Bel canto/conrad johnson

Firstly and big thank-you is needed to go out to ED at the service department at Conrad Johnson (USA, VIRGINIA),a extremely helpful man off paitience in helping me convert the voltage of the new Conrad Johson pre PV10,and through his help as this was made possible.

Secondly another big thankyou goes in the direction of Tony over at Omiga Audio,for 1) suggesting and recommending the Bel Canto 2)making himself avaliable in any difficulities that would have arose in the conversion change of the amp that may have been needed,and allowing me to pick his brains and time,so a big thank-you goes out to thoes two individuals.


Well there is always a risk from buying from the states,and what ifs???,luckily the two people i have delt with have been two top notch guys who were a pleasure to deal with,with the goods arriving in mint condition.

The two amps were to replace a exellent Copland valve amp,the copland mayored and focused on the midrange,with the frequincey extremes taking the back seat,so you got a pure live vocal rendition,it really didn't have any of the negative traits that can be assoiciated with valve amps it was snappy involving,and didn't really have any major flaws at its prospective price point,it had a superb phono stage and was built like a tank!and weighed 25kg,heavy beast,so why change?.Well isn't this hobby addictive?The urge for a little bit more performance,and that nagging little, what if i try this? niggling away in the back of your mind,and that devilish urge to upgrade and change for better or for worse.

I was tempted as the €uro was so strong against a weak dollar,it would be foolish not to take advantage of the situation,I had heard and enjoyed the valved pre of Conrad Johnson,so i set about getting one of thoes first.But what would be its partner?I thought alot about a copland SS power amp,as i liked the Copland sound and thier products are top quality with strong build.

But then again there was the Bel Canto with its class T operation,which Tony had started the ball rolling,it had superb reviews,and all that had heard the Bel canto sang of its praise,so I thought,well whats there to lose (apart from money)

In the end the voltage change on the Bel canto was a simple job,that even I could do,yes it was that easy.the Conrad Johnson had to be rewired,it was only 30€uros,shipping was about $200 for both with insurance,so not bad.

The time came to wire and fire them up,my system is unidentifiable to this time 1 years ago,where the sound was lusher,but I purchased the Cal Audio DAC,stunning piece of kit,and the Sonus Fabers were changed to some B&W P6,the SF were charming,holographic,but were only giving half the performance due to small drivers and cabinets size,plus the treble was a touch grey and grainy,so I went back to B&W which also have thier weak points,but look stunning in the cherry finish.

I put the amps on,great they both worked,the Conrad was superbly built with gtreat controls that felt solid,and precise that gave more range and usage than the Copland which was a bit sudden at low volume,whereas the Conrad gives greater control at low volumes,and allows more useage of the volume dial.

The bel canto is turned on from the rear of the amp, can be used as a mono block,at the switch of a button,hmmm very nice thoght,but i was to use it as a stereo power amp.The amps is like a brick,unimposing,(till you look inside and are greeted by a "hello boys"transformer!!!

A bel canto logo is on the left hand side of the amp,in gold and gives off a touch of class.But the nice suprise comes with a groovy little blue light,that looks real cool.

But how did the combo sound?well one thing that is amazing me at the moment,is that im reading alot of people claiming all things sound the same,here and in spain,under blind test they sound the same,amps,cables cd players,why is this pheonomenon happening? I honestly dont know because the pre power sound miles different to the copland,in fact at first it was a sonic shock,how?

At firat i noted two blatently obvious changes,firstly the treble,now the fact is the B&W are bright,detailed and can be onthe borderline of being harsh,well i noticed it became alot sweeter,liquid like in its fluity,cleaner it just changed so much for the better,it cleary the best ive heard it sound,the Bel canto really really excela is this area,I believe it will bring out the best of any tweeter as it so pure and dynamic.

The other obvious change was the midrange,wow was it strange at first,the Copland was forward pushing the vocalist righ out at you,bit in your face,live feel,but with the Bel Canto I felt it far more recessed,like they had joined the band again,it was quite startling it first,and was not sure what to make of if,but with time it did sound more natural,if restrained and different to what i was accustomed to.

The bottom end is far faster than the Copland,leaner,and cures quite a few boom room problems.

Having let the kit warm up over the past few days I would say that the Bel canto to me,is one hell of a power amps,it really passes the signal straight through,whats on the disc is what comes out of the speakers,its extremly dynamic,fast,clear and a super clean top end,with a restrained midrange,that does have a valve like natural timbre and realness to the sound,it exspensive new but offers truly involving sound the draws you in,and has you playing disc after disc,it so clean its unreal.

The Conrad to is exellent,I just wished it had a phono,so will look toward a creek or a graham slee in the future,but for now im enjoying the wizardry of these stunning amps.
_________________
UPGRADING-resistance is futile.

my hifi pixs: http://ImageEvent.com/adam1/hifipixs

 

Adam, Glad you like both of purchases, I feel you have the right combination there valve pre/ & the new generation solid state amplification (I require a 'more direct attack' captain, hence running direct, but I have heard my 200/4 with a manley pre, superb), for a previous valve user it's a complement indeed, Glad we sussed the conversion (pretty straight forward really),wish you many happy hours with your new sounds Mate T.

 

Good to hear how happy you are ADam
And that the bel canto goes with valve pre. im considering a 200.2 and a valve pre

 

Hi Adam!

Glad you've found happiness with some great kit.

As hannibal always said 'I love it when a plan comes together' !! hehe cant believe Ive just quoted the 'a' team.

As you say, time to play with some phono stages now....valve or solid state?!?!

NB Dont mean to cause you more expense, but it might be worth experimenting with alternative transports. I have, and my micromega is next on the butchers block called e-bay...


Chris

 

Hi Chris,

I'll just be looking at a reasonable phono stage,as I said something along the lines of creek OBH 8SE or the Graham Slee amp 2SE which looks intresting,I dont feel I need to go further than that price range as my vinyl collection is relatively small,and its not high quality stuff,it's mainly what i collected I my youth,that being, 2-tone/ska,reggae and the rest being pop,so im not needing nothing too demanding,just something fast and fun to bring back thoes memories from yesteryear.


Regarding the Micromega transport i'll probably hang on to it till it gives up the ghost,its been like a faithful friend and has been Micromega problem free for 7 odd years,plus I hope to be moving house soon,so will need all the funds to go in that direction first,I'd rather have a pair of Spendor sp100 to be honest.

 

Adam, looking nice .

As a user of several B&W speakers over the years (standmount and floorstander) I reckon you should move your p6's out from the wall (if you have the space). Both my CDM7NT's and 703's benefitted greatly from a touch more breathing space. At first it may seem that you're losing some bass but after a few hours of listening you'll realise that it's still there but considerably less coloured [by the room].

You may also find this reduces any vibrations in your equipment.
I've always been an advocate of keeping the rack in the middle but after shifting it to behind my right speaker, the vibrations have all but gone.

Justa thought.

 

Slightly off topic: can Sim Audio stuff be converted from US to European voltages easily, or does it need new transformers or anything?

 

Markus, it's my understanding that SimAudio kit needs new transformers unfortunately. A modification that Red Line in Scotland will do, but at a price. It's one of the reasons that even now with the ridiculously weak dollar it still doesn't really compensate to do a personal import of new SimAudio kit from the US. Second hand would be a different story though as merlin can testify

Michael.

 

Do Red Line get the original transformers from Sim Audio?

 

You may find gents, it doesn't require another Transformer , and redline don't do the mods, Dennis moorcroft is the main man there, I believe merlin can enlighten you more here, I'm having a elipise sent straight to me from the US (By the customer), so I can 'encourage' it some what, so give me a couple of weeks and I'll do a piece of the voltage conversion Ok. Wm

 

Thanks guys.

 

Markus,


I can confirm that the required parts come from Simaudio, and that redline get DNM/Reson to carry out the work.

Robbo

 

Adam - I presume you bought a used Bel Canto?

Going by Audiogon classifieds - I must say I am stunned just how cheaply these can be picked up - seems to be typically £600 (+/- £25) for 8/10 or 9/10 condition (not including shipping).

"Temp-ta-tion! gettin higher and higher... Temp-ta-tion!"

 

I guess the problem with photos is that they create an illusion as the speakers are about 45cm from the rear wall,I haven't hung my diffusors on the wall as I'm hoping to sell the property tommorow and will be looking for a slightly bigger room.The room had been a total nightmare,being a concrete box 3.5 m X 3.5m so i'll be plesad the see it go.The really odd thing is the bigger P6 work better than the little Sonus Fabers i had,and also the B&W cdm1,strange but true.Heard the 700 series the other week and was rather unimpressed,sounded thin and hard,but was taken in by spendor sp 100,shame the were so big, ugly,but did the sound so good.


Greg ,the Bel canto is a 2000/1 model and I paid 1000 €uros all included,postage/insurance etc,so yes they are a steal.