The Power Modules website lists the integrated at 200 watts into 8 ohms. I've had Belles amplifiers and pre-amps in my system for 19 consecutive years. My first amplifier was his SA-200. I had a pair of Quicksilvers with the 20A preamp and then a CJ Premier 3/MV 100 setup. At the time I swore I'd never go back to solid state. Then a move to a room double the size with carpet required a change. I auditioned Krell, Bryston, Parasound, Mcintosh extensively before settling on the 350A amplifier with the 22A preamp which to me was the most musical and realistic presentation I found. I liked this piece so much that I just bought the next generation and then had him modify it twice before moving to the SA-100 and now the mb 200's, upgrading pre-amps along the way. As good as they are there are still things I miss about the previous amps. Over all these years I've auditioned many competitors and while at times I wanted something different I never found anything as good for the money much less better. Dave is in his mid 80's, designs and hand builds all his equipment. He told me one reason he stopped making the 350 because he couldn't pick them up anymore. Email isn't the best way to reach him but he answers the phone and I often talk to him several times a year. I'm mystified at how little appreciated his work is.
BELLES 250i INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
Hello.
I just purchased this truly remarkable integrated amplifier from a fellow member here a couple of weeks ago. Like many of us I have long been interested in Belles simply because the brand receives high praise from virtually everyone who’s owned a piece.
Admittedly, I have consumed the various koolaids out there, buying some pretty good equipment over the years since I joined in 2015. Of all the stuff that has passed through my house, the Belles, at least this particular Belles model, is hands down the best integrated I have owned. (BAT VK 300XE, Primare i30, McIntosh 6400 receiver, Peachtree Audio, Modwright KWI200...) A pretty extensive list in such a brief period. And that’s just the integrateds. My separates list is even longer...McIntosh, ARC, BAT, Pass Labs....
Curiously enough there is extraordinarily little information about this integrated. What little I have been able to cull off of the interweb is vague. One classified states that its output is 125 watts per channel, another classifed kind of guesses that it will output up to 250 watts per channel. Neither states the output into ohms as is usually the case. At least with more current equipment.
This is a VERY articulate integrated, to my ears it strikes me as being similar to the Pass Labs X150.5 amplifier I had a while back. Pass Labs became my benchmark for amplification, and this is indeed its equal - at least sonically.
Anyway...based on enjoying this for a couple of weeks now I would guess that the power rating is 125 watts @ 8ohms, doubling to 250 watts @ 4ohms. It does run quite warm, warmer than any other of the amps or integrateds I have owned, so I am also guessing that it runs Class A for most of the power band. That’s an uneducated guess - I am an audiot, not an audiophile. I don’t know a mosfet from a misfit, but I know what I like.
For the record my listening levels run VERY conservative. There are occasions during a year when I may listen at a higher level than normal, but that’s pretty rare. My preferred loudspeakers are Thiel and/or Magnepan - both speakers being what I liken to be "articulate." Neither brand is very efficient, but that doesn’t really matter to me because I have never pushed anything I’ve owned to its limit.
If anyone has more detailed information regarding this Belles model please feel welcome to respond here. I love this integrated. (I have contacted Power Modules with a similar inquiry but no response yet..)
Thanks.
I just purchased this truly remarkable integrated amplifier from a fellow member here a couple of weeks ago. Like many of us I have long been interested in Belles simply because the brand receives high praise from virtually everyone who’s owned a piece.
Admittedly, I have consumed the various koolaids out there, buying some pretty good equipment over the years since I joined in 2015. Of all the stuff that has passed through my house, the Belles, at least this particular Belles model, is hands down the best integrated I have owned. (BAT VK 300XE, Primare i30, McIntosh 6400 receiver, Peachtree Audio, Modwright KWI200...) A pretty extensive list in such a brief period. And that’s just the integrateds. My separates list is even longer...McIntosh, ARC, BAT, Pass Labs....
Curiously enough there is extraordinarily little information about this integrated. What little I have been able to cull off of the interweb is vague. One classified states that its output is 125 watts per channel, another classifed kind of guesses that it will output up to 250 watts per channel. Neither states the output into ohms as is usually the case. At least with more current equipment.
This is a VERY articulate integrated, to my ears it strikes me as being similar to the Pass Labs X150.5 amplifier I had a while back. Pass Labs became my benchmark for amplification, and this is indeed its equal - at least sonically.
Anyway...based on enjoying this for a couple of weeks now I would guess that the power rating is 125 watts @ 8ohms, doubling to 250 watts @ 4ohms. It does run quite warm, warmer than any other of the amps or integrateds I have owned, so I am also guessing that it runs Class A for most of the power band. That’s an uneducated guess - I am an audiot, not an audiophile. I don’t know a mosfet from a misfit, but I know what I like.
For the record my listening levels run VERY conservative. There are occasions during a year when I may listen at a higher level than normal, but that’s pretty rare. My preferred loudspeakers are Thiel and/or Magnepan - both speakers being what I liken to be "articulate." Neither brand is very efficient, but that doesn’t really matter to me because I have never pushed anything I’ve owned to its limit.
If anyone has more detailed information regarding this Belles model please feel welcome to respond here. I love this integrated. (I have contacted Power Modules with a similar inquiry but no response yet..)
Thanks.