In addition to boasting about how happy I am now that my most recent phase of system improvements is now complete, I want to offer my thoughts and experiences with highly argued points about Spectral amplifiers. During the past 6 months I have spent more on my 2 channel audio system than I have ever spent in a similar time frame, or in any year. Not only did I move my mid-fi system into the realm of a lower end high end system, but because of the short period of time of so many changes I learned a lot about the specific impacts of individual changes and debunked a lot of my previous audio beliefs.
For those of you not familiar with my personal brand of audio OCD, my current system is located in a 27' x 17.5' x 8' living room/dining room combination space with many vents (open stairway, sliding doors and open doors) to the rest of my house of about 20,000+ cubic feet and major infinite baffle vents when the sliders are open. The house does not have any special wiring, since it is an emergency lease after I lost my house to Sandy. It is also the next to last house on a peninsula more than a 1 1/2 miles long extended into a salt-water land mass which means the electricity should be truly crappy due to noise along the way and generally highly corrosive conditions from the salt-water and recent severe storms. The speakers are located about 7 feet away from the rear wall of the long axis.
The system gets all of its power from one outlet with regular wiring and a ten amp circuit. That's where things change. The outlet is a Shunyata ZR 71 outlet with an Anaconda Zitron power cord plugged in feeding a Shunyata Triton, which in turn hosts my entire system via all Shunyata Zitron power cables, IC's and speaker wire. The Spectral 260 amp is powered via a Python Zitron power cord, as is the BAT VK-32 SE preamp. Everything else is powered by Shunyata Zitron Cobra power cords, except the Martin Logan Montis speakers which are powered by Shunyata Zitron Viper cords. All interconnects and digital cable are Shunyata Zitron Python except the Belden 8214/WBT single ended cables to the twin JL Fathom 113's
Let me start with the end result--4.8/5 on the blown away scale. I suspect that few people reading this post are able to enjoy what I am enjoying as I write this and yet it should not work for many reasons, like crappy power, insufficient power, an amplifier that allegedly only likes its own family and supposedly will not talk to tubes. Add to that that many think "digital is digital" and essentially all bits sound the same, yet the DAC, a Meitner MA-1, made the single biggest positive change, even more than the Spectral 260, both on an absolute scale and certainly on a dollar value scale.
While I have made a lot of changes in a relatively short period of time, I have done it in staged manner so that I could evaluate each change and learn about the relative merits. There have been many surprises and what seems like a happy family of electronics in the end. There is certainly a very happy listener, who although I exceeded my initial budget by a factor of 10, now listens to more music than ever before, to the point that I get up before work to listen.
So what about the Spectral and how it is out of the box, especially in my system of don't? The Spectral 260 is a very special product for three reasons:1) it is one of the best sounding amps on the market; 2) it is an amazing value proposition ($10K) considering the quality of sound it delivers; and 3) probably more than any other brand it has a list of requirements and definite don't's that many on this forum have argued about very emphatically. So what follows is merely my experience with my new favorite amplifier and what it will/can do and not.
Either you like the "Spectral Sound" or not because many think it is highly accurate and analytic. I challenge anyone to come to my home and point out the Spectral Sound because that is an absurd concept unless you are afraid to experiment, which you are implored not to do, by both Spectral and its dealers. So at this point I must say that Goodwin's High End told me the party line and advised me against doing what I have done. However, as one who generally does not respect the party line without personal investigation, I started my extensive research and talking with many key people, who will all remain anonymous because of the party line. What I concluded is that buying a Spectral 260 to go with my equipment was somewhat risky for several reasons: 1) I like tube preamps with solid state amps and do not like all SS or all tube; 2) I like the Shunyata Zitron system concept and have had incredibly favorable results; 3) I like electrostats, but they have weird impedance curves with some amazingly low dips like .6 ohms at 20k with my Montis'; 4) I do not have good power; and I was not going to use a star-grounding system but rather the grounding system of the Triton which is a common large buss.
So I purchased a Spectral 260 from Paul at Goodwin's and wondered for the 6 weeks it took to be made and tested for 500 hours if my experiment would cost me multiple thousands in lost value, expensive smoke or who knows what? The amp arrived yesterday in an impressive crate and quickly was inserted into my system after I incredibly carefully read the owner's manual to see if I should actually flip the Spectral's very large power switch. What I garnered from the incredibly well written manual courtesy of Keith Johnson is that the do's and don't's are not nearly as black and white as many on this forum have mandated. Rather they are cautionary, and no doubt with good reason.
Therefore, I proceeded cautiously with an incredibly clear head and great caution. After observing all of the guidelines about hook-up and isolation I cautiously flipped the power switch. No smoke, no oscillation, no nothing except an small green led that says "on". A careful listen to my panels, mid bass woofs and subwoofers demonstrated no noise of any sort (thank you Shunyata).
I pushed the play button on my transport and a series of digital pulses made their way to the Meitner and then via nice analog waves to daddy Spectral to see if he would approve. Low and behold slowly as the volume rose, the mylar of the ML's started to vibrate despite their nasty impedance issues.
At first the sound was just nice, although clearly better right out of the box than the Bryston, Ayre and custom Viola type amps that were broken in and immediately preceded papa Spectral in the system. However over the next hour the sound moved from nice to spectacular as the amp warmed up and the metal connectors started their annealing process. Cautiously I increased the volume and was struck by the authority of the 260. I was struck by the incredible bass, despite the fact that Fathoms were not in line with the Spectral and the ML woofs have their own amps. What I did notice is that for the first time I could actually see the mylar of the ML panels move during prominent mid and low bass notes. The end result is the best bass I have ever had and mid-bass that I have never heard exceeded.
The amp has been playing for 30 hours now and sounds great. Tomorrow I will substitute MIT cables for the interconnects and speaker wire and see if it sounds any better, although I do not expect that it will--more likely it will sound just different.
Is there enough power? I do not think for my needs, although it may be impedance issues at 20K I can shut the amp down at levels that 600 Bryston watts can produce, but a flip of the switch and I am back in business at more reasonable, but still loud volumes. I have not shut down the amp at all today despite substantial levels.
Am I going to keep the amp despite less than desired max volumes? Absolutely, it sounds too good!!!. BTW, I am now going to order a Spectral Reference 300 so I can pick up a few more db.
For those of you not familiar with my personal brand of audio OCD, my current system is located in a 27' x 17.5' x 8' living room/dining room combination space with many vents (open stairway, sliding doors and open doors) to the rest of my house of about 20,000+ cubic feet and major infinite baffle vents when the sliders are open. The house does not have any special wiring, since it is an emergency lease after I lost my house to Sandy. It is also the next to last house on a peninsula more than a 1 1/2 miles long extended into a salt-water land mass which means the electricity should be truly crappy due to noise along the way and generally highly corrosive conditions from the salt-water and recent severe storms. The speakers are located about 7 feet away from the rear wall of the long axis.
The system gets all of its power from one outlet with regular wiring and a ten amp circuit. That's where things change. The outlet is a Shunyata ZR 71 outlet with an Anaconda Zitron power cord plugged in feeding a Shunyata Triton, which in turn hosts my entire system via all Shunyata Zitron power cables, IC's and speaker wire. The Spectral 260 amp is powered via a Python Zitron power cord, as is the BAT VK-32 SE preamp. Everything else is powered by Shunyata Zitron Cobra power cords, except the Martin Logan Montis speakers which are powered by Shunyata Zitron Viper cords. All interconnects and digital cable are Shunyata Zitron Python except the Belden 8214/WBT single ended cables to the twin JL Fathom 113's
Let me start with the end result--4.8/5 on the blown away scale. I suspect that few people reading this post are able to enjoy what I am enjoying as I write this and yet it should not work for many reasons, like crappy power, insufficient power, an amplifier that allegedly only likes its own family and supposedly will not talk to tubes. Add to that that many think "digital is digital" and essentially all bits sound the same, yet the DAC, a Meitner MA-1, made the single biggest positive change, even more than the Spectral 260, both on an absolute scale and certainly on a dollar value scale.
While I have made a lot of changes in a relatively short period of time, I have done it in staged manner so that I could evaluate each change and learn about the relative merits. There have been many surprises and what seems like a happy family of electronics in the end. There is certainly a very happy listener, who although I exceeded my initial budget by a factor of 10, now listens to more music than ever before, to the point that I get up before work to listen.
So what about the Spectral and how it is out of the box, especially in my system of don't? The Spectral 260 is a very special product for three reasons:1) it is one of the best sounding amps on the market; 2) it is an amazing value proposition ($10K) considering the quality of sound it delivers; and 3) probably more than any other brand it has a list of requirements and definite don't's that many on this forum have argued about very emphatically. So what follows is merely my experience with my new favorite amplifier and what it will/can do and not.
Either you like the "Spectral Sound" or not because many think it is highly accurate and analytic. I challenge anyone to come to my home and point out the Spectral Sound because that is an absurd concept unless you are afraid to experiment, which you are implored not to do, by both Spectral and its dealers. So at this point I must say that Goodwin's High End told me the party line and advised me against doing what I have done. However, as one who generally does not respect the party line without personal investigation, I started my extensive research and talking with many key people, who will all remain anonymous because of the party line. What I concluded is that buying a Spectral 260 to go with my equipment was somewhat risky for several reasons: 1) I like tube preamps with solid state amps and do not like all SS or all tube; 2) I like the Shunyata Zitron system concept and have had incredibly favorable results; 3) I like electrostats, but they have weird impedance curves with some amazingly low dips like .6 ohms at 20k with my Montis'; 4) I do not have good power; and I was not going to use a star-grounding system but rather the grounding system of the Triton which is a common large buss.
So I purchased a Spectral 260 from Paul at Goodwin's and wondered for the 6 weeks it took to be made and tested for 500 hours if my experiment would cost me multiple thousands in lost value, expensive smoke or who knows what? The amp arrived yesterday in an impressive crate and quickly was inserted into my system after I incredibly carefully read the owner's manual to see if I should actually flip the Spectral's very large power switch. What I garnered from the incredibly well written manual courtesy of Keith Johnson is that the do's and don't's are not nearly as black and white as many on this forum have mandated. Rather they are cautionary, and no doubt with good reason.
Therefore, I proceeded cautiously with an incredibly clear head and great caution. After observing all of the guidelines about hook-up and isolation I cautiously flipped the power switch. No smoke, no oscillation, no nothing except an small green led that says "on". A careful listen to my panels, mid bass woofs and subwoofers demonstrated no noise of any sort (thank you Shunyata).
I pushed the play button on my transport and a series of digital pulses made their way to the Meitner and then via nice analog waves to daddy Spectral to see if he would approve. Low and behold slowly as the volume rose, the mylar of the ML's started to vibrate despite their nasty impedance issues.
At first the sound was just nice, although clearly better right out of the box than the Bryston, Ayre and custom Viola type amps that were broken in and immediately preceded papa Spectral in the system. However over the next hour the sound moved from nice to spectacular as the amp warmed up and the metal connectors started their annealing process. Cautiously I increased the volume and was struck by the authority of the 260. I was struck by the incredible bass, despite the fact that Fathoms were not in line with the Spectral and the ML woofs have their own amps. What I did notice is that for the first time I could actually see the mylar of the ML panels move during prominent mid and low bass notes. The end result is the best bass I have ever had and mid-bass that I have never heard exceeded.
The amp has been playing for 30 hours now and sounds great. Tomorrow I will substitute MIT cables for the interconnects and speaker wire and see if it sounds any better, although I do not expect that it will--more likely it will sound just different.
Is there enough power? I do not think for my needs, although it may be impedance issues at 20K I can shut the amp down at levels that 600 Bryston watts can produce, but a flip of the switch and I am back in business at more reasonable, but still loud volumes. I have not shut down the amp at all today despite substantial levels.
Am I going to keep the amp despite less than desired max volumes? Absolutely, it sounds too good!!!. BTW, I am now going to order a Spectral Reference 300 so I can pick up a few more db.
Last edited:
