given me precisely located
images within the soundscape. With the
monoblocks those images retain their
precise lateral organization, but the
images are more three-dimensional than
with the stereo Spectron, and equal to
what was a major strength of the
Siegfrieds. Even more surprising, and a
challenge to describe adequately, the
listening experience is now simply more
relaxing and pleasurable than at any
time in the past.
I've been consistently a toob man for
some 15 years. I have heard very good
transistor amplifiers and have praised
them in reviews, but I never found one
that tempted me away from the pleasures
of glowing glass...But these Spectron
monoblocks are a whole different matter.
They give me the glare-free sweetness,
the harmonic completeness and the
spatial verisimilitude of the best tube
amplifiers, with a new and exciting
degree of transient speed and
essentially unlimited dynamic impact...
Read more from Enjoy The Music >>
Positive Feedback reviews Spectron
Musician III Mk2
by Adam Goldfine
"....At first listen the incredible
speed and resolution of the amps was
evident but I found them a bit dry and
uninvolving. Figuring a little run time
would help things out, I broke them in
by feeding the amps cable radio night
and day for about a week. During that
time they never got more than barely
warm.
Forget what you think you know about
Class D amplifiers. The Spectrons
combined incredible speed with the kind
sweetness and musicality usually
reserved for good tube amps. They
conveyed harmonic colors with incredible
precision and rather than blending
distinct tonal colors into a ?sound?
they rendered each color as distinct,
bringing it to life, intact and true to
the source...."
read more from Positive Feedback
Stereo Times
reviews Spectron Musician III Mk2
More Power = More Music by Donald Shaulis
"....I also compared one MK2 operated in stereo to
a pair operated as monoblocks...With the monoblocks
there was a noticeable ease of presentation and the
sound stage became more expansive while maintaining
definition. My speakers seemed to grow. The
monoblocks also provided a dramatic increase in
tonal density. A rich harmonic texture and increased
definition was evident in everything from the lows
(upright bass, piano, and guitar lower notes),
through the midrange (vocals, and middle range of
the piano and guitar) to the upper reaches of
violins. In addition to all the intimacy of the
stereo MK2, the monoblocks had additional visceral
impact even at normal listening levels. The weight
of guitar and piano notes was relayed with an
in-the-room presence and clarity. Compared to the
stereo MK2, the monoblocks were a more complete
artist’s sketch with the shadings more fully
reflecting all the shadows and highlights. This
weight and detail carried to adjacent rooms in my
home where only the outline of the music had
prevailed before.
.....What can I say about distortion
at full output? Nothing... Monoblocks,
at double the cost, elevate the price of
admission... In my system the expense
was well worth it... My Apogees are
finally living up to the promise that
had always been hinted at but never
fully realized.
read more from Stereo Times >>
Amplifier Owners
review Spectron Audio Musician III SE -Monoblocks (Audioreview.com
)
"This effortless presentation, powerful slam and
deep bass combined with realistic 3D representation,
and true minute details of the acoustic instruments,
makes this amplifier much better than anything I was
able to audition in my life, including MBL 90011,
Gamut 200 MkIII-M, BAT VK600SE-M, Plinius
SA-Reference-M, VTL Siegfrieds and CAT JL1.
Sonically, it is simply in another league."
read more from audioreview.com >>
Musician III Signature Edition
Stereo Times reviews Spectron Musician III SE
Power and Finesse by Donald Shaulis
"I have never heard
Moussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain/Pictures at an Exhibition [Telarc
B000003CSH] before. Oh, I have owned the CD
for years but I never really “heard it”
before. The Spectron presented the softer
passages with such inner detail they became
seductive but the real surprise came in the
crescendos. The peaks reached were a
revelation. It wasn’t that the
Spectron could play loud, it was that I
wanted the music louder. For the first
time the crescendos were reproduced with
full fury but no smearing or harsh edge that
demanded the volume be reduced. Now, after
many years, I finally “get” this fine
recording..."
read more from Stereo Times >>
The Absolute Sound reviews Spectron Musician
III SE
Further
Thoughts by Neil Gader
"... Soundstage dimensionality and
resolution, aspects that I had previously
lauded, had improved—especially the amount
of detail the Musician III Signature managed
to retrieve from the deepest recesses of the
stage....Micro- dynamically this was a more
colorful amplifier—particularly in the upper
octaves...
The bass... was reproduced with a
combination of transient speed and thick,
chocolate-like resonance, as if each
string-bass note has been sweetened with a
greater portion of color and air than
before... the piano’s note-to-note
articulation was cleaner at both ends of the
keyboard... "
read more from The Absolute Sound >>
Amplifier
Owners review Spectron Audio Musician III SE
(AudioReview.com)
“Everything I thought I knew about what is
possible has been trashed. As a point of
reference, I am using $50k speakers, $25k
line stage, $25k phono stage, $30k phono,
$30k digital AND an amp that cost me under
$6500. It seems incongruous, but the amp is
that good. In conclusion, I will cut to the
chase - I do not know of a better buy in
high-end audio than the Musician III [SE].
It will drive virtually any load no matter
how power hungry or nasty. It plays in a
musically natural fashion with outstanding
treble and bass. The transparency, staging
and dynamics leave nothing to be desired. IF
YOU WANT A $20,OOO AMP FOR THIRTY CENTS ON
THE DOLLAR, LOOK NO FARTHER."
read more from audioreview.com >>
Musician III
The Absolute Sound
Editor's Choice Award 2007
"The Spectron Musician III is Class D amplification that
as close to fulfilling the promise of this new
technology as anything currently in the field. At
500 Wpc, it's got the power of Kenworth, yet it runs
cool in an average-sized chasses. Its sound is on
the warm side of the neutral and low in noise, with
superior control of micro- and macro-dynamics and
superior bass."
—TAS, issue #175, October 2007 p.68
Best of 2006 Blue
Note Equipment Awards in Amplification
"I now consider the Musician III the most
musically accurate and well balanced solid-state
amplifier I have reviewed to date. Furthermore, only
a small handful of tube amplifiers come close to
equaling its musicality. Its audible subtlety, along
with massive power and headroom, fine-grained
articulation of musical detail, and sheer speed add
up to a very special instrument for reproducing
music of every kind... this remarkable amplifier is
a consummate bargain that belongs on the must-hear
short list of every serious audiophile."
read EnjoyTheMusic.com entire 'Best of 2006
Award' citation >>
The Absolute Sound reviews Spectron Musician III
Review by Neil Gader
Tonally, the Musician III is as neutral as
they come—smooth across the octaves, and
with top-notch interconnects and a good
warm-up, not a whiff of spotlighting in the
upper octaves. Treble is pristine and
displays none of the whitish grain or
transient blur that plagues many amps, Class
D or otherwise. I have to admit that
regardless of 'Class' the Spectron Musician
III punched my time clock like few other
amps I've heard."
read more from
The Absolute Sound >>
EnjoyTheMusic.com reviews Spectron Audio Musician III
Review by Wayne
Donnelly
"Few if any audio designers can match the
engineering experience and credentials of
John Ulrick, Spectron's founder, chief
designer and CEO. Ulrick co-founded (with
Arnie Nudell) Infinity back in 1968, and
designed the digital servo- amplified
subwoofer that launched that company. He
designed the first Class D amplifier in
1974. His latest offering, the Musician III,
presents a formidable challenge not only to
other Class D contenders, but also to top-
rank power amplifiers of every type.
read more from EnjoyTheMusic.com >>
Musician II
StereoTimes.com reviews Spectron Musician II
Amplifier
A Matter of Balance Review by Greg Weaver
"I don't know of a single amplifier, at any price, that would
embarrass the Spectron Musician II. It has more successfully
achieved that delicate balance between brute force and artistic
expression than any amplifier I've had the pleasure of hearing. And
at $3500, that makes it possibly the best value in amplification
available today. Run, don't walk, to your nearest Spectron dealer
and hear what you've been missing."
read more from
StereoTimes.com >>
Digital One
Positive Feedback reviews Digital One
A Pure Class D Killer! By Mike Pappas, Associate Editor
The Spectron 1KW amplifier redefines the state of the art in power amplifier
designs. It does everything right, so right that words cannot totally convey
what this amplifier is capable of doing. (Yeah, I'm considering setting fire to
the old word processor!) And that isn't the half of it. I've saved the best for
last. If this amp cost an arm and a leg, or you had to auction your significant
other to even daydream about it, that would be one thing. You could read this
review, shrug your shoulders, and say, "Hell! Another damned amp I can't
possibly afford!"
read more from PositiveFeedback.com >>
