General Questions
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"Bel Canto" is an Italian phrase that translates to “beautiful singing,” a term historically used to describe a style of music celebrated for its purity, expression, and technical mastery. We chose this name because it perfectly reflects our passion for creating audio systems that capture the true beauty and emotion of music—delivering every note, nuance, and detail with the same artistry and precision that inspired the term in the first place.
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Bel Canto has proudly called Minnesota home since our founding in 1990. Located in the heart of the Midwest, we design and build our products in the United States while partnering with a network of trusted international dealers and distributors to bring our audio systems to music lovers around the world. Learn more about our story on our About page.
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All Bel Canto products are assembled, tested, and boxed by a small team of real, live workers at their factory in Minneapolis, MN USA.
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Depending on which unit you are controlling, you will need to press either the “PRE,” “DAC,” “CD,” or “Tuner” button on the remote in order for the remote to work. Please refer to your User Guide. The volume control will punch through to any Bel Canto unit with variable output regardless of what mode the remote is in. If only the volume works, that means you’ll need to push “PRE,” “DAC,” or “CD” to enter the correct mode for your unit.ription
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The compact chassis reflects the advanced technology that Bel Canto uses in its equipment. We put great performance and features into the e.One designs. Performance benefits arise from the use of strong steel construction that provide non-resonant mechanical advantages and impart a very neutral and musical sound that could only be achieved at much greater cost in a larger chassis. You can read more about the e.One series in the evolution section of our site.
DAC Questions
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Depending on which unit you are controlling, you will need to press the “DAC” button on the remote in order for the remote to work. Please refer to your User Guide. The volume control will punch through to any Bel Canto unit with variable output regardless of what mode the remote is in. If only the volume works, that means you’ll need to push “PRE,” “DAC,” or “CD” to enter the correct mode for your unit.
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Great improvement in clarity and dynamics result from removing unneeded analog processing stages. These improvements are realized through the advanced feature set designed into all of Bel Canto DAC products and DAC based integrated products such as the C5i and C7R. Performing signal switching and volume control in the 24 bit digital domain removes layers of signal loss and coloration from the playback path. Full benefit from the low noise/ high dynamic range design of our DAC products is realized when using them direct into the amplifier.
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Yes. Our DACs can switch between multiple active digital and analog (DAC2.7 and DAC3.7) sources.
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The cable box needs to send a standard 2-channel PCM data stream. The Dolby Digital/DTS data stream is encoded and needs the decoding that a surround receiver provides to play back correctly. You would need to see if the cable box has a menu setting for transmitting 2-channel PCM data, not DD or DTS data. Many DVD players have this setting and modern Cable boxes may have this option.
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Bel Canto DACs direct are generally better than a DAC through a preamp.
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Yes, this may well be normal. If you are using the Balanced the output level is 6dB higher than the RCA outputs. The volume control is designed to run on the high side as opposed to analog volume controls. This insures maximum dynamic range from the system. It is just fine to run the volume control well into the 90 range. Note that at 90 there is still 10dB of volume control left which is more than twice as loud!
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Yes. For example, you could connect the XLR outputs to the amplifier inputs and the RCA outputs to the line level inputs of your subwoofer. This works well, just note that the RCA outputs on the DAC are 6 dB lower than the XLR. Your subwoofer level control can compensate for this difference.
Amplifier Questions
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The advantages are numerous, beginning with efficiency, allowing very high power delivery using minimal output circuitry. Our modern switching architectures achieve noise and distortion levels that go beyond most traditional audio amplifiers and offer a transparent view back to the source while maintaining iron grip on the loudspeaker.
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1/4 inch to 1/2 inch spades should work fine.
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Because the RCA and XLR inputs are electrically in parallel you can use short jumpers from one amp to the other and drive a single amp with the a cable from the preamp or source. For example, if using an XLR cable from the source to the amp you could keep both amps set to XLR and use a short RCA cable from one amp to the other. This works very well. Alternatively if there is an RCA cable from the preamp/source to amps then use a short XLR jumper between each amp and set them to RCA input. This keeps the system with 1 long interconnect from the source and a very short jumper between the bi-amp pair of amps.
For a stereo amp or amps, assuming that you are using the Balanced XLR interconnect from the preamp to the amp, you can use a very short RCA link from the driven channel to the other channel on the same Amp chassis. Keep both inputs set to XLR. The RCA-RCA connection then functions as a pass-through link since the +/- of the XLR is connected directly to the +/gnd of the RCA jack on each channel. Just be sure to leave BOTH XLR/RCA buttons the amp must be set to XLR. We have done this and it works well.
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Yes. However, we have occasionally seen problems with tube preamps that have marginal HF stability. This can cause oscillation and noise intermodulating into the audio band. This is most likely a problem with tube preamps that have high gain and are built using hand wiring versus a PC board. Excessive wiring inductance can cause the preamp to be unstable at RF frequencies. The preamp needs to be able to drive 100Kohm loads which should not be a problem in general.
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Yes. We have used them with numerous types of electrostatic loudspeakers. Maximum purely capacitive load is around 0.3 uF. If there is some series inductance or resistance in the load then there will be no problem.
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If the Preamp is RCA out then just use the RCA in on the amp. The signal path is identical for either RCA or XLR inputs on the amplifiers.
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Approach this option with care as the amplifiers draw dynamic current from the supply. I would recommend using the largest supply that you can get, with high transient current capability, and try the supply before committing to purchase. The amplifiers often sound best straight from the wall or through a passive power device. Power dissipation is low on the amps at idle, around 10W each, and transient current draw can be high, many power regeneration devices will limit peak current draw and this will cause softening of dynamics and clarity.
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No. These are electrically in parallel and would short the two source outputs together. You will either need to run through a passive switch box or run, for example, the front channels of your surround processor through inputs on your main preamp. These inputs should be set to unity gain and when the processor is selected the volume will be controlled from it.
Sources/Computer Audio Questions
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The best sound quality from the computer comes from using ethernet to connect to the REFStream. You can also use one of our Asynchronous USB links: mLink, uLink or REFLink. These ensure the lowest possible noise on the digital signal that feeds your DAC. You will also want to use either JRiver on the PC or Audirvana, Pure Music or Amarra on the Mac for best sound quality.
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For a MAC based system using Audirvana, Pure Music or Amarra you will want to select the Bel Canto uLink as your playback default. You may also need to insure that this option is selected within the Midi Audio window and insure that volume is set to maximum in the Midi application.
A PC based system with JRiver will require downloading the Windows Driver, following the installation instructions bundled in the .ZIP file, and then choosing the Bel Canto uLink as default in the Sound application and/or within JRiver.
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Our USB Links do NOT do any up-sampling but the new Asynchronous mLink, uLink and REFLink all re-clock the digital outputs with low and ultra-low phase-noise clocks. This brings an organic quality to digital audio playback that is critical to hearing the most from all of your digital music files. Leave the up-sampling to your DAC.
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Depending on which unit you are controlling, you will need to press either the “PRE,” “DAC,” or “CD” button on the remote in order for the remote to work. Please refer to your User Guide. The volume control will punch through to any Bel Canto unit with variable output regardless of what mode the remote is in. If only the volume works, that means you’ll need to push “PRE,” “DAC,” or “CD” to enter the correct mode for your unit.