Bel Canto and the 6Moons Taste
by Josh Ray, Apr 25 '06
It's no secret that the 6Moons crew loves the new Bel Canto slim line components. Before getting into the details, it's worth mentioning 6Moons Srajan's defense of the 6Moons reviewing practices. Any frequenter of these pages is aware that 6Moons has favorites, namely Bel Canto, Zu, Gallo, Eastern Electric and a handful of others. Should they cover other equipment or only the gear they like?
Srajan says they should only cover the gear that gets their blood pumping, and I agree. For those with similar tastes to the 6Moonies, they have a home. It's interesting how in the last five or so years the industry has really broken apart along certain lines, like tubes and high-eff versus multi-drivers and SS power. We know audiophiles have different tastes, so why not embrace them in different publications?
In any case, it should come as no surprise the new Bel Canto gear wins accolades left and right from the 6Moons guys. First up are the Reference 1000 monoblocks rocking, you guessed it, 1000 watts of power (4ohms) from ICEpower digital amps. $1990 each.
Then we have the PRe3 preamp and S-300 stereo amp at $1695 and $1395 respectively. The S-300 brings 300 stereo watts (4ohms) to the game and the PRe3 builds off Bel Canto's very popular previous generation preamps. Nice and svelte, it's nice to see a move away from big 17" black boxes.
Posted by: Ken at April 26, 2006 9:33 AM
I have a Bel Canto eVo2i that I picked up as a dealer demo for about half price (otherwise I probably couldn't have afforded it)...totally outclasses everything else in my system, I love it. And the reviewers comment in 6Moons and other publications were right on as far as I am concerned, so I have no complaints about their reviewing.
Oh, and I don't think that is a tuner above, I think those are monoblock amplifiers. Not sure what the remote is for...
Posted by: Steve at April 26, 2006 9:49 AM
Actually, it's the PRe3 preamplifier on the top and the S-300 stereo amp on the bottom. The numbers are just the volume, not your local talk radio station.
Posted by: Josh Ray [SonicFlare] at April 26, 2006 2:12 PM
I have to say, I heard this combo over the weekend with a pair of ASW Genius 300s (a German speaker that gets very little love, which I suppose is appropriate for a German speaker), and the result was stunning.
If you haven't heard about (or heard) the ASW, it's pretty remarkable...and under 3K...
Posted by: Matt DeMaio at April 26, 2006 3:31 PM
"We know audiophiles have different tastes, so why not embrace them in different publications?"
Hi Josh,
While I see where you’re going, I have to respectfully disagree.
If you’re a root beer guy, how can you discuss how root beer differs from modern colas unless you review colas? How colas differ from lemon-lime sodas? If you stick to root beers and never venture out of your comfort zone, inevitably you’re going to lose perspective and then you become a zealot. Zealots don’t often offer very open-minded or objective advice. And had I just stuck to tube amplifiers I never would have discovered how great the Bel Canto amplifiers are.
No, there’s way too much great stuff out there to close one’s self off from any of it and I wouldn’t trust the advice of anybody who does. Let’s keep it all inclusive, man.
Gotta go. I’m suddenly very thirsty!
All the best,
John Potis
6moons
Posted by: John Potis at April 26, 2006 4:46 PM
I made that same drink analogy about marriage once, but that's a story for another time...
My point is about how there are trends in the biz. Sure, it's good to get perspective, but the day Srajan buys Wilson and Krell is the day hell freezes over and Mac switches to Intel. Oh, wait...
But, seriously, different strokes for different folks. You may like Bel Canto's new amps, but that's probably because Bel Canto is a "tube-gone-digital" company and voices their goodies to your tastes. And that's what I love about 6Moons -- there is a specific taste and you either love it or not. And there's no pretense or pandering to some fictitious ideal.
Really, the reason I believe we need to embrace different tastes is because of the constant bickering on Asylum and elsewhere: "ABC speaker is better than XYZ speaker!" "Your mom!" "No, YOUR mom!" And the argument is over some single driver speaker against a Von Schweikert beast, or something. It's like asking which car is better: a Ferrari or a Rolls Royce? Ludicrous and the car industry knows it. We should follow their model, imo.
Posted by: Josh Ray [SonicFlare] at April 26, 2006 5:31 PM
"My point is about how there are trends in the biz. Sure, it's good to get perspective, but the day Srajan buys Wilson and Krell is the day hell freezes over and Mac switches to Intel. Oh, wait...
... exactly. It's not about zealotry or tunnel vision, it’s about finding that which serves the music. Don’t forget that there are three recipients of the Lunar Eclipse award, a 1000-watt solid-state amplifier, a medium-low efficiency Gallo speaker and the highly efficient Zu Cable Druid. Those Wilsons could yet make the list!
Best,
JP
Posted by: j at April 26, 2006 9:18 PM
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