Bel Canto opinions


Hello All,

So I just ordered what will be my very first Bel Canto piece of gear. I ordered the 501S power amp. Very excited to get my hands on it but I don't see a lot of press here about Bel Canto in the forums. Just wondering what you all think of their amps specifically? The main reason I chose this amp was due to its small size and limited space in my entertainment center. It'll be driving a pair of Sonus Faber Sonetto III's in a second 2 channel living room system...

kingbr

Showing 2 responses by mapman

You can certainly try amps with and without conditioner but in general it is often not optimal to plug high current power amps into a power conditioner unless it’s current delivery capability is up to snuff. Often it is not.

I use power conditioners on preamp and dac but not on integrated amp or power amps, both Bel Canto. Yours might be different but I find my ref10000m amps only draw a lot of current at power up. If I turn both on at the same time my breaker will usually go but never when actually playing no matter how loud.  I leave both Bel Cantos on most of the time as per manual.  They draw very little power normally when idle  

 

I have two systems running BC amplification for a number of years. Couldn’t ask for better sound but like you I am going to downsize and keep things as small and manageable as possible and the BC gear is a special  home run there. Nice looking too! Check my system pics. Glad to answer any questions if I can.

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