Does anyone own the Bel Canto SET 40?


I have this baby for five years, with NOS tubes and love it. I have NEVER read a post about it, seen (only mine) one for sale, or plain ole general interest in this amp. I just can't figure.
128x128warrenh

Showing 2 responses by ponderguy

I have the SETI40 and I replaced the original tubes with Psvane Acme 845’s and two sets of 12AX7-T-MII/2 matched pairs. They sound great although if you are brave I recommend throwing away the Bel Canto internal 0.16uf capacitors and replacing with Audyn Copper Max 0.22uf or V-Cap CuTF.
The Copper Max's were fantastic but I could not resist trying the VCaps, I’m still running them in, they have a more analytic sound than the Copper Max’s but its early days and I can easily switch back if I desire.

The original sound of the amp was very bass heavy and bloated like you said but replacing the 0.16uf with a 0.22 V-Cap CuTF transformed it totally. I also tried an Audyn Copper Max that sounded as good but richer with quite not so much detailed.

All my upgrades are doc’ed on the Art Of Sound forum, just subscribe and search for SETI 40