Sonic Solutions

I’m just guessing, but Bel Canto’s founder and CEO John Stronczer must be a contrarian. Don’t get the wrong idea, he’s a perfectly nice guy; it’s just that Bel Canto’s compact, lightweight, cool running e.One Series components use just a tiny fraction of the AC power consumed by their hotter-running, bigger and heftier competition.

Bel Canto does things differently.

Stronczer came to high-end audio while working as a research scientist at Honeywell Physical Sciences Center. There he developed ultra-high-speed CMOS-integrated circuits for fiber optic Internet infrastructure communications. Stronczer also designed integrated circuits for sensor instrumentation, memory and medical applications. He holds seven U.S. patents in integrated circuit design.

Stronczer’s knowledge of cutting-edge technology is vast, but Bel Canto’s first generation products were vacuum tube designs! Stronczer may be an engineer, but he’s also an audiophile, and to him tubes sound better than solid-state. Bel Canto’s tube components received rave reviews in all the audiophile magazines.

By the late ’90s, Stronczer was experimenting with the latest Class D (digital) designs of the time. He heard something in those nascent digital components that rivaled the musicality of tubes. As he continued to refine his prototypes, the sound was so promising he leapfrogged from tubes past solid-state and went all-digital. Stronczer tells me some of his original die-hard tube customers are now making the switch to e.One Series digital amplifiers. That’s amazing!

For this review, Bel Canto sent a complete e.One Series system consisting of a CD-2 Transport, Dac3 digital-to-analog converter/stereo preamplifier and a pair of REF500 mono power amplifiers. They all share the same black painted chassis that measures a tidy 8 inches wide by 3.5 wide by 12 deep. The design of the half-inch-thick aluminum faceplate, embossed “Bel Canto,” is distinctive and modern. Each component sits on four squishy feet, designed to cushion the electronics from external vibrations.

Stronczer stripped the CD-2 and Dac3’s front panel controls to the bare minimum; each component has just one machined metal control knob. I like the keep-it-simple approach, but it does take a bit of time to get the knack of tapping and twirling the knob to play, pause, stop and change tracks.

Instead of placing the disc on a loading tray, you put the CD on the player’s exposed drive spindle, then place the nicely machined magnetic clamp atop the disc. The spinning disc looks slick and ups the audiophile-cool factor a couple of notches.

The CD-2 can be used as either a standalone CD player or as a CD transport with an external digital-to-analog converter like the Dac3.

The CD-2’s rear panel hosts RCA and XLR analog outputs, along with Toslink, coaxial and AES/EBU digital outputs.

The Dac3’s single control knob controls volume and selects among the Dac3’s five digital inputs: Toslink, two coaxial, AES/EBU and USB. The Dac3 can be directly hooked up to a computer using Windows 98 or later or any recent Mac operating system.

Since the CD-2 has a volume control, you could forgo the Dac3 altogether and hook up the CD-2 directly to the REF500 power amplifiers. But adding the Dac3 increases detail resolution and allows the system to be expanded to include other digital source components.

The REF500 mono power amplifiers each weigh a mere 15 pounds and deliver 250 watts into 8 ohms and 500 watts into 4 ohms. The amplifier uses top-quality parts including Caddock resistors, special ultra-low ESR decoupling capacitors and low-noise regulated power supplies. Audiophile goodies galore!

Ah, but the stack of four Bel Canto components—the CD-2, Dac3 and two REF500 power amplifiers—together draw less power when playing loud music than a 60-watt light bulb does (and less than 40 watts at idle). Most high-end systems guzzle power: My two Parasound JC-1 power amps together draw 500 watts at idle, and more than 2,500 watts at full power. Thanks to their uber efficiency, the REF500 amplifiers barely get warm, so there’s no need to provide ventilation or cooling fans for Bel Canto–powered systems.

Stronczer is a believer in “doing more with less,” and he’s not just referring to the system’s extraordinary power efficiency. Bel Canto offers buy-back programs for their older digital amplifiers. The traded-in electronics parts are recycled. Bel Canto components are assembled in Minneapolis, with parts sourced from North American suppliers.

I love the REF500s’ power without guilt, power without heat, and high performance without compromise ethos. The sound grabbed my attention right away, but I have to admit I haven’t been all that happy with too many digital amps. The better solid-state and tube amplifiers simply have more get-up and go. I was fully prepared to dissect the e.One components’ sound, on the lookout for traces of “digititus.”

With Bel Canto REF500s, I had to work a little harder to get a beat on the sound. There was something about the way these components preserve the music’s drive; the “spaces” between instruments are delineated like never before.

The instantaneous attack of a wooden stick striking a cymbal, a bow moving across a violin’s strings, a piano’s hammers hitting strings—the Bel Canto components nail those sounds.

Yes, there were a few sonic quibbles: the REF500s foreshortened soundstage depth and their tonal balance is on the lean side of neutral.

It’s funny, I wasn’t a big Creedence Clearwater Revival fan back in the day, but over the years I’ve seen the light. It’s elemental rock and roll at its best, and I loved the way the Bel Canto stack cut to the heart and soul of Creedence’s music. When Fogerty screams/sings “The nighttime is the right time...,” it was goosebump city.

The REF500 amp’s abundant power reserves never came up short.

Stronczer is currently working on a series of even more advanced digital components, including upgrades that can be retrofitted to older generation models. So you see, Bel Canto isn’t just different, it’s better!

PRICES:
Bel Canto CD2: $2,995
Dac3, $2,495
REF500: $4,990/pair

CONTACT: 866.200.7342, belcantodesign.com