2. amps-preamps
  3. 986577754

Bel Canto EVO 200.2

Just wanted to testify to (1) the sound quality and value of the Bel Canto 200.2 and (2) the service provided by my dealer, Goldman Audio. The sound quality is outstanding--the amp has no sound--quiet as a mouse--with good body, terrific highs, solid bass (the clarity of Paul Chamber's bass at the beginning of "So What" is remarkable, as is Scott Lafaro's bass on Bill Evans' "Waltz for Debby"). I'm a long-time tube man but amp is something special (and this comment is written while the amp is still breaking in...).Too, it's only $2395 per--a steal for an amp this good (sorry about the hyperbole but what a deal for the quality of this amp). I'm getting a second to monoblock. If you're looking for this amp, try Goldman Audio, the dealer through which I purchased my amps (www.goldmanaudio.com). Jon is great to deal with--responsive and fair. Highest recommendations for both amp and dealer. Jamie
jamiehughburr
sws2
35 posts
 
I want to comment about Vintgeguru's experiences with the Marsh as I can only assume the Marsh was not fully broken in. Mine took about 150 hours to totally break in and was rough the first 50 to 60 hours. I am not experiencing any harshness or brightness currently. I use the analysis plus speaker cables which is the same cable I used with the EVO. The Marsh clearly has more detail, less dryness and is better overall in my system. I have to think others have had similar experiences with the EVO as at times there are 6 or 7 for sale at one time on Audiogon.
cbleeker4a5e
4 posts
 
Just so you know, we at BCD have a pair of SL3s in our listening room and they play to this speaker's highest performance.
samir
17 posts
 
At BelCanto, they told me that the EVO200.2 is not suited to drive speakers with low impedance. Any experiences?
soix
9,694 posts
 
Just wanted to pass on some info. Have heard this amp in 3 different places and in all 3 a similar theme was that power conditioning is more important with this amp than any other they've had. I read an article somewhere that implied that due to the digital architecture this amp needs clean power to sound its best, and this seems to have been backed up by the dealers/owners I've spoken to. So make sure you've got clean power before making any final conclusions on this amp. Also, using them in monoblock pairs was also said to bring this amp to a much higher level. For what it's worth.

Tim
valueaudio
60 posts
 
How would you expect this amp to perform in stereo mode with B&W 803 Nautilus speakers, and what might be good choices in preamps for this set-up?
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