Hi Guido,
A well researched and written review on the Bel Canto Ref 1000 MKII - thanks!
A couple of questions if i may?
1. In my audition of the Ref 1000's earlier this year one of the most impressive aspects of the amplifier was its speed or transient response which was particularly appreciated in large scale orchestral music but benefited all music in general. What was particularly impressive about the amp was its awesome control over the harmonic tail. Your review only skirts the speed determinant. I wondered whether you'd like to comment further?
2. Depth was another strength of the amp - its ability to cast images from the front speaker plane to seemingly one mile behind the speaker plane was another outstanding attribute. Again, your review is largely silent on depth of field performance. Can you comment further on what you found?
3. One criticism i had of the Ref II amplifier was its poor ability to capture 'body' in the vocal image. The machinery's focus on neutrality means the presentation will be considered a touch lean by some. Because of this, i preferred driving the Ref II's with valve pre-amplification which then for me summed to the perfect team - flesh plus dynamics! While i'm aware your review did not include any valve pre-amplification and that clearly you must be a 'neutral' guy given your selection of components i would nonetheless invite any comment you have on the density of the body of the vocal image.
4. Finally, you used new Furutech cables for this review. I would be personally interested to know why you favour the Evolution II cables and whether during the course of the review you inserted your Cardas cables to observe what sonic changes resulted? Personally, i found the Cardas (Golden Ref and Golden Cross) quite suitable for partnering with the Ref II's. They helped inject tonal warmth to the precedings.
Thanks again for your review.
