Bel Canto Design EVo2i Stereo Integrated amp

EVo2i with all the goodies. Recent factory upgrade with new power supply caps ($250) and output stage ($200) improvements. Original (removed) parts included. This full size integrated has a balanced input pair along with four RCA inputs and a tape loop. A line out is also offered for connection to another power amp or sub.

BEL CANTO DESIGN EVO2i INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

Corporate culture at the top

Since its year 2000 introduction, the eVo amplifier circuitry of Bel Canto Design's chip-based digital power processing by Tripath has garnered enviable press. Make that enviably comprehensive. Without exception, said critics (this scribe among them) have touted its performance as fit for the highest floor of the SS Corp.'s downtown high rise. The overall consensus? That it lives behind one of the more modestly frosted doors without sandblasted detailing. One that pronounces in still hushed tones "You've got the smarts, cred and work ethics to belong here, junior. But where's the discretionary income to impress the old-timers with? The de rigeur $2,000/pr hand-crafted Italian leather loafers and matching Saville Row suits? Where's your white Berber, granite wet bars, mahogany paneling and the Asian designer secretary? Smell them thorns, bubba. Charge like the big boyz do."

It was thus only a matter of time. Designer John Stronczer would eventually get with the program - claim rightful occupancy of one of the solid-state tower's posher top-floor offices. Should he add 24-carat gold plated front panels? Insert weight-deception lead liners? Command exotic retails that would mean instant credibility with High-End audio's exclusive SOTA club? The eVo2i -- and the rest of the revamped line -- does sport the new vertically curved silver front panel introduced at CES 2002. It's the classy nouveau Bel Canto aesthetic and wedded to tasty blue displays and status indicators.

But as any woman will be quick to point out -- - no matter how tastefully blue you'll turn upon choking on the bill -- when shopping for that ring, silver is not gold. Now take the eVo 2i. At $3,200, this very stylish integrated marries the linestage of the PRe1 ($2,395) and the output stage of the utalitarian but bona fide high performance black original eVo 200.2 ($2,395). That leaves $1,600 to please your foxy lady with a fine diamond. It's clear Stronczer paid the top-floor execs only partial heed. The eVo 2i's turnabout from 1+1=2 arithmetic clearly undermines their advice on inflationary pricing tactics. Instead it embraces his original value concept, perhaps farther than any of his previous product launches.

The eVolution continues

For starters, saving you $1,600 on a spare chassis is very generous. Removing one preamplifier gain stage -- now equally redundant due to the integrated concept -- could actually mean superior performance. Throwing improved cosmetics into the bargain is more generous still. For the 2i, Stronczer also copied the PRe1's wonderfully comprehensive functionality and substantial custom aluminum remote. It controls volume in 0.5dB increments; changes inputs via numerical direct-access; adjusts balance; turns the display on/off; goes to standby or mute. Further details? How about automatic display brightness attenuation after receipt of commands, and auto memory default to an input's last-used volume setting?

But where the PRe1's remote balance provision merely lit up left or right pointing green arrows -- without attendant readout confirmation for each possible click of added attenuation -- the 2i gives you 0.5 decibel numerical steps. Where the PRe1's input display communicated via small red dots above small non-illuminated numbers 1 thru 5, the 2i's central blue display (large and easy to read) tells you "input 4" instead. Instead of complete attenuation, the 2i's mute command at first corresponds to a "soft" display. It attenuates signal by a preset 20dB - plenty low to take a phone call but not enough to forget that your source is still playing. If "mute" is pressed twice before the display dims, attenuation is complete for dead silence, confirmed by a "mute" instead of "soft" display. Output levels can be changed in either mode. Once "mute" or "soft" is defeated, the 2i automatically ramps up to the newly programmed volume setting. Slick.

But wait, the 2i's smarter still. Switching between inputs automatically performs a ramp-down/ramp-up to avoid sudden output changes. Once you've entered the input configuration menu (either by holding the front panel "enter" button for two seconds or by pressing the one on the remote control eight times), all unused inputs except "tape" can be disabled.

With a maximum voltage gain of 16dB (unity gain corresponds to a display readout of 84) each input's initial output level is factory-preset at 65 - a 19dB attenuation from a source's input voltage. This programmed value can be customized for each input. So can the -20dB auto soft setting. And: Each input can be named with up to eight upper or lower characters for some cheap or impressive thrills (see right).

Can't buy royalty? Really? Knighthood and old age are merely key strokes away...

Having lived with the PRe1 since my review, I consider these additions very luxurious, welcome but quite unexpected. They represent sophisticated refinements over what already had been a very trick, intuitive and user-friendly interface.

As has been Bel Canto's habit since the SETi40's tenure, front panel controls are silver push buttons, albeit elegantly smaller than on either the 2i's tubed predecessor or the now discontinued PRe1 and SEP1. The two to the left of the central LED display control "mute" and "enter", the five to its right read "main" (toggling thru the inputs unlike the remote that allows direct access), "volume up/down", "tape" and "standby".

Between the two rightmost buttons rests a small round LED. It remains off while the main display is activated but otherwise lights up blue to become the only visual reminder for full-on power status. In standby (also available via remote) it defaults to red.

Unless the rear-mounted AC mains switch is deactivated, the 2i mutes its outputs in standby but retains an active charge in the circuitry for optimum performance. With its famed 90% efficiency, the Tripath technology remains luke warm to the touch even under max output conditions (120/200w into 8/4 ohms respectively) and consumes absolutely minimal wall juice in standby. It makes complete power-down mandatory only during violent close-by thunder storms or vacation leaves.

Rear panel connectivity includes 4 inputs (1 balanced, 3 single-ended), 1 tape loop and 1 buffered pre-out for possible passive bi-amping with an eVo 2 or 200.2 or a second-zone system. Due to negligible output impedance common for solid state amplifiers, damping factor is given as greater than 100.

A look at the innards revealed the pre- and power amplifier section boards and the massive 538VA potted toroid.

I originally wrote a sidebar to Marc Mickelson's 2001 SoundStage! review of the just-released eVo 200.2. Feature reviews on the eVo 200.4 and PRe1 followed. Referenced earlier, the sonic case evidence on the 200.2 via the numerous, readily accessible performance reviews on Bel Canto's website is rather conclusive.

Faced with doing the honors on the 2i, it seemed terribly trite and redundant to approach it on auto repeat pilot. Why describe the well-established eVo sound all over again, especially since I had done so twice before?

No, I wanted to ask the burning question prospective owners would likely die to have answered:

How would the integrated version perform when compared to the eVo 200.4 (running unbridged for identical power, only two channels driven to mimic the eVo 200.2) fed by the PRe1? Put more bluntly, could the savvy shopper now obtain $4,800 performance for $3,200?

I suffered two assumptions that needed clarification. The eVo2i omits one preamplifier gain stage. The less-is-more audio truism predicts enhanced transparency. The eVo 200.4's power transformer (being a 4-channel HomeTheater piece) is three times larger than the 2i's. With demanding speaker loads, one might expect differences in drive and bass control. Here my ability to render judgment would be limited. Probably the most "challenging" load I had access to were nOrh's SM6.9 loudspeakers. Under those still rather benign circumstances, the cards may have been stacked slightly in favor of the 2i. If one didn't need the added oomph a more massive transformer should likely bestow, would simplifying the pre/power amp interface (one less interconnect, one less gain stage) become the deciding factor? Would the scales tip in favor of the one-box unit?

Surprises on high

I kicked off with my Avantgarde DUO reference system. I stacked the three Bel Canto components on the top shelf for easy access and quickest cable changes. The 2i proved quiet as the proverbial grave, quite a feat with >103dB speaker sensitivity. The separates combo played as ghostly dead once connected in balanced fashion. Single-ended hookup caused a nasty, unexpected and ultimately elusive ground loop.

Muting whatever system was active to switch cables took all of one minute. I needn't have worried though. While both presentations were clearly cut from the same yarn, the differences were not only surprisingly audible but centered, least anticipated, on the treble. Simply, the 2i was more lit up. It exhibited more HF energy, drew stronger contrasts to highlight outlines around performers and forged the concomitant and immediate perception of added transient detail. Combined, this created a sense of excitement that contrasted with the separates' greater relaxation.

While the transparent quality of the eVo architecture is by now quite legendary, the 2i seemed to inch ahead yet farther. This certainly didn't span an impossible mile but was appreciable enough to make me feel rewarded with a bit more detail and liveliness. None of the famed midrange purity, soundstaging acumen, exceedingly defined yet realistically weighted bass performance or tube-like naturalness were affected. This heightened resolving power was not purchased at the cost of analytical coldness but rather made for greater active involvement.

Take Sezen Aksu's Adi Bende Sakli, an album currently playing inordinate requests chez nous. "Ben Sevdali sen Belali" opens with multiple plucked guitars and cello con arco. The 2i better resolved the various sounds of irregular friction between horse hair and string, the guitarists' stealthy yet audible fingering changes on the fret boards, their sharp attacks of shortened strings bursting like millisecond sparks from embers while illuminating the surrounding darkness of space. Sezen's vulnerable broken voice, and those more remote ones of her backup singers during the chorus, were drier, more damped via the eVo 200.4. The 2i mimicked a careful reduction of room absorption to boost its "live" factor without turning overbearing cathedral. Sibilants and leading edges were slightly more emphasized.

"Tutuklu" on the same album is a very seductive number with typical house style synth beats. On a fullrange speaker like the DUOs, those can pleasurably massage the family jewels to cause an involuntary notch up in volume by a few clicks for - ahem, some more good vibrations.

The 2i rendered the ones way down low in the gutter with the same weight and impact but had a bit more bloom in the upper midbass, a sense of aura related to its HF halo that made the eVo 200.4 sound somewhat more damped or contained in this band.

Image a lunar satellite live feed. One astronaut jumps off the shuttle onto hard rock, another into sand. In slow motion, you can see how the sand kicks up while compressing slightly underfoot - the 2i's bloom in the midbass. The impact on solid rock doesn't feature this minute elasticity - the eVo 200.4's comparative dryness.

While the astronaut's knee joints will clearly prefer the cushioned sand landing, your overall listening preferences certainly won't be based on physical pain. I personally favored the 2i. Those like me who fancy the signature sound of French speaker manufacturer Triangle -- lively, among other reasons, because of a craftily contoured treble -- would likely give the same nod. A Spendor fan might prefer the eVo 200.4.

But these are just personal fancies based on relatively small differences. The more important factor to appreciate is that ever since Krell, with the original KAV 300i, legitimized the integrated amplifier concept in US-based High-End circles again, more and more manufacturers have followed suit. Consumers are catching on that the old mantra of "separates rule" is far more relative than retailers intent on selling multiple boxes might want you to know.

With today's ultra-efficient hornspeaker load that concentrates on the first quarter watt for most listening, the integrated amplifier was every bit as good as the more expensive separates equivalent. In fact, it was arguably superior in certain areas, this likely a function of system synergy plus personal biases. Unarguably, it was not inferior in any aspect. Let's see whether somewhat more challenging loads should qualify that last statement.

Before I report on the triple-woofer 6-driver 3-way Triangle Ventis (nominal 4-ohm) and 2-way nOrh SM6.9 monitors, a quick tip on Euro-style deregulation: As you'd expect, the five-way binding posts on the 2i are plugged to prevent the use of bananas or Deltrons. This is easily remedied. Take an ale or soft-tipped thicker needle and push out the small crosswise copper pins that fix the plastic plugs inside the banana channels. You can now unscrew the transparent hex nuts all the way, the inserts follow all by themselves, and the offenders are removed cleanly and quickly to go bananas or APe (if you use Analysis Plus with the locking WBTs as I do).

Manhandling more conventional loads down low

On the Ventis 222, using the same tracks as before, I heard the same treble-related differences but no others. Expectedly, the lowest bass didn't have the Stygian subwoofer quality of the DUOs. But that was true for either amplification rig and simply a function of the displacement differential between 2 x 10" sealed active versus 3 x 5.5" ported passive. To double-check the veracity of this observation, I searched my library for some bass-buster tracks. I unearthed a dusty, barely played Virgil Fox compilation [Laserlight 15 313] played on the Rufatti organ at California's Garden Grove that Dr. Hsu of Hsu Research subwoofer fame had sent for a previous VTF-2 review. Got bass? Time for a show'n'tell.

Cesar Franck's "Piece Heroique" with its elephantine bass pedal stomps, chromatic counterpoints and rumbling ostinatos would do. I cranked up the volume to sinner-at-the-pew levels.

Now asked to move significant amounts of air, the 200.4 pulled slightly ahead by offering tighter-fisted control, the 2i's subterranean rumbles a bit plumper, as though the Community Church was endowed with a few milliseconds longer reverb, the lowest bass difference more one of subtle quality than quantity.

For more contemporary ass-kicking than fire-n-brimstone sermons, I next turned to the Yellowjackets' bassist Jimmy Haslip and his scorching Latin opener "Los Feliz" on Red Heat [Unitone 13702-4802-2].

Same difference, with the 200.4's more massive tranny exerting that added finger of grip on drier, punchier bass while the 2i veered a few small degrees toward great p/p tube bass - a bit more rotund, not quite as crisp. And again, these differences were noticeable but not profound, certainly less so than in the treble.

With the SM6.9 rated at 87dB and amazingly good to somewhere into the high 30s when driven with the bridged eVo -- I shamelessly did just that during their review -- both rigs tied but bowed to the bridged eVo for the last word in slammatronics where theres' no substitute for raw power.

Adding up the eVo 2i - and what's that capital "V" doing there?

When, as reviewer or prospective owner, you're handed the final bill on the 2i, it doesn't add up. But it's not a deal but icebreaker kind of accounting error. Hence the capital "V" stands for victory - a cost/performance landslide that's chockfull of extreme user-friendliness and suave looks. And did I mention performance? It falls squarely into the preexisting award domain for the eVo amps and my personal esteem for the matching stand-alone preamp: Crystalline transparency; a tube-like midrange purity, naturalness of timbre and monster soundstaging without the bloom of valves; wonderful bass; and very extended yet silky treble that's never grating or dull but just right.

If you're shopping for an eVo, make sure you sample the integrated as well. Unless you have bears for speakers, you might likely repeat after me: 2i > eVo 200.2 + PRe1. With the $1,600 saved, approach your favorite local music seller and offer him this lump sum for 100 CDs, slightly discounted and tax assimilated. You'd not only make his day but your own. Definitive Blue Moon award material. Hand me that stamp! Now what should the caption read? Gimme a second to mull it over - my graphic artist sez it's gotta be short & sweet ...

Manufacturer's Reply

Thanks for the review - short, sweet and to the point. The eVo2i represents a straight path to musical enlightenment as your review clearly states. Indeed, such is the result of combining 90%+ efficient eVo power amplification with a clean preamp stage that I foresee more integrated magic in our futures.

Sincerely,

John Stronczer
Chief designer, Bel Canto