The Belles is a superb amp, a real giant killer. I had the Hot Rod version and it did not embarass itself at all in comparison to my other amps > $4K, in fact, I preferred it to a couple of well-known super amps. The non-Hot Rod Belles is an even better value, a steal really. It has just a touch softer bass than the HR version, and a bit of congestion probably due to the lack of chassis damping like the HR has. But these are small nits for the music it puts out. I have owned a couple different B&K amps, and they're not even in the same ballpark. Nice solid engineering, reasonably priced, but nothing to get excited about on the sonics. Do yourself a favor, buy the Belles. Highly recommended.
