sws2 piqued my interest in the marsh line of amps and it just so happened that a friend/dealer had his line in. so i asked to demo one and i got to take home the a200s. while the marsh was very nice in some ways, it was terribly harsh sounding. i had another fellow audiophile over and we listened to both switching them in and out after listening time and time again to certain tracks. the conclusion we came to was that although the marsh had 95% of the low level detail of the evo, its ambience and soundstage just wasn't quite there. also, as noted before, there was very noticeable sibilance and the midrange seemed real edgy. depending on the system used, this may be a desired trait. in my system, the harshness of the top end and the edgy midrange didn't bring the best out of my ribbon driver. i would imagine in a system in which the speakers were very inefficient and in which the top end seems darker and or more lush then accurate and real detailed. not to say the marsh won't perform well in any other system, but in my experience with it i wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for most of the positive aspects of the evo. i would also like to agree with morasp above, if this technology and the effort to build them is so cheap and i quote from a poster on another forum "simple for any DIY'er" why hasn't any other company jumped on the bandwagon seeing the potential for sales with its demand, after all there is a 3 week back order on the evo.
Bel Canto EVO 200.2
Just wanted to testify to (1) the sound quality and value of the Bel Canto 200.2 and (2) the service provided by my dealer, Goldman Audio. The sound quality is outstanding--the amp has no sound--quiet as a mouse--with good body, terrific highs, solid bass (the clarity of Paul Chamber's bass at the beginning of "So What" is remarkable, as is Scott Lafaro's bass on Bill Evans' "Waltz for Debby"). I'm a long-time tube man but amp is something special (and this comment is written while the amp is still breaking in...).Too, it's only $2395 per--a steal for an amp this good (sorry about the hyperbole but what a deal for the quality of this amp). I'm getting a second to monoblock. If you're looking for this amp, try Goldman Audio, the dealer through which I purchased my amps (www.goldmanaudio.com). Jon is great to deal with--responsive and fair. Highest recommendations for both amp and dealer. Jamie
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- 17 posts total
- 17 posts total