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The MkII version is enhanced by numerous engineering refinements to improve sonic performance, flexibility and life expectancy. The main advances over the original are a new power control and sequencing board, new binding posts, faster filtering components and a reduction of the value of the emitter-balancing resistors in the first long-tail pair of the second intermediate stage. Other internal upgrades include new PCB design and ground-plane changes.
Specifications seem as amazing as the cosmetics. Output power is 750 watts RMS into 8Ω at 0.05% distortion; 1.5Kw into 4Ω; and 3Kw into 2Ω! At -3dB the response spans 10Hz to 90kHz (8Ω) and SN/R is >103dB 'A' weighted two thirds.
Sound. By absolute standards the Chords didn't convey the tonal richness and rhythmic subtleties of my personal reference amps. They performed in the more conventional high-power realm of muscle and authority which might have prevented more accurate timbre gradations and timing precision. I thought they behaved a bit overpowered for my Vivid K1 and Lawrence Audio Violin. Whilst they did deliver impressive amounts of detail and information, they weren't as lively as my Luxman M800a or the review loaner Ayon Orthos XS had been. They made for very contemplative listening but weren't truly involving. At the same time soundstage depth and stability were quite unique for both speakers. The wide dynamic macro swings were perfect but micro-scale flutters weren't as teased out as the Ayons or Luxmans managed nor even my Orpheus Three M alternates. Having tried various preamplifiers like the SPL Volume 2, Rogue Audio Hera and Coincident Technology Reference, this lack of tonal expanse and rhythm didn't seem due to any unfair preamp association.
Don't assume however that these very powerful amps lacked finesse, precision or delicacy. They were perfectly able to reproduce small-scale signals but to my taste simply did so from too quiet a backdrop. This quietude was undoubtedly an overriding feature of my loaners. The global impression of silence suggested a very low noise floor indeed.
On dynamic scaling, stability and image placement the SPM-6000 monos were among the top two or three power amps I've listened to. Their soundstaging was little short of impressive. Another very good point were extreme power reserves to always work effortlessly. During my time with them I never encountered audible limits driving my speakers. The amps behaved stunningly linear and perhaps were the most linear I'd ever met. Yet I was never fully convinced by their punch and authority. In that sense I wished for greater relief. The Chords failed to express the same 'groovy' behavior I appreciate so much with my Orpheus and Luxman monos. On the other hand the SPM-6000 monos undoubtedly dispatched the most impressively fast transient performance I've thus witnessed.
All symphonic pieces I tried benefited from a huge very wide three-dimensional stage. Soloists, small groups and large orchestral masses were all presented with precisely the right sense of scale and pace. Yet the sound remained dark as though the stew lacked salt and pepper. I wouldn't go as far as call it aseptic however. Dvorak’s 9th Symphony under Ivan Fischer conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra had the necessary muscular dimension in the third and forth movements but lacked the tone so typical of Viennese sound.
The same impression occurred with Mahler’s 5th Symphony under the baton of Chailly. The Chords had me think that Chailly had been swapped with Pierre Boulez. On a positive note the Chords could play loud without any type of listener fatigue as though distortion under high power had been rendered completely irrelevant.
