Service my Belles

I'd advise not sending it until you contact Dave. I had one of his amps remain in limbo for quite a while one summer. My amp arrived at his shop just as he left on vacation.

I called Dave Belles twice in the past 10 days and he answered the calls immediately and he is never in a hurry.
A pleasure talking to him !!!!!

I likewise suggest phone vs. email. Dave is an "old fashioned" kind of guy, and loves to chat. I'm sure he'll take care of you.

Hmmmmmm, well........ I left a message but got no return call. Let's hope he is on vacation. In the mean time if any of you folks happen to be in touch with him- Can you let him know I am making an attempt to contact him?

thanks!

Well, sad to write this. But this is a forum that I assume allows the good and bad experiences?

I struggled for quite sometime to arrange repair of my Belles pre. I was not pleased with Dave Belles's lack of return contact and it made me wonder if I would get my pre back if I sent it in. So I took it to a local repair shop and sent Belles a e-mail informing him they would be in contact with him.

Well we never heard from Dave Belles and could not do the repair without a schematic. Finally after over 3 months of frustration I sent the pre to David Belles and explained my frustration and told him he could keep his pre. " I don't want it back, and I will never own a Belles piece! " That was in early September. So it has been a month now. I thought I would at least got a letter of some type from Belles Audio. Most manufactures will at least do something to satisfy their customer.

I guess that shows me what type of company David Belles is running...

If David Belles is in his 60's or 70's,[I have no idea],he's not running anything.Life is running him.I am sorry to hear of your experience and I would be pissed too,except try to remember,at that age your lucky to be alive,much less running a Co.Since your pre is gone with that note,you painted yourself in a corner.A wise man would of found that schematic[sp] and moved on as there are avenues yet unexplored by you and your MO.First,find out if he's alive,then contact him and apoligize for your lack of discretion,but explain your young and learning and would like to start over.Easy for me to say,except I've done that and have the scars to prove it can work.Good luck,were all in this together....

I had a similar experience with David about 18 years ago on an amp with a transformer machanical hum issue. It took over a year and three return trips to him and finally I just gave up. I continue to read about his genius in design, but that just doesn't hold water when he can not stand behind his product.

YMMV,
L

I own a Belles pre and have communicated with Dave on multiple occasions; from needing to get my remote replaced,discussing which tubes to use to discussing how to install Auricaps (by a 3rd party prof.).

He has always been available and has always taken time to speak with me.

I own a Belles 350A Reference amp with which I am blissfully happy. I recently sent the amp to Dave for service, and was able to make the arrangements with minimal fuss. No, he didn't always answer the phone when I called, but he usually called me back within a couple of days. He was also fairly responsive to my emails. It took about a month to get my amp back, but it was well worth the wait.

I get the impression that Dave's business (Power Modules, Inc.) is pretty much a 'Mom & Pop' shop. I know that he personally did the work on my amp, and I suspect that's the case with each piece of equipment that comes through his doors. If he fails to answer the phone when you call, or is slow responding to your emails, it's probably because he is BUSY WORKING!

I'm more than happy to accept the occasional slow communication with Power Modules, Inc. in exchange for the satisfaction of knowing that when I do speak with someone there, it'll be the man holding the soldering iron.

Going through thins in my mind, and wanting to clear the air..... Thought I would give one last note for the sake of clearing the good name of Dave Belles. We did get everything taken care of, in fact he serviced my pre for free. Now that is MOST EXCELLENT QUALITY SERVICE!

If anything Dave Belles is a most excellent person. And I am the one with the quirks that need to be worked out (%-)~

Thank you Dave Belles!

@kt_88 I know it's been a long time since this thread but do you still have your Belles gear? If not, were you happy with it? I'm purchasing a Belles SA100 amp used an a new Belles pre amp to compliment it. Just looking to see what I might expect.

I spoke to David a couple months ago...he will pick up the phone when he isn't busy.  It might be worth calling him after you get the SA100 to see if you can get a handle on the age of the unit and any thoughts about whether it may be time for service.

Based on all the reviews, everything David makes sounds somewhere between good and great.  I own his 22a preamp and with Mazda NOS 1960s tubes, I can't really gush enough about how great it sounds!