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Bel Canto REF1000 vs S300

I was wondering if anyone could comment on the similarities and improvements between Bel Canto's REF1000 and S300 amps. I have trialled an S300 but it does not seem to reproduce vocals very well in my system. It sounds like the singer has stepped back away from the mic compared to other amps. On the other hand the S300 has very good soundstage width and depth and has great separation between instruments. (I do wonder if it seems to overly highlight some bass instruments though.)

I am wondering how the REF1000 compares to the S300. Does the REF1000 reproduce vocals clearly? Does it keep the soundstaging and separation without overly etching each instrument? How does the REF1000 improve on the S300 and what areas could be improved some more?

Any comments or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank.

Richard
thomaco
mr_sukebe
4 posts
 
I've compared the 1000 to the S300 and felt that the 1000 is simply a bigger/better S300. If you like the S300, you'll love the 1000. As it is, clearly doesn't do it for you, so look elsewhere.
dev's avatar
dev
832 posts
 

Richard I have not heard the S300 but own the Ref1000's.

Mr_sukebe I don't fully understand you comments made because they seem to be contradictory, can you explain further.

Richard I own the Ref1000's and what you mentioned regarding the vocals, singer stepped back from the mic compared to other amps, I am not having any of these issues. I am very impressed with what these amps are doing.

What is the rest of your system? and secondly what are the other amps you are referring to?
shannere
82 posts
 
I have the s300 and had the same initial impressions of the vocals being overly recessed, almost to the extent it had an echo. This amp had an overly long break in time as compared to anything else I've heard in my system. After about a week of being powered on continually this anamoly started to disappear and didn't fully disappear until it was played heavily for several weeks. Bel Canto says 100 hours of power on but I think it is on the low side. Sit back and give it a chance it gets much better. The s300 I have is the Underwood mod maybe this took longer with the added caps.

Glenn
damianspencilcase
3 posts
 
I have the s300, i didnt have issues with the break in or the recessed singer. The only issues i have is that it seems to have upstaged my open baffle experimental speakers which now need to be replaced or extensively worked on.
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