Phono Preamp to match with Spectral Gear

commonone69

Well-Known Member
Dec 7, 2011
11
2
908
Hello,
I'd like some advice from spectral users regarding a good phono pre to match with my DMC15ss and a DMA200. I'm wondering if something with a very wide bandwidth would match Spectral's wide bandwidth.Or maybe tubes,but would prefer SS.
 

rhbblb1

Well-Known Member
May 4, 2010
52
0
1,561
Hello,
I'd like some advice from spectral users regarding a good phono pre to match with my DMC15ss and a DMA200. I'm wondering if something with a very wide bandwidth would match Spectral's wide bandwidth.Or maybe tubes,but would prefer SS.

I have used several phono stages, both tube and solid state with Spectral electronics. Phono stages have included Conrad Johnson Premier 15, John Curl's Vendetta, Martensen, and Tron Seven Reference. All have sounded very good. I currently use Spectral DMC-30SS series 2, and DMA 360 monoblocks.
 

jprice

New Member
Apr 13, 2012
10
1
0
In the heart of Dixie
Haven't tried very many, but two that have worked very well with my Spectral are the Mark Levinson No. 25s, and the one I currently use, (and have been using for about 6 years) - the Pass X-ono. The Pass unit sounds very, very good.

My Spectral pieces are a DMC-30SL and a DMA 250.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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Boston, MA
Hello,
I'd like some advice from spectral users regarding a good phono pre to match with my DMC15ss and a DMA200. I'm wondering if something with a very wide bandwidth would match Spectral's wide bandwidth.Or maybe tubes,but would prefer SS.

You may want to wait for their phono stage. It was allegedly coming after the DMA-400s; will try to get an update.
 

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
I am using a Pass XP-15 and it works exceptionally well with my Spectral DMC-30S. I had a Pass X-Ono prior to the XP-15. The XP-15 was a huge upgrade offering improvements in all the areas Spectral does well (speed, transparency, clarity, dynamics).

I had at one point tried both a Herron VTPH-2 and an Audio Research PH-7. Neither performed well as they both had bloated, flabby bass. I spoke directly to Keith Herron about this and he said that the very low input impedance of the 30S (15k ohm) was too low for his phono stage to drive and would result in "distortion". Audio Research did not like the match either, saying that this would be a tough load for the PH-7 to drive well. I suspect that many tube phono stages would have a tough time driving such a low input impedance well. I wonder why Spectral has the input impedance set so low.
 

Bobalob

Well-Known Member
Mar 25, 2011
14
4
908
My Naim Superline with Supercap (non DR) works really well with my 15SS. I tried the Supercap power supply DR upgrade but found it dark and lacking in dynamics
 

Gene 15352

Well-Known Member
Feb 18, 2013
79
34
925
Canada
Hello,
I'd like some advice from spectral users regarding a good phono pre to match with my DMC15ss and a DMA200. I'm wondering if something with a very wide bandwidth would match Spectral's wide bandwidth.Or maybe tubes,but would prefer SS.

Hi. Check out the Tom Evans Goove 20th Anniversary. I've heard from a reputable dealer that it works really well with the Spectral because of the fast circuits and even holds its own against the Io Eclipse.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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Boston, MA
Having waited for the Spectral phono long enough, and with no word yet or response to my voice mails from the factory, I will be evaluating the Sim Audio 810LP and the Pass XP-25 in the next couple of weeks, starting with the 810LP today. I have looked at those two extensively and they appear to be very well thought-out and designed units. The Pass appears to be purposely voiced a little forward in the presence region, with an intentional hump between 1kHz and 15kHz; the Sim appears to be designed to have no character. The Sim appears to be even quieter on paper and from reading the reviews.

There are a number of issues for me: with the Pass, the gain settings are too far apart; I need 60dB and they offer 53 and 66 (for balanced out); the loadings are also a bit far apart for the price range; I don't see them using those beautiful NAIS relays either, therefore I suspect the signal goes through the wires to the knobs and back - will find out soon; it also appears that you can't really place another component on top of or under the main unit (a problem I would have with the single-unit XP-15 as well). The Sim is very highly configurable, but the beefed-up power supply and isolation gel they use adds $5K over the 610LP, which appears to use the exact same circuit board. And for my XLR-to-XLR 'table to phono configuration, the Sim fits like a glove - the Pass, on the other hand, needs XLR-to-RCA converters that I am getting, but they might add noise. Considering that the Pass is also a fully balanced design, and having looked at the rear panel and circuit board, I think it is a mistake not to offer (and trivial to put in) additional XLR inputs, the way the Sim and my Ayre do.

I'll write up my thoughts as I go... Based on the phono card in the old Spectral DMC-20 I had, I have strong reasons to believe that, whenever their phono stage comes out, it will be superb. So any purchase now will probably be an interim solution... because of that, I can see me settling for the "lesser" and cheaper 610LP for now, which I may also evaluate if the 810LP lives up to expectation.
 

docvale

Well-Known Member
Mar 21, 2011
542
53
940
Briarcliff Manor, NY
Ack,

As far as I know, the XLR inputs on the DMC-30SS is not a "real" balanced input (while the outputs are told to be truly balanced). How would you consider a phonostage with (real) XLR inputs but SE outputs?
I auditioned the Zesto Andros at a show, and, despite I had no chance to make any A/B comparison, I was positively impressed by its sound.

Anyway, if you'd like to keep your all-XLR connection for LP playback, have you ever considered the Boulder or the Burmester phonostages?
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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I take noise seriously, so XLR-in, even if "fake", is the only connection take makes sense for the fully-balanced designs I am looking at. If a phono stage were not to be fully balanced, then I would look at it differently. The Boulder 1008 is too dark for my tastes and a pain to configure. No experience with Burmester - would have to travel to NYC.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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Boston, MA
Well, the 810LP is going back to its rightful daddy... I would describe its sound as the typical great autumn New England morning by the lake: tranquil, crystal clear, cool and dry. Some interesting observations: with both my Ayre and the Sim set at 60dB gain, the Sim reams of hiss and it's supposed to be as quiet as the FM Acoustics or Boulder 2008 :confused: Yes, the Ayre may in fact be rolled off in the highs, but the Sim is just unlistenable at this gain level and I don't understand how Fremer was able to listen to it, unless his system rolls off elsewhere. So I had to raise the gain/noise ratio and settled for 66dB gain for all of my listening. The unit is snappy-fast, very clear, with an exceptionally low noise floor, so much so that I was astonished to hear for the first time that track 1 of Friday Night in San Fransisco actually starts with someone counting up with an ever so slight wisper, one... two... three... But overall, it is your typical solid state device, with short decays, a bit lean, cool, no earth shattering dynamic contrasts, no character. From this, you may assume the Spectral phono in the DMC-20 of twenty years ago trounces it...
 

dan31

Well-Known Member
Jul 22, 2010
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365
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SF Bay
Disappointing the 810 did not live up to its expectations. For $12k I would have expected a better result compared to the Ayre. The 810 was on my list, but I'm not ready to make the upgrade in my phono pre for another year at least.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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Well, do take it into context - I am using the Ortofon A90; perhaps the 810 is a better match for warmer or lush cartridges. But for me, the Ayre is much more organic, albeit a tad slower and less articulate (BTW, I do now hear the initial whisper on track 1, it just wasn't obvious before what the performer was saying). On Friday Night at San Fransisco, and others, the sound is definitely thin; with orchestral, the soundstage is never in front of the speakers, and not much beyond the boundaries. Overall, it's not making a compelling argument for me.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
6,774
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Boston, MA
Also, FWIW XLR-to-RCA (turntable-to-phono) works fine on the Ayre (in fact, there is no need for a ground wire :confused: if you can believe that), but there is some hum with the Sim that I just can't get rid of, with or without a ground wire. So it will be interesting to see how the XP-25 will behave in that respect... I also looked at the Burmester 100 (too expensive for me), and was a bit taken aback by the use of ICs only, whereas every other effort (Ayre, Pass, Sim, the old Spectral, FM Acoustics et al) are discrete designs.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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Arrives the 23rd, will need 4-6 days of break-in - end of July before I can have a good assessment... cautiously optimistic.
 

Frank750

VIP/Donor
Jul 8, 2011
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Arrives the 23rd, will need 4-6 days of break-in - end of July before I can have a good assessment... cautiously optimistic.

If it's new it will need at least 2 weeks. I think Pass vastly under estimates break in time for their products.
 

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