Where to go after Bel Canto Ref1000MKII

Electrocompaniet Nemo?

Designed for the original B&W Nautilus in mind.

That's what replaced my Bel Canto REF1000Ms driving my Thiel CS3.7s

I also have a Plinius SA-Reference. It's not as powerful but it is a full Class A design but seems to have a slight edge over the Nemos in all but absolute heft.

@05-07-12: Dhartwick
How do you describe the improvement that the Electrocompaniet gave you over the Bel Canto Ref1000MkII. And, what magnitude of improvement?

Doggiehowser - is that the Bel Canto 1000MII that you replaced or the Bel Canto amp before it?

===========
I used the Bel Canto REF1000s first, and this was upgraded to MkII aka REF1000M specs subsequently.

I recently swapped out the REF1000Ms for Electrocompaniet Nemos while my SA-Reference was sent to my friend's place while I wait for my second set of speakers. He was also using REF1000Ms and the same speakers as mine (Thiel CS3.7s)

The REF1000Ms have tight control of the bass but was a bit lean in the midrange, but I did alleviate that with an ARC Reference 5 (then 5SE) tube preamp.

The Nemos maintain that same control of the bass, but there's just a bit more heft and authority to the bass and the midrange is a bit sweeter than on the Bel Cantos.

Hi Dhartwick

I think prior to tweaks, there was a fair bit of difference between the Nemos and the Bel Canto REF1000Ms in the showroom. In my case, the BC and Nemos were carried by the same dealer who also carried my speakers (Thiel CS3.7s) so it was very easy to make a direct comparison. In the showroom, the Bel Cantos sounded very lean vs the Nemos. The bass control was similar but just felt more weighted in the Nemos.

In the time I had the Bel Cantos, I made a couple of significant changes:
a. Sound Application RLS240 conditioner
b. ASI Liveline power cords
c. ARC Ref 5SE

With these in place, I felt there was a significant improvement in the overall performance of the system.

When I swapped the Bel Cantos out for the Nemos, the major change I felt was in the bass. It was still as tight as with the Bel Cantos but there was more authority and more presence to it which I liked, similar to what I heard in the showroom. But the leanness I heard in the showroom was alleviated by the ARC tubes.

As for the Plinius SA-Reference, my friend feels it edged out the Nemos. It's rated lower in terms of power output (that's what I meant earlier) but in terms of performance, my friend preferred it a lot more than the Bel Cantos and based on the experience of the same dealer showroom, he thought it sounded just a bit better than the Nemos.

Just FYI, the Nemo has a damping factor of 850. Not as much as the Bel Cantos but it is pretty high vs most amps.

I got a good deal on the Nemos used so it was a no brainer.

And I get to put my REF1000Ms now for a full 11 channel power amplification for my home theatre ;)

As for preamp, my friend moved from the 2 box McIntosh 500? preamp to the ARC 40th Anniversary. We all thought it was quite a good upgrade over the original and very close to the CJ GAT