Ron,
Thanks for the thoughts, but let's not be too exuberant, just yet, because this journey is not yet done. While I have the very rare Spectral DMC 30 SV preamp thanks to Terry Menacker and Scouter from the WBF, who was absolutely wonderful by letting me have his position in line at Overture for the SV, I do not yet have the DMA 300RS, so I am only part way there!. Everything I have read from the Spectral bulletins and learned from Terry and Allen Goodwin is that to get the best from this preamp, you need either the DMA 400 SR or the DMA 300 SR. So since I have it connected to my DMA 260, all I can say at this point is that the 260 has never sounded this good, and this is with only 12 hours on the SV and all of the connections still stabilizing after being removed and reconnected. Like any new product inserted into an established system, it is still changing with moments of wonder alternating with moments of merely better.
To complicate things, in the past two weeks, my system has undergone several changes so it is hardly stable and thus another variable in assessing the SV. Two weeks ago my new speaker, MIT HD 90 Rev 2 Biwired with bananas, arrived which allowed me to remove what I felt was truly one of the weakest links in my system, MIT Matrix SL 90 biwire speaker wire. This change alone, right out of the box was a major and fundamental improvement, since there is no doubt that to my taste and for my system, the SL Matrix line is truly a mismatch. While the imaging of the SL Matrix is incredible, if not erie, The overall balance reminds me of when years ago I switched from McIntosh MC-60's to a Crown DC 300-Maybe clearer, but definitely not real nor musical.
The next variable I introduced was I moved my speakers forward and wider to try to create an equilateral triangle with my listening position, a setup the Vivid Giya's like. This was a major instant improvement, despite the somewhat ongoing wild break-in ride of the MIT Oracle series speaker wires. A week later I had to break my system down again to reposition my rack when I had to lay some new carpet behind the speakers for both visual and sonic reasons. After reconnecting the system again, it was back to where it was after a day, but the MIT was still breaking in. On Wednesday, after two weeks and at least 75 hours, the MIT's found a new stride with amazing imaging that surpassed anything I have had previously. However, I am told by Scott Warren that it takes 300 hours for the 2C3D circuits to burn-in and stabilize, so allegedly more is to come.
Then last night I inserted the Spectral DMC 30SV after removing the loaner Spectral preamp from the system 24 hours earlier. Although the Spectral already had 800 hours of break-in at Spectral, it travelled cross country with no charge and thus needed to get its stride again after being inserted into my system. Within 10 minutes I started hearing some of the characteristics that led me to buy it and initiate this thread. There clearly was an instant increase in articulation top to bottom, but the balance of the various parts of the spectrum was still very much in flux. What was most notable was the depth, force and articulaton of the bass, which has changed many times since and has changed for the better just during the time it has taken me to write this post.
So the best I can say at this point is that I am thrilled by the MIT HD-90 Rev 2 speaker, despite being only part way to its best. I am also already were pleased with the Spectral DMC 30SV, although I am not yet to what I heard at Overture 5 weeks ago. So perhaps I will get most of the way there when the DMA 300RS arrives, although I will still not have the same wire, MIT consoles, Spectral Reference CD Player and Magico S7's and probably Overture's better room.
Fortunately, I hope, I will have to break my system down once again before the DMA 300RS arrives when my new Steve Blinn Designs custom racks arrive in 3-4 weeks. So if nothing else, this trip is teaching me patience.
