I think I am going to be able to try a pair of Bel Canto REF600M amps that are less than 8 months old. If I like them, the price is about $3100.

My TRefs sound so good, with a great soundstage and a wonderful precise sound throughout the range that I can't imagine a better sound - I may never leave my chair! By the way, to my ears the best way to set up my Anthem receiver for stereo is to set the TRefs to full with no sub and no Anthem Room Correction, and let the speakers do their thing.

fred

GDHAL,

I'm fortunate to have Mickey Hart's Planet Drum (1991) and At the Edge (1990). The Beam appears on Planet Drum, as I recall. These are great percussion albums.

Charlie

fbreynolds wrote: I think I am going to be able to try a pair of Bel Canto REF600M amps that are less than 8 months old. If I like them, the price is about $3100.

My TRefs sound so good, with a great soundstage and a wonderful precise sound throughout the range that I can't imagine a better sound - I may never leave my chair!

That's a great price, and I hope they work out for you! Funny, I have the same problem with my TRefs; If I don't get up and move one of these weeks, I'll be stuck in my seat forever...

Charlie

Anyone have any thoughts on RCA cables to connect to the Bel Canto? Or whether it may sound better connecting from my Oppo UDP-203 or from the Anthem MRX 1120?

thanks,
fred

fbreynolds wrote: Anyone have any thoughts on RCA cables to connect to the Bel Canto? Or whether it may sound better connecting from my Oppo UDP-203 or from the Anthem MRX 1120?

thanks,
fred

Fred, I'm using RCAs (Audience, see below) to connect to the Bel Cantos. The sound is great, but I'm too cheap to buy an equivalent set in XLR to compare. Frankly, the sound is so good I have no desire to change.

I'm not familiar with your Anthem, but I used to connect directly from my Oppo 105D to my amp. I upgraded to a better DAC and now I run from that DAC (which also serves as a preamp) to my Bel Cantos. I noticed a big improvement in the sound changing to the DAC; the biggest difference was more bass, but also the sound was sweeter with much less digital harshness. I don't know how the 203 compares that way, but you might experiment and see what you hear.

Charlie

The seller who sold them to me says they sound better with xlr. I also spoke to the owner of bel canto over email and he mentioned xlr as well.

I just upgraded my deqx to a premate with xlr inputs and have ordered a pair of xlr to try it. I will post when I do some comparisons