Condition your power.
Ah, Merlin,
Long time no speak, my friend, and glad to see you are still around. Have you been on holidays? Anyway, glad to see that we are, at least, singing off the same hymn sheet with our blinkers removed, whilst still trying to keep things civil.

The Bel Canto does wake up with a good power conditioner in the mix (although it still does not sound like a valve amp) but I preferred not to dwell on that aspect of it. IMO, it should sound excellent on its own and a power conditioner should not be a necessary addition to it especially at their current retail prices. The power conditioner should be an optional extra, not an absolute requirement for good sound. So in addition to the cost of the amp, Bel Canto owners should also budget for a GBP 500+ power conditioner before they can really hear what their amp can do? This world has really gone mad. Hence my comments about BC going back to the drawing board (and they are not the only ones). I know where you are coming from but was trying to see the other side, with blinkers removed, of course.

Btw, are you familiar with the rugged-looking power conditioner in the picture?
So you use valves for mids, and switching amps for bass duties? Well, all I can say is that you are speaking my language Merlin and I can't believe that we are both agreeing here.

What's your latest set-up including speakers?
As for the
Karan effect, yes, it is very special indeed. A sound that is not quite valve, but not quite solid-state either, a sound that engages, relaxes, caresses and smoothes a hard day's stressful elements. An amp that can indicate what's wrong upstream or downstream and times much better than a Swiss watch,

with excellent highs, mids & bass combined with bullet-proof build quality.

That's what music listening is all about.

By the way do you like Conrad Johnson gear? As for current U.K. pricing on Conrad Johnson stuff, again I agree with you and cannot believe what a raw deal my U.K. brothers are getting on a lot of things over there - higher prices, shorter warranties etc, etc. However, Audiofreaks are not the only sharks out there. There are quite a few fighting for market share over there.
Enjoy the music,
Lawrie.
