John, the newest TAS magazine compares Bel Canto Ref1000mk2 to W4S SX1000 which got trounced. But in the mfg rebuttal, Rick says he has a "reference version" coming out soon which will be even better than current amps. Do you know anything about that?
spudco, what did you have for BIG class A? Do you mean your current Pass X's? I hope you are enjoying the blooms. This has got to be the prettiest springtime I have seen in Carolina since 95.
I listened a lot this morning to AltmannDAC>Pass B1>Spectron. Big loud symphonic music is mind blower. The power is unlimited, the brassy tones and bass drums, string bass, dynamics are best I've ever heard. Massed strings are extremely clear and true, but so intense it feels a little unnatural. I think it might be because of the stage miking is picking up more highs than you would hear in a live concert seat. Switching to rock, I played my wife's Sugarland CD. Volume still set to classical levels, a snare rimshot at the beginning might have killed me if I were any older. The hype about dynamics and 120V rails on the spectron website is NOT a lie. There is no limit to the power or dynamics of this amp. Ushers are extremely dynamic too, maybe too much of a good thing in combination! Mix in transient speed and it can be scary real. I wish they still made sound effects discs like REAL audiophiles used to play back in the day. But after a few minutes of pop processed twang country I couldn't stand it and had to shut it off. The pressure in the presence range was crushing my head. Spectron gives it all to you, no mercy. I think pop producers do that on purpose to sound better on cheap car stereos where the publishing money is really made. Gotta penetrate layers of hairspray and precoffee hangover. I switched to Kind of Blue, and Coltranes sound was a little more edgy than usual, Miles sounded even more vulnerable and extemporary than usual. Instrument separation is intense. I have to concentrate to listen to the band as a whole, unlike the tube amp which just floats the whole sound into consciousness effortlessly. People say this separation an attribute of a fine amp, but can it be too much? Maybe it's because I know the album so well, and I am not used to such high resolution portrayal of it.
Despite the detail and strong presence, the soundstage is still back behind the speakers. This makes intimate jazz and chamber music feel more distant. With that feeling of you are here but they are there, the intense detail as if you are on top of them feels weird, like your ear drum is at the mic while your eyes are out in the concert seat. A very interesting and enigmatic amplifier. An incredible technological accomplishment.
The PassDIY B1 preamp is breaking in well now, it's opened up a lot and seems to be cutting the mustard. I never noticed it holding back or veiled. What a nice surprise from such a cheap little circuit! It will be interesting to hear it all dolled up with fancy selector, VC, wire, connectors, wired P>P. and also compared to a pure tube preamp.