Bel Canto Ref1000 MK2 Or Ref 500m ?

I love the Bel Canto Ref 1000 Mk.2, now renamed Ref 1000M. I have reviewed it for PFO:
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue43/bel_canto_ref1000.htm

I have heard the Ref 500M at shows at significant length, but not in my system. I have heard unconfirmed reports that the Ref 500M may sound even sweeter than its more powerful brother. As far as I know, Ref 1000M is driven by ICEpower 1000 ASP modules, while Ref 500 M may contain ICEpower 500 ASP modules, which yield up to 250W over 8 Ohms.

Unfortunately the BelCanto web site does not seem to mention the modules contained in their amps. I know my info on Ref 1000M is correct, but I am not completely sure about Ref 500M. I will call Bel Canto tomorrow and will find out.

G.

Thank you Giuseppe, yes I am as Italian as they go. . . now living in not-that-particularly-warm Texas.

The 250 ASX2 appears to be an interesting device. At least in principle, it is bridgeable to mono. Whether this remains true for the Ref 500S implementation, is something I will attempt to find out from Bel canto.

One cautionary note: the fact that the 250 ASX2 is a smaller device than the 500 ASP is not necessarily an indication that ASX2 is a 'lower' level series. The more likely explanation is simply that ASX2 -- being a much newer design than ASP -- uses a higher degree of function integration and smaller geometries than ASP. . . hence yielding that 'shorter signal path' that so many audiophrenes are obsessing over. For one thing, ASX2 appears to be implementing a form of 0 voltage 0 current switching power supply technology which may be new to the ICEpower standard toolkit.

I'll try to post an update later today.

Saluti, G.

Thank you Henry, you are absolutely correct. I have since called Bel canto and asked further information about differences between Ref 500M and Ref 500S.

* Both amplifiers make use of the ICEpower 500 ASX2 modules in bridged configuration. They do not use ASP series parts.

* the Ref 500M uses additional power regulation over the 500S, hence it actually yields slightly higher power: Unless I am getting this all wrong, approx 250W over 8 Ohms for Ref 500M and 200W over 8 Ohms for 500S.

* the BC Ref 1000M is the only Bel Canto amp to utilize the older ICEpower 1000 ASP module, because there is no ASX2 module to yield the power rating of 1000M.

* Unless the very high throughput of 1000M is required for proper control of particularly power hungry speakers, the Ref 500M may yield the most refined sound of the lot.

Giuseppe, I have not yet conducted a sonic comparison of Ref 1000M with 500M. . . at this point I am only guestimating that 500M may be a little sweeter. If you are testing the 1000M (or Mk.2) ensure that they have enough hours on them. They are likely to require about 600 hours of playing time before giving you their best. Besides that, keep them on at all times. . . their idle power consumption is only approx 15W each. Saluti, Guido

Giuseppe, bass of Bel Canto Ref 1K should start to come in after 400 hours of making music. Just powering them up without a signal going through may not be very effective. You can use the white noise from FM interstation to exercise them when you are not listening to music. Are you running them balanced or single ended? the amps are best used in a balanced configuration. G.

Grazie mille Giuseppe. . . keep us posted as the BC Ref 1000M continue to break in. . . and of course everyone is very interested in your upcoming direct comparison with 500M. Saluti, Guido

Audiozen, why don't you give a call to Bel Canto, and then let us know the scoop?

G.

Hi Audiozen, if the design project is still active, and BC decides to show or talk about this aledged new amp at RMAF, we will know about it soon enough.

Saluti, Guido

Glory, I looked back at my REF500M review on PFO:
http://positive-feedback.com/Issue50/bel_canto500.htm
I quoted peak current for REF500 at 30 Amperes. This value may not be correct. The BelCanto page for the amp asserts peak current to be 35 amperes instead:
http://belcantodesign.com/Belcanto_REF500M_Amplifier.html
Like a lot of other amps, REF500M do benefit from high current power cords... e.g. the Furutech I discuss in the article. One thing to consider is that while class D amps have negligible idle/bias draw, they can instantly draw a lot of current on louder/complex passages and transients. After the review was published, I tried Shunyata King Cobra CX on them with very desirable results. I suspect that current Shunyata Python Z-Tron may work as well while being price more commensurately with the amps. Shunyata wires in the CX series and beyond appear particularly apt at blocking potential hash generated by some ICEpower amplifiers, without ever acting as frequency-limiting bandpass filters.