The Bel Canto won me over when I was comparing them to the Peachtree iNova. The speakers used at Stereoexchange of NYC were B&W monitors (can't recall model). Between the amps, the c5i had tighter lows & the top wasn't tinny.
Straight out of the box they sounded good, paired with my ProAc Studio 100. This pairing has worked for me so far. The c5i is straight forward, no glow lights, no motorized dial, plastic remote. The headphone section drives my Grados easily, the speaker outputs automatically mute when a pair of cans are detected. Thats a plus. Also, there's no hiss from the amp. It is absolutely quiet. They run cool to the touch, I've not powered them down since I got them! The only downside to this pairing is that it is unforgiving to less than stellar recordings. But then, these could be attributed to the speakers. I'm still running the amp & speakers in, hopefully they age gracefully.
Straight out of the box they sounded good, paired with my ProAc Studio 100. This pairing has worked for me so far. The c5i is straight forward, no glow lights, no motorized dial, plastic remote. The headphone section drives my Grados easily, the speaker outputs automatically mute when a pair of cans are detected. Thats a plus. Also, there's no hiss from the amp. It is absolutely quiet. They run cool to the touch, I've not powered them down since I got them! The only downside to this pairing is that it is unforgiving to less than stellar recordings. But then, these could be attributed to the speakers. I'm still running the amp & speakers in, hopefully they age gracefully.