Just got a call this new preamp will be available shortly. New SHHA modules. I am sure details will show up shortly on Spectral's web site. Priced just a little more than the 30SS.
Just got a call this new preamp will be available shortly. New SHHA modules. I am sure details will show up shortly on Spectral's web site. Priced just a little more than the 30SS.
So no upgrade path to this new "Super Veloce" preamp. Moreover, this preamp, like the RS amplifiers, claims no thermal tails, and that would be another breakthrough and a welcome improvement. Given Spectral's reasonable pricing, it's really not much of a pain to swap out preamps for a nominal, say, $5K expense. I am looking forward to listening to in the coming weeks... it is expected to set VERY high standards; just not sure how much better it may be over my late 30SS. It is also claimed to be even more quiet, and of course, Super Fast
Time will tell, but my educated guess is that this preamp is not the anticipated Reference Standard-level product I have been expecting. This is not to say its sound isn't extraordinary and utterly vivid; but I continue to hope for a Reference Standard-branded preamp, perhaps a two-chassis offering.
Listening to the 30SV driving the 400s is another eye opener:
- the improvements were fairly evident within 10 minutes of power-on; after 24 hours, they are quite obvious
- increased vividness all around, rendering timbres even more realistically; attack with timpani and drums is really spectacular, winds and strings have intoxicating micro-dynamics. Notes linger longer; lower noise renders even more micro detail. The piano's hammer strikes are rendered so well that I could say piano is finally very realistic. Compared to the 30SS S2, it's like looking at a sharper photograph, though both could be pleasing to the ear (eye). I think this vividness is what strikes you at first, and quite quickly
- it's interesting that the minor euphonic sound in sections of the midrange of the 360s/30SS S2 went mostly away with the 400s and the newer (my late serial #) SS S2, and even more so now with the SV driving the 400s
- dynamic headroom is also improved, especially evident with winds
- there is more mid-bass body, and very controlled and extended deep bass
- effortless rendition with the most complex of passages, portraying each instrument quite distinctly from all others
- clearly, the 30SS S2 is holding back the 400's potential, and I am quite certain we will not hear the 400/30SV combo's full potential until the phono arrives
The 30SS S2 set a very high standard for me, and it is in fact the very first Spectral preamp I ever bought new. Unlike the 30SL before it, which sounded very different, the 30SS S2 is an extremely transparent preamp, and the 30SV improves on that, as opposed to sounding different yet once more. It feels like the S2 set a solid path upon which the SV improves. Yet, I can see some people liking the slightly softer presentation of the 30SS...
Of course all of this is evidence of high quality sources as well, and by inference, said sources are ahead in speed. It feels like Spectral have been fighting all kinds of distortions with high-speed amplification for years and are now finally solving critical problems they set upon themselves, with custom amplification devices and other discoveries. I would call the 400s/30SV combo a TRIUMPH in transparent music reproduction, and it must feel good to be the engineers behind such beautiful-sounding products; hats off to the team. Finally, it looks like the faster/improved SHHA-3 modules will be retrofitable to older preamps, but this is not the only change in the 30SV.
I wish! it will take many months before I get mine.
Ah I see...bit confused but you have heard it?
Obviously I've heard it - I wouldn't be making this stuff up
Time will tell, but my educated guess is that this preamp is not the anticipated Reference Standard-level product I have been expecting. This is not to say its sound isn't extraordinary and utterly vivid; but I continue to hope for a Reference Standard-branded preamp, perhaps a two-chassis offering.
Listening to the 30SV driving the 400s is another eye opener:
- the improvements were fairly evident within 10 minutes of power-on; after 24 hours, they are quite obvious
- increased vividness all around, rendering timbres even more realistically; attack with timpani and drums is really spectacular, winds and strings have intoxicating micro-dynamics. Notes linger longer; lower noise renders even more micro detail. The piano's hammer strikes are rendered so well that I could say piano is finally very realistic. Compared to the 30SS S2, it's like looking at a sharper photograph, though both could be pleasing to the ear (eye). I think this vividness is what strikes you at first, and quite quickly
- it's interesting that the minor euphonic sound in sections of the midrange of the 360s/30SS S2 went mostly away with the 400s and the newer (my late serial #) SS S2, and even more so now with the SV driving the 400s
- dynamic headroom is also improved, especially evident with winds
- there is more mid-bass body, and very controlled and extended deep bass
- effortless rendition with the most complex of passages, portraying each instrument quite distinctly from all others
- clearly, the 30SS S2 is holding back the 400's potential, and I am quite certain we will not hear the 400/30SV combo's full potential until the phono arrives
The 30SS S2 set a very high standard for me, and it is in fact the very first Spectral preamp I ever bought new. Unlike the 30SL before it, which sounded very different, the 30SS S2 is an extremely transparent preamp, and the 30SV improves on that, as opposed to sounding different yet once more. It feels like the S2 set a solid path upon which the SV improves. Yet, I can see some people liking the slightly softer presentation of the 30SS...
Of course all of this is evidence of high quality sources as well, and by inference, said sources are ahead in speed. It feels like Spectral have been fighting all kinds of distortions with high-speed amplification for years and are now finally solving critical problems they set upon themselves, with custom amplification devices and other discoveries. I would call the 400s/30SV combo a TRIUMPH in transparent music reproduction, and it must feel good to be the engineers behind such beautiful-sounding products; hats off to the team. Finally, it looks like the faster/improved SHHA-3 modules will be retrofitable to older preamps, but this is not the only change in the 30SV.
Interesting feedback Ack. Is there a pre amp out there that you do consider a reference standard, or at least consider closer to a reference standard than the newest Spectral?
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