Best Sound in the show this year goes to the Bel Canto/Von Schweikert/Analysis Plus room.
In past years, I've loved Bel Canto for their outstanding line of elegant tubed electronics. This system was quite a departure for them. It featured the Bel Canto DAC1, the PrEVo solid state preamp, and the Evo 200.2 digital switching amp, still a rare bird in high-end audio. The DAC1 effectively upsamples from 16 bits/44.1 kHz to 24 bits/96 kHz. Cables were from Analysis Plus, Inc., who make a variety of unique hollow oval silver and copper speaker cables & interconnects, which bear further investigation. The speakers were the new Von Schweikert VR-7.
This system was the first in the show, and one of only a handful, to send chills down my spine.
The sound was gorgeous, stunning, and natural, with outstanding timbre and reproduction of female vocals. The choir was wide and deep, and bass reproduction was tight and solid. On the Harry Allen, I felt like I was hearing the real body and key structure of the sax to an extent I've never heard before. Piano and percussion were solid, and well defined in space.
All in all, an outstanding room, aided, no doubt, by its large (18' x 31') dimensions, and by the set-up services of Michael Broughton of The Audiophile's Source. Congratulations to all.
Dave Glackin,
Enjoy the Music March 2000
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Fed Price $397.00