class d - anyone compared bel canto/CI/wyred4sound

I've just finished auditioning the Bel Canto Ref 1000 Mk.2 and it is unbelievably good. Compared to the Wyred for Sound (multichannel version auditoned) and the Jeff Rowland 501 mono's i've also auditioned the BC is clearly superior to my ears though YMMV.

You don't mention a budget but if you could manage circa US$11k i would bypass Guido's recommendation of the JRDG Continuum 500 and package together either a Lamm LL2 or Modwright LS36.5 pre-amp [choice depending on personal taste] with the BC Ref 2's. Tube warmth, density and musicality + class D power, control and dynamics IMHO makes for sonic bless. I now understand why people are trading in massive Class A power amps for BC Ref 2's. When you get the front end right - they really are that good.

BTW i don't own any of the above-mentioned products in case my rave makes me look like a fanboy.

Hi Guido,

The BC Ref 1000 Mk2's and JR kit have been in my home system recently, though not side by side and my notoriously fickle audio memory [all 2000 milliseconds of it] was therefore aided by written notes of observations of reproduction of reference music. In a nutshell i did find the BC more refined than the JR mono's. Both amps have remarkably quick leading edges to notes but i found the BC better at fully developing the harmonic tail [decay, sustain and ultimate release] of notes. IMHO both power amps benefit from tube pre-amplification - though that is admittedly a matter of personal taste. I can't comment on the Capri + BC overpass of the bypass :-) but if the net result sounded anything like the JRDG 500 continuum then i'd be worried that the solution was so wrapped up in the uber reality high definition means of musical delivery that it forgot the meaning of the message.