Sell my B&K 4420 and buy a Belles 150a ?

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.

I hooked up my pair of B&K M200 monoblocks to a friends pair of Stratus Golds and was very disappointed with the sound. The M200's seemed very enemic and the speakers sounded like they were playing through a blanket. I'm currently using the amps with Maggie 3.3R's and like how they sound, but they did NOT work with Stratus Golds. He's currently using an old Cambridge 100W amplifier until he decides what amplifier to buy, and it sounds quite a bit better than the M200's. A McCormack DNA-1 also made them sing. PS - I believe that the M200 is almost identical to a 4420M. PPS - I owned a Conrad-Johnson MV125 (125W tube) for a regrettably short period of time. The best sound I ever heard in a domestic setting came from that amp driving his pair of Stratus Gold (even better than my beloved 3.3R's).

I have owned the Stratus Gold i's for approximately a year and a half. Haven't heard them with the B&K 4420, but have had considerable in home experience in conjunction with the following amps: Bryston 3B, 3BST, 4BST, McCormack DNA-1, Houston GSP-02, VAC VT-100 MK II monoblocks AND the Belles 150, 150A Hot Rod, Andy Bartha modified Belles 150 A. Without getting into detail, though I absolutely love the Bryston products in general, my experience as far as the Golds are concerned is that of all the solid states, the BEST synergy by far was evidenced in conjunction with the Belles amps. The Bartha modified unit offers the most excellent low frequency response, but it is of course an after-market modification and I don't know if you'd want to go that route. Other than that, the stock Hot Rod reigns supreme---clearly a cut above the "basic" 150A unit which as I have said, was itself better than all others of the above solid state amps. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I like my 150a very much. I heard the B&K and was not too impressed but it was not the best set up and cant rely on that demo. No wonder so many people shop the net, you would think with all the competition dealers would learn to demo products. If your speakers are not extreamly difficult to drive you will not regret buying the Belles. The Hotrod version is getting good reviews but I have not heard it.