New Bel Canto Gear at RMAF

Yes, Bel Canto Ref 500 monos in room 589 in the Marriott were driving a pair of $38K TED speakers and the result was. . . magnificent! Open, extended top to bottom, graceful, authoritative, nuanced. Bel Canto Ref 500 monos are worth listening too. . . do not be fooled by their basic/industrial look. . .. just remember that as they are class D amps and they run very cool they are likely to be real bears to break in. Guido

I heard these amps in the Bel Canto room with the proto type TAD compact reference speakers and the sound was terrific. Some of the best at the show.

Thanks for your input. It's the new 500 monos that have caught my attention are are in my price range. Do you recall how the rest of the system at RMAF was configured? Were the M500's being show with the Pre 3? Were they using the Bel Canto Dac or Phono stage? I hear a lot about Bel Canto amps and Dacs but less about their preamp and phono stage.

Good news for tube preamp owners is the input impedance of the new REF1000 Mk II amplifiers, 100kOhms per phase.

This particular setup was considered a Soundstage! Standout Demo. For more details, visit the link:

http://www.soundstage2.com/avtour2008/rmaf_stand_tad.htm