[Paul Speltz]

The Audio Society of Minnesota's October meeting featured local Minneapolis based Bel Canto Design. An extremely simple yet musical system was demonstrated which included the new Bel Canto e1X Integrated, a pair of AntiCables Level 6 Speaker Wires (yep, we went all out for this one), a single AntiCables Level 3 Power Cord (which is all that was needed), and the club's pair of Magnepan MG3.6R speakers. Bel Canto, AntiCables, and Magnepan are all in the Twin Cities metro area, so everything we listened to was manufactures in Minnesota.



John Stronzer started with the technical and design aspects of the Bel Canto e1X Integrated, which will be priced at $8,500. A simple way to describe it is, they squeezed together their $6500 e1X DAC/Control Preamp and their $6000 e1X Stereo Amplifier, into a single chassis, minus less power and less cost. If you're able to get buy with 250 watts instead of 400 watts into 4 ohms, you can go for the e1X Integrated and save $4000. 



I'll post more about this event when time allows.

Got to run.

Thanks!

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

[mr_bill]

Thanks for posting Paul,
I was at Audio Perfection a week ago and heard the Mag 3.7i with Black separates and it was amazing - one of the best systems I’ve ever heard.

[Paul Speltz]

mr_bill,

Yes, that sounds like it would be a good combination. My digital machine is the Bel Canto EX DAC which is halfway between the what you heard at Audio Perfection, and what was demoed at the Oct meeting.

In addition to "Volume" and "Balance", these Bel Canto units all have subtle "Bass Level" and "Tilt" adjustments which are done very well in the digital domain in 0.6dB increments (which are very handy).

I've been leaning on John Stronzer to add a "Blend" adjustment. Think of a "Mono" switch, but now make it a sliding scale instead of just on or off. I did this myself in the analog domain, in my previous preamp and loved it. I used it on early jazz recording where instruments are panned either hard Left or hard Right. Blending the two channels together a bit acoustically pulles those instruments off the speakers and slides them more towards the center. Blending the right amount lets those instruments image deeper in the sound stage between the speakers, while also allowing the recording to remain stereo sounding. 

Do you ever make it to the Audio Society of Minnesota meetings?

Thanks!

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

[mr_bill]

I never have attended but that’s cause I live next door in North Dakota.
Love visiting the cities and hearing the high end equipment.

[Paul Speltz]

I'm up and going extra early this morning, so I have a chance to chat more about the Bel Canto meeting. The previous photo I posted is of Jon Stronzer showing that their gear comes with an app that allows users to navigate their music files and/or navigate their streaming service from their phone or pad.

John, like me, also recognizes that the perfect sounding cable is no cable, so he talked about the beneficial aspect of a one box integrated system. One less interconnect needed. You can see in this photo how simplistic the system wiring was (AntiCables Level 6 Speaker Wires & Level 3 Power Cord, and a fancy network cable John Stronzer brought).






 
The e1X Integrated was connected to the internet streaming Tidal. John was clear to point out that not all gear does the full "unfolding" of the MQA file. If you have been unimpressed with a past MQA demonstration, you were probably listening gear that was not fully decoding the MQA file.
   
Bel Canto's Michael McCormick jumped in when it was time to enjoy music. He played a variety of songs using his phone. The system sounded very good, which was especially remarkable considering it was a cold, fresh out of the box unit that was first powered up only as the meeting began.

Thanks to John and Michael for putting such an informative, casual, and great sounding meeting.

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)