Opinions on the Bel Canto Evo 4 Gen II

The eVo 4 is a great amp and should mate beautifully with your Aerials. Using it in a bridged mode is a must. Not only will you have gobs of power but it simply sounds much better this way, with really powerful low end, nice nutral mids and gorgeous treble: extended, clean and free of any hash or glare.

IMO eVo 4 mk II is one hell of an amplifier, especially when used in bridged mode. It posses the purity of tone that is really hard to find in ANY SS amplifier.

I've found the Evo to be very neutral and transparent. It is very fast and reveals inner detail quite well. After a while, you even forget that it's there.

I lived with the EVO-4 Gen II (actually two of them for tri-amping) for about 6 months. It's a wonderful amp and very flexible. However, for about the same money of a used EVO-4 Gen II, I would strongly recommend you audition an ICE H2O S250 Signature. It was this amp that dislodged the EVOs from my system.

It's a 250 watt per channel, stereo amp whose heart is an ICE module. The module is surrounded by a huge, high quality, low impedance and FAST analog power supply.

Tonal character of the H2O is very similar to that of the EVO, which is fundamentally neutral. Differences between the amps in the context of my Apogee based system were centered on openness, midrange palpability and bass authority. H2O owner Henry Ho is a true gentleman and will float you an amp for an in-home demo, no strings attached.

With either choice you get a great amp and we should all have such difficult choices!

Jeff

Dan
Are you sure your wife will let you get this Bel Canto?
I see the hi fi fever has set in.
Russ

We own four Bel Canto amps: (2) REF1000s, an S300 and an eVo4. I have had an opportunity to compare the monoblock REF1000s against the bridged eVo4 using an Integra DTC-9.4 and Revel Performa F-50s. The eVo4 bridged is an incredible amp in its own right. I have played it both biamped and biwired, and in my opinion, bridged and biwired sounds better.

The difference between the eVo4 bridged (tripath) and the REF1000s (ICEpower) was discernable. A good description of the differences between the tripath and the ICEpower amps can be found at www.6moons.com/audioreviews/h2o/m250_3.html

It would be easy to exaggerate the differences between these two amps in an effort to rationalize the cost difference, an attractive temptation. The differences are subtle yet noticeable, at some location way up the continuum of diminishing returns making the price differential between a slightly used eVo4 and a new set of REF1000s debatable. I can tell you this: I am completely satisfied with the REF1000s; the upgrade bug has been squashed. Everyone bitten by the bug will tell you, it is a lot cheaper to buy something that will completely satisfy you as a starting rather than ending point.

After comparing my eVo 4 mk II to the newer Bel Canto S300, I can only say that the later simply embarassed the older amp. MUCH better (warmer and more natural) midrange, wider and again MUCH deeper soundstage, more open on top.

Anyway - after hearing what ICEpower based amps can do, I sold the eVo 4. For me the eVo chapter is now closed.