Spectron Musician II with Hybrid - MKII upgrade

This Spectron Musician II with a Hybrid - MKII upgrade that gives it almost all the performance of a Musician III. The upgrade was done at Spectron.
Here are some specifics of the Musician II – HYBRID – MK II Upgrade:


This upgrade is, in essence, the creation of a practically new product - the Musician Hybrid – MK II. This new amp is based on the Musician II with 3 out of 4 boards replaced with new Musician III MK2 electronics which includes the heart and soul of the Musician III Mk2 - new redesigned digital modules giving the life-like sound described in many reviews.

The sound is much better than a Musician II and almost indistinguishable from a Musician III SE. The holographic depiction of soundstage is expanded. Bass is deeper, richer and with greater slam. The specs are very similar to that of the Musician III MK2. Specifications for the original Spectron Musician II:

Spectron Musician II Amplifier Specifications
Power: 600 Wpc at 4 ohms / 500 Wpc at 8 ohms
Output current: 40 amps peak
Output impedance: 0.03 ohm @ 1 KHz Damping factor: 260 @ 8 ohm
Distortion, (1 KHz THD): <0.06% @ 500 watts into 8 ohms
Frequency Response: ± .1 dB 20 to 20,000 Hz
Noise: 83 dBW (<200 uV) or -110 dB below 500 watts
Input: XLR balanced, 25K impedance / RCA input: 50K impedance
Size: 17" W × 5" H × 14" D (431 mm W × 133 mm H × 368 mm D)
Weight: 38 lbs (18 Kg)
Price: $3,495

Here is a description from a dealer:
In the realm of digital amplifiers, the Spectron Musician II is among the best there is. It is probably only superseded by the more expensive Jeff Rowland amps (in our opinion) and definitely more musical sounding than the Bel Canto and NuForce amps that we have sold before. This particular amp is capable of producing 500W into 8 ohms, 600W in 4 ohms and 1,200W in 2 ohms. That is a lot of power for an amp that had a price tag of only $3,500. And unlike other digital amps, the Musician II is a pretty hefty and physically imposing amp as compared to other digital amps. That is due to its huge toroidal transformer situated in the center of the amp. Most other digital amp manufacturers just use a small transformer in their amps.

We have never had the chance to listen to a non-upgraded Hybrid Plus model (a $1,300 option) but based on what we have heard in our system, it ran along the same lines on what the previous owner said about the amps after the upgrade – it was more organic sounding, its transparency was less “cold” and clinical, and it took on a nicely controlled warmth that borders on Class A sounding. The soundstage was nicely weighted with well-defined edges and firmly controlled. It paired very nicely with a variety of monitor and floor standing speakers we have in the store. On Spectron’s website, they said that with the Hybrid Plus Upgrade, it brought the Musician II closer to its $7,200 Musician III MKII amplifier. This is an excellent amp for the money.