The Belles Aria Signature Integrated Amplifier

Have an Aria Signature en route that will replace a Soloist 1 driving Dynaudio s40s.
Chord Qutest with Teddy pardo power supply and Bluesound node 2i.

more later...😊

Low prob of a pic inside, sorry...😉

My take is that DAve B does not really “market” his products, per se. Hardly any real,reviews on Aria. Just hobbyist stuff. He doesn’t buy media so media not looking to give him ink.

my hope is that the Aria Sig sits in my basement listening room (now home office) for ever and will ultimately drive Dynaudio Special Heritage if I can find a used pair in 1-2 years...😉

The Qutest/Teddy Pardo/node 2i works for me. It’s just so simple and easy and fluid. 

@audioinfidel 

Dynaudio is now owned by some Chinese company now I think. My view is this is a marketing thing and, if there is sustained demand for these speakers, there will be more.

I always wanted a speaker like this from them as the higher end the monitor you see from Dynaudio, the more I didn’t like the look of the box. the Confidence 1 is just not for me looks wise. The Heritage Special are!

Perhaps the design team had a wager for years over the viability of a conventional box stand mount yet with all the trickle down technology from the top range. 

FWIW: Took delivery of an Aria Signature last week.
Bluesound Node 2i - Chrod Qutest with Teddy Pado PS - Dynaudio S40s - Audience Au24e cables.

VERY engaging.
FULL sound.
WEIGHTY delivery.
Smooth, yet muscular.
Sophisticated presence.
Just LOVE it and it has less than 50 hours on it so far.

Replaced a Solost 1 int amp.
Night and day.

This has potential to be an "end of merry go round" amp for me.
 and I will seek nothing until I see a used pair of Dynaudio Special Heritages...;-)...in 2024!

I have had LFD amps including the NCSE MK II.
loved for jazz but just had no balls or soul.

I think that same dealer has a pretty clear distribution path with LFD with very few national competitors. Belles has several dealers inc. in NY area.

The Belles Aria sig works for me as I wanted the 125 watts, remote and an amp that can move some air with finesse. I found it. Plus, match in heaven with Dynaudio. 
LFD is more geared to speakers like Harbeth. At the same price point of Aria Signature ($4500) the comp for LFD is a new mistral.....NO CHANCE its in same league as it comes from a UK craft shop (like belles) via a US distributor, then to a dealer. 
The new NCSE MK III comes in at $7500 and that would be the product that compares with Aria Signature.

When I had an LFD NCSE mk II (from 2015- 2018) it had two service issues that required repairs.That was a problem. The distributor at the time, Fidelis (in NH), referred me to a 3rd party repair guy. He fixed the first issue but it returned 2 years later.

I sent it the distributor the first time. The second time I contacted some dude named Howard Popek and he recommended that my issue could be addressed by a qualified tech in Chicago. So, I brought it to "the best" guy for hi-end stereo repair.

When I met with him, he popped the lid and looked inside and that's when our jaws hit the floor.

The inside of the NCSE mkII looked like an amateur science project or DIY kit. The engineer basically said there was a small transformer, erratic and conflicting wiring and lack of depth to the tech. In fact, most of the weight of the unit was in the heavy metal casing, not in the components. 

Not what you expect for an amp that had an MSRP at the time of $6,495.

Personally, I willnever buy another audio component that cannot be serviced by the manufacturer in the US.