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Who and what are BEL/Bell Labs amplifiers

I have noted several times the existence of a company called BEL or BELL Labs and their amps seem to be geared towards the high end market, and yet, I cannot find any sort of information about them, just the fact that they sometimes appear in the used market. What sort of company is or was BEL/BELL and what is the typical sound and look of their units. Are they simply a relic or are they just some very well kept secret. Is there are website with detail description of them?
bemopti123
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bugbag's avatar
bugbag
1 posts
 

Hi there

Old thread but.

Does anybody know if my BELL 2002, made in Japan, has anything to do with the BEL company?

Regards Ronny

thoughtsfrombeyond
1 posts
 

Hi bugbag,

I do not believe that your BELL 2002 is from Richard Brown. I had a BEL 1001 MkI and currently own a BEL 1001 MKIII and two BEL 2002. Neither of the 2002 look anything like your photo. Further, all of the BEL's that I have are the same basic box(y) build and all have BEL spelled with one "L" and all (to the best of my knowledge) were build in Richards lab in Oakland. Now there is an inconsistency in my knowledge and the obituary posted by "jspeskoff" from 7/30/10. My understanding is that the 2002 was built after the 1001 had been around for a few years in a very limited number (professional audio folks have said production was around 75 total units). I have no way of verifying this so anyone with knowledge please jump in here. The 2002 is a dual-mono version of the 1001 and inside one can see it in the build. So it seems logical that Richard adapted his 1001 design for the 2002, could not make the same margin on the 2002 (especially because of the bridgeability of the 1001) and abandon production. This last part is pure speculation.

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