Bel Canto Evo 2i
Seeing as I've had this integrated amp in my possession for nearly 2 weeks now, I suppose I had better note down my impressions here.
The marketing spiel from the manufacturer can be found at their website:
http://www.belcantodesign.com/html/p_evo2i.html
The amp was purchased second hand and imported from the US. Voltage changeover from 110V to 240V was easily achieved by removal of the case lid off and changing the position of two connectors on one of the motherboards. The previous owner had only put the amp through 50 hours of usage, and the condition upon delivery was indistinguishable from new. The manual recommends a 40 hour warm up period before optimal performance is achieved everytime the amp has been powered down for any significant amount of time. Additionally, initial burn-in time is reported to be in the region of several hundred hours, something which I personally find very hard to believe, but certainly there were notable improvements and changes in the sound during at least the first 3 days and then more subtle changes over the preceding week where the sound became more open and less dark sounding at the top end and a touch more committed and driven at the bottom end. The amp has been continually active during the past 2 weeks, with music being played through it even whilst I've been out of the house.
There were a number of things which struck me upon initially plugging the Evo2i into my system in place of the resident and more than familiar Pass Labs Aleph P and Gamut D200 pre/power combo that I've been using solid for the past 2 years. Firstly, the midrange was noticeably projected more forward in relation to the rest of the frequency range, this I felt to be a positive attribute as I felt that things might have been a touch recessed before; this mid forwardness was also not in the least bit uncomfortable. Secondly, the subjective pace seemed slower with a lot of familiar music on the Evo2i compared to how I was used to hearing it. Certainly compared to a lot of other amps I've heard, the Gamut gives a very fast and exhilarating ride with plenty of slam and life. The Evo2i in comparison seems more even-handed, leans towards inoffensiveness and is somewhat a control freak - almost reserved or uncommitted at times it seems.
One of the unmistakable characteristics of amps based on the various PWM technologies (i.e. class D or class T) is the absolute vice-like grip that they appear to have over the drivers in your speakers, IME. The Evo2i is no exception to this, and whilst I felt I was getting ultimately less extension and detail retrieval at the very extremes of the upper and especially the lower end of the frequency range, the overall impression of accuracy and stop-start of the frequency ranges it was covering were much more impressive. For certain types of music, especially more laid back or gentle styles, the Evo2i was a revelation. The Gamut is no slouch, it can play the gentle giant and be subtle despite its brute force capabilities, but the Evo2i grows, swells and caresses in a very delicate way that even made the Gamut seem slightly ragged and electronic by comparison. Then again, for more aggressive or upfront styles of music, the Gamut's ability to push harder and it's generally ballsier demur won the day. Actually, the Gamut punches harder, but appears to over shoot, whereas the Evo2i doesn't throw the punch as hard but gets the timing and consistency right everytime. Now, for me, I generally don't mind a bit more upper frequency hardness and/or low end wallop in trade for some over shoot or imprecision of timing/rhythmic delineation (others will prefer the precision of course).
Yes, the Evo2i is a more tuneful player of bass-lines and general overall timing due to the taughtness its speaker driver control and this is of course an area of notable improvement over what I had before, so a point scored for the musicality brigade there.
The soundstage is much more open, airier and generally bigger on the Gamut, by comparison the Evo2i presents a more homogenous but certainly not closed or lacking in ambience. I prefer the Evo2i's presentation because the image is more coherent, focused and fixed in position. Now, whether the Evo2i gives this impression through being ultimately less detailed and analytical especially in the upper HF region than the Pass/Gamut combo I was using before I'm not sure, but the Pass/Gamut I'd say is definitely more discriminating of source material feed into them. I've read some reviews that have said the Evo2i to be very transparent and revealing, well it is, but IME it's actually relatively forgiving too but without sounding obviously coloured or veiled. Certainly if the Evo2i were a power amp I'd certainly not consider the addition of a valve (or any other euphonic sounding) pre amp to drive it, as the harmonic richness in the mids that you usually associate with valve gear seems so apparently there in this solid state design, but without cloy or syrupiness. Perhaps Bel Canto's previous expertise with valve amplifiers have been intentionally rubbed off by its designers onto its Evo series of Class T amps; the Evo2i's immediate blood relative predecessor was the "SETi 40" valve integrated.
Until today I was faced with a bit of conundrum. Should I wait a bit longer to see if the Evo2i wakes up a bit more and gains a smidgen more life due to having a bit more burn in - I really do think it's fully burnt in now. Have some internal surgery performed to tweak out what's missing or go for broke and get a second-hand Evo4 (or Evo 200.4) and partner with a Bel Canto or Audio Synthesis passive pre. Well, the latter possibility would probably be the ultimate off the shelf solution, but it would defeat the object of the original exercise and that was to financially downsize and reduce the box count of my system. A bit of internal surgery may well be on the cards, but first priority is to get the Evo2i running off of a really good mains supply. I've own two different types of mains conditioners which I'm able to try the Evo2i out with. Today, WM brought around a prototype main conditioner unit that he's been developing, and well I would guess this might not put the Evo2i into the same league as a bridged Bel Canto power amp but it gave me a
and injected a useful step up in assertiveness and gave even more refinement both at the same time. Oh, and I now know what the meaning of ââ'¬Å"long throwââ'¬Â viz the woofers in my speakers is all about!
:banana:
Seeing as I've had this integrated amp in my possession for nearly 2 weeks now, I suppose I had better note down my impressions here.
The marketing spiel from the manufacturer can be found at their website:
http://www.belcantodesign.com/html/p_evo2i.html
The amp was purchased second hand and imported from the US. Voltage changeover from 110V to 240V was easily achieved by removal of the case lid off and changing the position of two connectors on one of the motherboards. The previous owner had only put the amp through 50 hours of usage, and the condition upon delivery was indistinguishable from new. The manual recommends a 40 hour warm up period before optimal performance is achieved everytime the amp has been powered down for any significant amount of time. Additionally, initial burn-in time is reported to be in the region of several hundred hours, something which I personally find very hard to believe, but certainly there were notable improvements and changes in the sound during at least the first 3 days and then more subtle changes over the preceding week where the sound became more open and less dark sounding at the top end and a touch more committed and driven at the bottom end. The amp has been continually active during the past 2 weeks, with music being played through it even whilst I've been out of the house.
There were a number of things which struck me upon initially plugging the Evo2i into my system in place of the resident and more than familiar Pass Labs Aleph P and Gamut D200 pre/power combo that I've been using solid for the past 2 years. Firstly, the midrange was noticeably projected more forward in relation to the rest of the frequency range, this I felt to be a positive attribute as I felt that things might have been a touch recessed before; this mid forwardness was also not in the least bit uncomfortable. Secondly, the subjective pace seemed slower with a lot of familiar music on the Evo2i compared to how I was used to hearing it. Certainly compared to a lot of other amps I've heard, the Gamut gives a very fast and exhilarating ride with plenty of slam and life. The Evo2i in comparison seems more even-handed, leans towards inoffensiveness and is somewhat a control freak - almost reserved or uncommitted at times it seems.
One of the unmistakable characteristics of amps based on the various PWM technologies (i.e. class D or class T) is the absolute vice-like grip that they appear to have over the drivers in your speakers, IME. The Evo2i is no exception to this, and whilst I felt I was getting ultimately less extension and detail retrieval at the very extremes of the upper and especially the lower end of the frequency range, the overall impression of accuracy and stop-start of the frequency ranges it was covering were much more impressive. For certain types of music, especially more laid back or gentle styles, the Evo2i was a revelation. The Gamut is no slouch, it can play the gentle giant and be subtle despite its brute force capabilities, but the Evo2i grows, swells and caresses in a very delicate way that even made the Gamut seem slightly ragged and electronic by comparison. Then again, for more aggressive or upfront styles of music, the Gamut's ability to push harder and it's generally ballsier demur won the day. Actually, the Gamut punches harder, but appears to over shoot, whereas the Evo2i doesn't throw the punch as hard but gets the timing and consistency right everytime. Now, for me, I generally don't mind a bit more upper frequency hardness and/or low end wallop in trade for some over shoot or imprecision of timing/rhythmic delineation (others will prefer the precision of course).
Yes, the Evo2i is a more tuneful player of bass-lines and general overall timing due to the taughtness its speaker driver control and this is of course an area of notable improvement over what I had before, so a point scored for the musicality brigade there.
The soundstage is much more open, airier and generally bigger on the Gamut, by comparison the Evo2i presents a more homogenous but certainly not closed or lacking in ambience. I prefer the Evo2i's presentation because the image is more coherent, focused and fixed in position. Now, whether the Evo2i gives this impression through being ultimately less detailed and analytical especially in the upper HF region than the Pass/Gamut combo I was using before I'm not sure, but the Pass/Gamut I'd say is definitely more discriminating of source material feed into them. I've read some reviews that have said the Evo2i to be very transparent and revealing, well it is, but IME it's actually relatively forgiving too but without sounding obviously coloured or veiled. Certainly if the Evo2i were a power amp I'd certainly not consider the addition of a valve (or any other euphonic sounding) pre amp to drive it, as the harmonic richness in the mids that you usually associate with valve gear seems so apparently there in this solid state design, but without cloy or syrupiness. Perhaps Bel Canto's previous expertise with valve amplifiers have been intentionally rubbed off by its designers onto its Evo series of Class T amps; the Evo2i's immediate blood relative predecessor was the "SETi 40" valve integrated.
Until today I was faced with a bit of conundrum. Should I wait a bit longer to see if the Evo2i wakes up a bit more and gains a smidgen more life due to having a bit more burn in - I really do think it's fully burnt in now. Have some internal surgery performed to tweak out what's missing or go for broke and get a second-hand Evo4 (or Evo 200.4) and partner with a Bel Canto or Audio Synthesis passive pre. Well, the latter possibility would probably be the ultimate off the shelf solution, but it would defeat the object of the original exercise and that was to financially downsize and reduce the box count of my system. A bit of internal surgery may well be on the cards, but first priority is to get the Evo2i running off of a really good mains supply. I've own two different types of mains conditioners which I'm able to try the Evo2i out with. Today, WM brought around a prototype main conditioner unit that he's been developing, and well I would guess this might not put the Evo2i into the same league as a bridged Bel Canto power amp but it gave me a
and injected a useful step up in assertiveness and gave even more refinement both at the same time. Oh, and I now know what the meaning of ââ'¬Å"long throwââ'¬Â viz the woofers in my speakers is all about!:banana:
and swopped some +/- 50V rails, made for an interesting pryotechic display anway 
I take it you're able to do that because Bel Canto don't actually have a distributor in Portugal?
